‘A Million Sitas’ challenges us to think differently about an age-old story, and the nature of dance
A review of Anita Ratnam by Nkanyiso N. Mazibuko
Getting a chance to watch “A Million Sitas” at JOMBA! on the 30th of August in the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre was a wonderful opportunity that does not come often in this lifetime, especially when the choreographer and performer is Anita Ratnam.
Ratnam is highly respected as a performer, writer, speaker and culture mentor. She has been described as an “intersectionist” whose work weaves the many disciplines of dance, theatre, ritual, archaeology, dramaturgy and women’s issues.
“A Million Sitas” tells the story of a goddess of agricultural fertility, daughter of the earth, one born from a sneeze; she is the consort of the Hindu God Sri Rama. Using storytelling, movement, and song as her creative arsenal, we’re told this adi kavya, or eternal story of Sita. For many centuries there have been various version of the story; Ratnam retells it because she felt the story needed to be told from a different point of view, in favour of women. In her view, this four-letter word, Sita, shadows every Indian woman today. Her attempt to change the perspective of how Indian women are seen or treated in ‘A Million Sitas’ puts Sita front and centre in the ongoing debate for the promotion of women’s voices in society.
The stage was creatively designed with various props and costumes put in distinct parts of the stage, with two drummers on the left side (Mandla Matsha and Revash Dookhi), the live vocalist Saranya Krishan, and three curtains, or pillars, hanging onstage. As the work continues eight mangoes are put in bowls towards the front of the stage in one line; seeing those mangoes onstage brought a thought of national pride and identity for India since mangoes are one of the most loved fruits in India and there are different kinds of them. Even the Jain goddess Ambika is traditionally represented as sitting under a mango tree.
Those three pillars hanging onstage each had a significant meaning. The one on the left side of the stage represents an emperor who couldn’t win over Sita’s heart. The third one, to the right, was red — what came to mind was that Rama had fire in him that can provoke from afar, the fire of a god which made him glorious in his wars. The centre one, for me, represented Sita in the middle of this love triangle. The work started with the music of the two drummers, which was very syncopated-rhythmic based, then it went to a recording and live singing by Krishan as Ratnam entered, which they continued to play throughout the piece accompanying the live music.
“A Million Sitas” tells a love story, but also a story of courage, war, bravery and hope for better love. It teaches us that sometimes having a lot of expectations in love can cause pain and suffering. Ratnam’s depiction of her characters was well-represented, her use of costume to distinguish between them cleverly done. She offers distinctly different movements from each character, especially the Emperor’s movements, sharp as if she had a sword or knife, and Rama’s — rigid, quite strong and powerful as Ratnam hid her face through the pillar. Here, the audience could only see her hands and legs, which played a huge role in her portraying her characters. The choreography was amazingly done as each character had different unique movements, each quite descriptive. This made the story very intriguing. The use of light drew all focus on her as she danced; as she moved onstage, it followed.
What stood out most importantly was Ratnam’s message to the women of the world that there is a Sita in all of them — that women should support, love and cherish each other as they are the strength and spine of humanity. Without them, the world would not be the same and there would be no life.
What was most interesting to me was some of the audience reaction after the show. Many expected more dancing than storytelling and song. What comes to mind is that in dance if a choreographer decides to include more elements of art like storytelling, live music, percussion, a bit of acting (drama), does that take away the idea that you’re watching dance? Then again, we’re living in a post-modern era where there is nothing new. Artists are trying to find new ways to educate society through the arts, and that’s what “A Million Sitas” challenges us to think about.
“A Million Sitas” at the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience concludes tonight at 19:30 in the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.
