Category

Dance

Artists
Anuradha Venkataraman
Date

March, 10th 2024

Vaidehi : An Untold Story of Sita

Anuradha Venkataraman

About the production

The great epic Ramayana is traditionally told as a story of Rama’s life. The main purpose is to
demonstrate the righteous path (dharma) for all living creatures on earth. Rama is celebrated as the
“Adarsh Purush”. However, it is not the story of Rama alone. It also tells the story of Sita. Sita, is one
of the pre-eminent feminine powers in the Hindu mythology. There are as many versions of
Ramayana as there are Indians. In many of these, Sita is not secondary to Rama, much less a helpless
woman. She is the all-powerful heroine of the story. A central figure, who shapes the events around
her. She is not simply Rama’s wife but the female power which enables the male to act.She is not
subservient to Rama but rather complements and completes him. This production draws from the
many re-telling of Ramayana such as Valmiki Ramayana, Ram Charit Manas and Adbhuta
Ramanyana.

About Anuradha Venkataraman

Anuradha Venkataraman has been in the field of arts for 25 years as performer, teacher, choreographer and curator . She has trained under Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan in Bharatanatyam and under V.Balakrishnan in theatre. Anuradha has been performing regularly in India and Abroad. To her credit Anuradha has 6 full length choreographic productions. She is an empanelled artist of ICCR and an ‘A’ graded artist of Delhi Doordarshan. Academically Anuradha has completed her MPhil in Cultural Studies (Gold Medalist) in Jain University Bangalore. She has been an Artist in residence in South Korea and in New York. She has been part of international collaborations- latest being Dante Beyond Borders by Instabili Vaganti, which premiered in both India and in Italy. Anuradha runs the Ahum Trust under which she curates- Saturdays@Swastika, Music by the Lake and Kalakrida ( an art intensive summer camp for Govt. school children). She is also the founder of Swastika School of Dance and Music.