Sujatha Ramanathan presents Raas Antara in Delhi

Sujatha Ramanathan (Pic: Facebook/Sujatha Ramanathan)

Bharatanatyam dancer Sujatha Ramanathan is presenting a recital called ‘Raas Antara’ at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi on 2 February 2024, Friday. ‘Raas Antara’ is an exposition of Sujatha’s ‘connection with the divine through the language of dance in the traditional margam format’. She will be accompanied by composer Sudha Raghuraman on vocals, Raghuraman Govindarajan on flute, Satish Krishnamoorthy on mridangam and Dr. Sridhar Vasudevan on nattuvangam.

Sujatha has learnt Bharatanatyam from Guru Adyar K. Lakshman in Chennai in her formative years and then from Guru Lata Raman in Mumbai as an adult. Besides being a Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer, she is also an aspiring Carnatic vocalist and is learning nattuvangam, Kalaripayattu and violin as well. She performs Bharatanatyam widely and has also written articles about Carnatic music.

‘Raas Antara’, says Sujatha, is a mix of some beautiful classics and some new choreographies and interpretations. ‘I am doing a varnam which is a traditional composition in ragam Todi by the Tanjore quartet and has been taught to me by my guru Lata Raman; the choreography is by the great Guru Mahalingam Pillai,’ she says. ‘The piece Raas Antara is a new composition that was premiered in ISKCON Mumbai. It is a new composition for which Himanshu Shrivastava (Bharatanatyam dancer and artist) has written the lyrics and Sudha Raghuraman has done the music – it is a very personal search for the divine and how I find it within me. Then, I am doing a javali and a thillana that I have choregraphed anew, which is being premiered here. The opening item is a reworked one based on a traditional choreography, so the recital is a mix of traditional choreographies as well as new interpretations and new work that I am bringing to the Delhi audience.’

Date: 2 February 2024, Friday
Venue: Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
Time: 7 p.m.