Dear Friends,
Sutra had the most wonderful sharing of ‘The Making of Jaya Ram’ at the Kriyalakshmi Gurukul Ashram, Air Panas (KL), invited by Guru Maa and Arwind Kumar, who was the organiser of this lec-dem.
This was timely as many of the student-dancers will actually be going en masse, to Jaya Ram. The insight to the making of this production will enhance their understanding and appreciation of the various areas that contributed towards its actual manifestation on stage.
Moreover, the Ashram’s star dancer, who is also a student-dancer with Sutra Academy, will make his much anticipated debut as ‘Jatayu’ in the production.
Sutra Foundation Trustee, Sivarajah Natarajan, spoke on lighting design and the vital role that lights play in bringing out the right ‘rasa’; Tan Mei Mei shared her expertise on costume and textile; Geethika Sree enlightened us on her role in holding both the artistic and administrative fort together.
Both Nevin and Geethika Sree demonstrated some of the movements inspired by the folk movement and music of Ram Leela and Rama Natakam of South Odisha. Both artistic directors, Guru Gajendra Panda (Odisha) and Datuk Ramli Ibrahim had researched extensively on these folk art forms, before staging the Jaya Ram.
Both Ramli and Arwind, representing Sutra & the Ashram, shared the view that during the present chaotic, confusing and consumerist era of digital technologies, artificial intelligence and rampant social media, of the need to instill the right mindset of appreciating arts, culture, environment and eco-sustainability in the minds of impressionable students, convincing our younger generation of the sense of the vulnerability and need to emphasise our humanity even more.
Sutra