Dancing for the Kanha

“Like my dance, which while being deeply spiritual never stops being vibrant, joyous and sensuous, Lord Krishna is all that and much more,” says leading Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer Alarmél Valli, who explains, “With Krishna you cannot divorce sensuality and turn Him into something rarefied and inaccessible. From the subliminally spiritual to the vibrantly physical, from the purely intellectual to the intensely emotional you run the entire gamut when you depict Him. At its most intense level, it becomes a joyous prayer with one’s very being.”

Speaking to us on the eve of her performance in the city on Friday as part of Banyan Tree’s Dakshinayan she spoke of her excitement over the premiering of her newly choreographed piece Krishna: The Intimate and The Infinite.

“I have used verses from the Bhaghavata, the Gita and Narayaneeyam. Whether it is the raas or Krishna’s antics as a child, there is always a deeper spiritual and cosmic symbolism involved,” she pointed out and explained how she will depict this is in a piece close to her heart.

“The child Krishna sees the full moon through the branches of a tree and thinks it is a fruit. He beckons to it and wonder of wonders the Moon descends and becomes part of Krishna’s infinite cosmic being.”

As a mark of the turbulent times we live in she will end her performance with an elegy from Sangam poetry which will look at the futility of war and hatred.