Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells
April 23, 2025
ROOH: Within her is a warm-hearted tale of folk heroism, passed on through the generations with the accent on the contribution of women. It is a well-structured piece of theatre combining drama, song and music with dance as the link that brings it all together.
Kathak dancer, Urja Desai Thakore, artistic director and choreographer is a commanding figure. She’s on stage for the duration, directing the action and playing out all the female figures. Dressed in traditional Indian dress and dancing bare feet, it is her hands that hold our attention. They vibrate, flutter, grip and unfurl with amazing variety and poetic eloquence. Her face, too, is remarkably alive with flashing eyes and laser focus.
Photo Pari Naderi
She is supported by four remarkably versatile musicians, Gurdain Singh Rayatt, Kaviraj Singh, Prathap Ramachandra and Vijay Venkat primarily as instrumentalists and vocals but also assisting physically in telling the stories.
The stage setting imagines village life with grass screens at times bound into pillars, sticks that form boundaries, and even weapons. Thakore’s earliest tale is of a Tamil heroine, a mother searching for her son’s body on the battlefield to disprove the rumour that he ran from the battle. It’s a tale of blood and death which fortunately is given little detail. More universal are the potent sequences where she cradles a stick wrapped in a blanket as a nurturing mother image.
Photo Pari Naderi
Moving forward in time, the story of the village teenager, Heerbai, who fights off an attacking lion was an easier subject to relate in movement. Helped by effective lighting, from Willy Cessa, it became a vivid reconstruction.
The most up-to-date story tells of the director’s grandmother who defied village convention to marry the man she loved. A long sequence of writing in the air symbolised how Nanda was able to continue her education and achieve her ambitions.
Mahika Thakore joins her mother in voice-over conversation to tell the family saga in Gujarati, although fortunately there is also enough in English for us to get the gist of the story. The stories past and present of brave women who changed the course of their lives inspire the younger generation and episodes are related both in spoken text and in mimed gestures.
Although the jigsaw pieces of the narrative do not always find a sequential flow, Thakore holds our attention through her total commitment to her art. The beauty and vivacity of her hand movements, the speed of her turns and the power of the accompanying music all added to the enjoyment, but I would have welcomed a greater input of dance.