Dance of disaster leaves arts without stage

CHENNAI: In the past three days dancers, theatre persons and artists have had to wield axes, sickles and saws not as a mark of protest but to pick up the pieces of the ravaged art and cultural spaces in the city in the aftermath of the cyclone Vardah. SPACES at

Besant Nagar

and Cholamandal Artists' Village on the East Coast Road were among the most affected.

Despite intermittent power supply and poor phone connectivity, word spread about the devastation at

Chandra Mandala

when photographer and trustee of SPACES Sadanand Menon put out a message about the kalaripayatu performance arena being destroyed.

Host to several dance, theatre and

music events

, the

destruction of the arena

came as a shock to anyone who had performed or visited the space as an audience under the one-of-a kind red-floored tiled roof amphitheatre. "The initial shock at the extent of damage was too much but all the volunteers have put that behind and come together to focus on clearing the fallen trees," says Gita Jayaraj a, freelance writer, who has had a decade-long association with SPACES, adding that more hands will be welcome in this hour of crisis.

Instituted by dancer Chandralekha, designer-sculptor Dashrath Patel and photographer Sadanand Menon, SPACES was born of the dancer's vision to create alternate artistic platforms in the city. Today numerous artists who have no budget feel it is one of the few spaces which provides a platform for debate and discussion. Concerts like Justice Rocks, performances of Veenapani Chawla's troupe Adishakti or monthly meets of Tamil literary magazine Kanaiyazhi were among the many activities at the arena. It may now take months for the stage to be set right again even as several concerts planned during the busy December season stands cancelled.

On the East Coast Road, artists at Cholamandal are at a loss without any external help as the commune lies cut off with trees blocking most of the entrances to the houses. "On Tuesday the colony looked like a wreck and we had to use whatever tools were available to cut through the foliage of fallen trees to step out of our houses. The older artists are extremely upset as their haven for creative inspiration has been destroyed," says artist S Saravanan who is also president of the Progressive Painters' Association. But apart from personal loss, the shattered window panes at the main gallery and the damaged asbestos roof at the smaller gallery-cum-workshop space meant the little funds saved by the association will be drained out in the repairs, laments Saravanan.