Dancing numbers

Peacocks dance. Humming bees flitter. Snake slithers across. No, they are not real, but are the beautiful imageries created by a group of dancers on the stage. And, as the nature unveils itself, it's mathematics that comes alive.

The Pythagoras theorem, properties of triangles, algebra and geometry -- all come up for debate. Perhaps, solving problems and making calculations was never so rhythmic and beautiful. But then, dance too was never used earlier to understand mathematics.

Exploring the nuances of mathematics through a ballet in Odissi was the Smitalay presentation "Leelavati". Based on the famous 12th Century mathematical treatise of Bhaskaracharya. The complex, yet pleasing dance ballet presented 11 of the 261 slokas of the great mathematician, each of which was presented as mathematical puzzle or a concept.

Choreographed by the noted Odissi dancer and director of Smitalay, Jhelum Paranjape, the ballet was a tribute to Leelavati, daughter of Bhaskaracharya. The dialogues, debates and the problem solving manoeuvres between the father and daughter was beautifully captured at the Ravindra Bharathi on Thursday night.

One after another, questions were posed by Bhaskaracharya to a reluctant Leelavati. They come across a pond of lotuses, herds of elephants and a peacock perched on pillar -- all inspiring Bhaskaracharya to unravel mathematical problems.

Based on the situations, he gives problems in arithmetic, algebra, geometry and equations with one unknown. And, it is left to the daughter to solve them. How she unravels the complex problems is what the ballet is all about.

It seems, the seeds for the ballet was sown during the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1995. And, of course, Jhelum Paranjape did indeed succeed in striking a perfect symbiosis between maths and dance, complex worlds as they are by themselves.

By T. Lalith Singh

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