VANCOUVER, CANADA, November 30, 2066: Sri Lankan-born Anusha Fernando has studied bharata natyam for 18 years. Now, she is performing her art in Vancouver in a play called Gods, Demons & Yogis.
Bharata natyam is arguably the most popular of all the ancient, temple-based dance arts of the Indian subcontinent. First the domain of female deva-dasis (servants of the gods), this classical tradition developed in South India, where it became renowned as a means of conveying the emotional and physical manifestations of the individual’s longing for the divine. The greatest epics of Hinduism are common sources mined for bharata natyam performances. For the past 18 years, Sri Lankan-born, Vancouver-based Anusha Fernando has studied, taught and performed this highly disciplined dance form. In 2004, she founded Shakti Dance to promote the style in Canada and bring it to new audiences.
“In 2002 the same group worked on a show called Tales From The Ramayana and it was brilliant,” she says. “This time around, we’re looking into the different roles that the gods — who are often quite human — demons — who in Hinduism can have a heart of gold — and the all-powerful yogis have in Indian mythology and what it all means.
“By using the narrator’s role we ask questions that the audience doesn’t usually get to ask about the nature of power within these roles and how it reflects on traditional forms.” Through that reflection, Fernando hopes to impart her interest in the unique roles the characters take on in Indian mythology, as well as inform those who might not know exactly how gesture, nuanced movement and forms all tie into bharata natyam.