Visual art and dance in a composite form

One such artist is the leading contemporary modernist and a proponent of Madras Art Movement, SG Vasudev. To celebrate his 60 years of artistic journey dancer Madhu Nataraj has come up with a Kathak performance called Kalpa Vriksha, a choreographic response to Vasudev’s work. “This performance is a translation of artist SG Vasudev’s works of art. I was very happy to collaborate with him.

That said, it is actually a challenge because somebody who had like a 60-year trajectory of work it is difficult to pick the best part. But in his autobiography, you can see a recurring theme of the tree of life. Vriskha or the tree of life is an ubiquitous presence in Vasudev’s work. 

In one of the passages in the book, he has mentioned that way back in 1974, he was very inspired and moved by Karnataka’s Poet Laureate Da Ra Bendre’s poem, Kalpa Vriksha Vrindavanam. The words and the imagery had almost a cathartic effect on Vasudev and thereafter the tree has remained a recurring motif in his creations. It invokes imagery of mystical forest, fantastical creatures, darkness, light and so on. I created Kalpa Vriksha as a choreographic response to Vasudev’s prodigious receptacle of imagery. This work is a composite transcreation wherein movement textures, drama, poetry and soundscapes merge into a unique choreographic canvas,” says Madhu.

Kalpa Vriksha is a site specific work — as in dancers perform with a tree as the backdrop. “We are performing at the Cholamandal Artists’ Village and we found a lot of age-old trees. The upcoming performance will unfold in two segments — Vriksha and Rhapsody.

In the first part we have used motifs of hathayoga, Indian contemporary dance, martial arts and Kathak. The second part of the performance is a pure dance exploration of the series, Rhapsody. The Kathak idiom collocates with raag durbari as the dancers rhapsodise the lines, textures, colours and compositions from this series in and around a water body,” adds the dancer.