Sushruthi Krishna talks about her experience of dancing with The Raghu Dixit Project at The Great Indian October Fest. Read here what she has to share.

En route the happiest musical festival, the preparations for the Nh7 weekender is on full swing. Nritarutya collaborating with The Raghu Dixit Project creates a lethal combination. Inspired by the various moods created by Raghu Dixit, the performance showcases choreography that ranges over dreamlike experiences, a rendition of exuberance or sometime just presents joy.

My association with Nritarutya has been brief and every new endeavour with them is an enriching one. Being a part of the team performing at this weekender has been a highly humbling, and it has been a journey of immense learning for me.

The choreography to Rain Song creates the visual image of being whimsical. Even while creating this, choreographer Madhuri Upadhya steadily ensured that the technical aspect of this Kathak piece is not compromised. The method that Madhuri used to ensure that each dancer imbibed the feel of this piece is by constantly providing imagery. Endless training sessions in basic  Kathak technique assisted in internalizing the piece.

The approach to working for Jag Changa is quite different. It requires understanding and interacting with the audience. This piece invokes a sense inner joy and through the choreography this joy is showcased. Mayuri’s understanding of space and it’s intelligent use takes the piece to an entirely different level.

The song Mysore Se creates an image, for me of the meeting of 2 worlds – a beautiful South Indian girl with a silk saree and flowers adorning her hair who sways the heart of this boy. Choreographer Mayuri Upadhyay has captured this essence of the song and translated it into a effervescent fable.

Props are always an interesting challenge when you work with this company because they constantly innovate and create. Be it the costume itself which turns into property like the angrakha, or vibrant turbans or exciting puppets, there is always a learning at every step with them.