By Karthik Ramanathan
HOUSTON: In its premiere on February 22 at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston, Weaving Worlds delivered an incredibly moving, multidisciplinary collaborative performance bringing together storytelling, music and dance to weave a tapestry of emotions in stories of resilience and courage. The event was emceed by Renuka Rajagopalan, founder of Garage Arts Project.
In this innovative and emotional performance, celebrated Houston authors Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (author of Independence) and Saborna Roychowdhury (author of Everything Here Belongs To You), harpist Hope Cowan, Indian Classical vocalist Mahalakshmi Krishnan, and Indian Classical dancer Sandhya Raghuraman came together to create a spell-binding experience.
It drew the audience into a dramatic world full of historical and cultural stories, celebrating the resilience and strength of women in times of strife, focusing both on Indian culture and history as well as the deeply personal stories of the women in the books. These themes were brought to life by music and dance that drew on influences from both the Indian classical tradition and Western classical music. By combining elements of an author reading with live music and dance performance, a very immersive storytelling experience was created where the audience could deeply relate to the
thematic material presented.
As Chitra and Saborna read passages from their books, the audience’s imagination took flight and was busy recreating the sights and smells of the streets of Kolkata. The characters took shape and the dramatic scenery formed vividly, as the strings of the harp added an element of drama to the words. The reading was interspersed by the trio of Sandhya (dance), Maha (vocal) and Hope (harp) weaving magic by bringing the story to life in front of us. In many ways, their performance went beyond what we had imagined in our minds.
The historical story of Sati and the Kalighat temple in Saborna’s book flowed into the transformation of the playful, young teenage girl exercising at the gym who then stands up for herself when threatened by some older boys in school. From Chitra’s book, a mother’s determination to navigate the riot-filled streets; a young mother grieving her husband’s death in the aftermath of the Partition and then building the resolve to move forward building her life. Both epochs were all wonderfully brought in front of us one after the other through dramatic storytelling, soul-stirring music, and evocative dance, beautifully portraying the courage and strength of women.
The performance was followed by an interactive Q&A session with the authors and artists, giving the audience a chance to fully engage with the themes explored and share their own experiences. Weaving Worlds was curated and presented by Garage Arts Project, a Texas-based, non-profit arts organization that promotes cross-cultural and cross-genre collaborations that are experimental, bold, innovative and allows artists to take creative risks and push boundaries. The performance was made possible by funding from the Cynthia Wood Mitchell Center for the Arts Innovation Grant from the University of Houston.
