Bengalureans don’t mind paying to watch shows: Dr Ananda Jayant 

BENGALURU: Listening to stories is fun. Seeing them get brought to life is another thrill altogether. That’s what Padma Shri recipient and renowned dancer-choreographer Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant hopes her production Tales of the Bull and the Tiger, which premieres in the city on Saturday, is for audience members. 

“We will use Bharatanatyam, Sanskrit and Tamil poetry to present stories we’ve all grown up listening to in a fun way. The production will be a meeting point for tradition and modernity since we will also be using projection mapping during our performance,” reveals Dr Jayant. 

When asked about the stories, the dancer is tight-lipped, not wanting to give too much away. “The only clue I can give is that Nandi and Simha are who we are referring to in the title of the production,” she says, adding that she and Bengaluru-based Mithun Shyam are the lead dancers and will be accompanied by a team of about 20 other artistes.

While this is the first time the production will be staged in Bengaluru, it is far from being Dr Jayant’s maiden performance in the city. She says, “People have inquired how much the tickets for the production cost. People from other Indian cities don’t express this keenness for art and culture. This production has no entry fee but if Bengalureans were willing to pay for it, it shows that they have a lot of respect for classical dance and other traditional art forms.” 

The performance, she hopes, will appeal to youngsters as well. She recalls the initial days from her learning at Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai. “I was 11 when I first met Rukmini Devi Arundale. Since I was just a kid, she had a soft corner for me and I’d like to think I was one of her favourite 
students,” she laughs. 

Since then, dance has rarely left her side, and kept her going through cancer treatment in 2008 as well. “Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation... I danced through it all. If there is something you nurture closely, it becomes your strength in trying times. So when life threw the cancer curve ball my way, dance helped me ride it out and helped me focus on all the positives in life,” she says. 
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Tales of the Bull and the Tiger will be staged at 6.30pm on May 25 at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram.