Strong traditions

A SPECIAL show of new solos and excerpts developed over a three- year period by Anita Ratnam and her students at the Arangham trust, will be presented at Alliance Franchise here on Thursday.

`Ex-Tradition,' entirely created here by senior members of the Dance Ensemble will present a series of dances that uses tradition as building blocks, surrendering to a new construct.

There will be an excerpt from their repertoire's acclaimed full- length production, ``Daughters of an Ocean,'' short solos like ``Unravelled,'' ``Ta-ki-ta-tease,'' ``This is the Picture,'' as well as segments from an earlier work, ``Movements/Monuments,'' and ``Pallavi.''

``The presentation has a contemporary touch and reflects the way we have moved from our roots to a movement style that reflects personal experience and conviction,'' says Anita Ratnam, artistic director, Arangham Dance Ensemble.

``Choreographing a style within the existing language of dance, allowing the joy and vitality of the art communicate itself to any audience has been my motive and this has been a complex and enriching endeavour,'' she adds.

There will also be a post-performance interface between the audience and the artistes.

By R. K. Radhakrishnan

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