Movement therapy
t was an evening to celebrate the art and culture. Over 240 differentlyabled children came together under the ‘RasaRamana Sunritya Aalaya’ umbrella for a dance theatre presentation titled ‘Bharatambe Harmony in diversity’. Directed and choreographed by Ambika Kameshwar, it showcased how movement and melody are great healers.
Ambika, a pioneer in using theatre arts as a tool for holistic development of physicallychallenged children, chose to channelise her passion and experience as a Bharatanatyam dancer to lend colour to the lives of those with special needs by establishing the RasaRamana Sunritya Aalaya in 1989.
“I realised that these children responded well to a teaching methodology that included music, dance, acting and story telling. Seeing the outcome of these exercises, I began an annual presentation, where the children
IStudents of Rasa-Ramana Sunritya Aalaya at the annual event. displayed their talent in a themebased programme. The immense effort that the teachers and volunteers put in to make this a reality comes through in the presentation,” says Ambika.
The show began with the depiction of Bharatmata surrounded by a group of kids hailing her. Children dressed in regional costumes performed the songs and dances of those regions.
The entries, exits and formations were executed in a seamless manner as children presented life stories of popular saints. The sequence that paid homage to goddess was aesthetically conceived. Another visually appealing sequence was the projection of lotuses on a screen in the backdrop with children holding up stalks of the flower and swaying them in rhythm.
The other moments of significance were the creation of a setting of a banyan tree and ashrama, the props used to depict the lions on the Asoka Pillar, and serene visuals of moving clouds and sunset.
The concept, music, choreography and direction were by Ambika Kameshwar. Multimedia visuals were by Vaishnavi Poorna and camera by Francis. The choreography team consisted of Vaishnavi Poorna, Anandi Chandrasekharan, Meghna Venkat, Kavita Sureshkumar and Lakshmi Shivashankar.