Indian and Balinese textiles feature in this collaboration between Bharatanatyam and Balinese dance

The traditional dance of Bali is expressive and seeks to tell a story. A similar sensibility ran through Craft in Dance, an exhibition of dance costumes displayed at M.Rm.Rm Cultural Foundation in MRC Nagar early this week.

Curated by the founder, Visalakshi Ramaswamy, the costumes were from the Indian and Balinese textiles for the dance production Arisi: Rice to be performed in the city on January 15. Heavily influenced by the rice culture in both Bali and India, the production as well as the inspiration behind the exhibit lie in the day-to-day impact of paddy cultivation.

“Arisi is a collaborative work between Balinese dance and Bharatanatyam,” says Mohanapriyan Thavarajah, the lead dancer and designer of the costumes. He is part of Apsaras Arts, a dance production company based in Singapore. “We wanted to tell the story of rice, as it is the staple of many Asian countries, and Bali was one of the first places to export rice all over the world.”

Mohanapriyan has drawn inspiration from common beliefs shared by the two cultures to weave costumes that tell a story. The costumes, which have been made using traditional Indian and Balinese textiles and prints, describe the process of paddy cultivation through the patterns and colours used.

Mohanapriyan Thavarajah | Photo Credit: Akhila Easwaran

Using the fabric of ikat, Balinese costumes, usually worn like a sarong, are redefined. The inspiration for Indian costumes comes from kosavam sarees with pleats at the back, usually worn by women in villages for functional use. A running motif that can be seen is a sickle to denote harvest. The first dance costume on display, in varying gradations of green, was inspired by the landscape of Tamil Nadu’s rice fields. The dance for which this costume is worn depicts a bird’s eye view of a paddy field, says Mohanapriyan.

“One side of the costume is light green, and the other, dark green. The dark green denotes the marshy ground in the paddy fields, and the lighter green denotes the tender leaf of the paddy stock,” he says. A single, running border for the costume denotes a single stock of paddy. He has also used beads to depict rice grains. “In terms of cultural beliefs, we have a lot of similarities,” says Mohanapriyan about the collaboration between Bharatanatyam and Balinese dance.

Arisi: Rice will b performed at the Music Academy on January 15, 6pm. Entry is free