Reimagining creativity
The Hindu
How the pandemic helped to chisel the artistic nuances of a sculptor, dancer, writer and an actor-director
The COVID-19 pandemic taught artists and artistes to respond to the challenge and use the value of their arts as a coping tool during stressful situations. Their innovative thinking across domains not only serves to buffer against negativity but also encourages us to be more caring and connected to each other. Here is how:
Even-eyed
It was not just the reposeful margam (path) that moved the audience when Geeta Chandran took the stage last week after a COVID-19 induced break of two years. The way the Bharatanatyam exponent contextualised the pandemic by aligning the poetry of Jai Shankar Prasad to the Carnatic idiom, sent both the discerning and the common audience down memory lane, keen that they were to fill the vacuum the virus has left in their lives.
Chandran says the classical has to move beyond the technique to remain relevant. “What could be more timely than Prasad’s “ Beeti Vibhavari JaagRi” as a metaphor for setting aside the darkness that has wilted a part of every heart in the last two years,” she says.
The pandemic, Chandran says, allowed her the opportunity to look within, and rework the pedagogy. It’s the experiences of 30 months that resulted in “In Search of Infinity.”
After the initial shock, Chandran realised her art was capable of feeding her soul and save her from a downward spiral.
Her concluding piece called for social tolerance in view of the fact how polarised the world has become in the last two years. In the piece written by Swami Annamacharya, Chief patron of the Tirupati Balaji Temple, Chandran says, the poet calls “for samdrishti (impartial view) to human beings who may follow different sets of beliefs.”