A ballet on the power of women

A Kuchipudi dance ballet which tracked the status of women in the society from the times of yore was presented by Asmita Resource Centre for Women, Hyderabad. The ballet was organised by the Women’s Development Forum (WDF), Rajahmundry Asset, ONGC. The theme of the ballet was that the Laxman Rekha was no longer perceived as a measure of protection for women but as a restriction of mobility.

The ballet started by a salutation to Bharatamba who bore Jotiba, the one to rescue womanhood from darkness of ignorance and Savitri Bai, the first teacher who traced the letters of women’s education in the country. It also hailed Durga Bai, who plunged into freedom struggle sacrificing her family. The ballet also regaled Chityala Ailamma, who opposed the tyranny of the Nizams and did not forget the heroism of Suvarthamma and Alisamma, who cast the seeds of revolt in the fields of Karmachedu and the countless dalit women who sounded the bugle on the streets of Tsundur.

The defining moment of the ballet arrived when the artistes picked some of the important events that took place in Indian mythology in which women were incarcerated without their consent. A dancer portrayed the character of Gandhari in which she demonstrated how Gandhari, borne by the fragrance of young desire was sunk to the ground after a maid whispered that her father has decided to marry her to Kuru king Dhritarashtra.

Another artiste, who portrayed Urmila, displayed how she inhabited the land of deep sorrow, her heart’s deepest desires buried in the sea of sorrow as her husband Laxman left her to accompany Rama without any note of farewell by treating her as lifeless toy. She displayed the sorrow of Urmila who made it clear that she would not obey orders as a fathomless ocean of anger and bitter sorrow within her eyes.

The third artiste who portrayed the role of Renuka, wife of sage Jamadagni and mother of Parasurama, questions the price of chastity and the power of a mother when the stern father commands Parasurama to execute his mother for faltering for a moment while bearing a pot shaped grains of sand.

Later, in the ballet, the dancers demonstrated the role of women who questions, “Who am I, a human being or an image? A breathing stone, a wooden doll?, What is the direction of my future, What is the meaning of my life? And Who am I?”