A play on the rhythm of mystic river Ganga performed in Kolkata

The stage was set in the form of a ghat. Think Haridwar. A big screen in the backdrop replayed the scene of a river rippling away. Think Ganga. Bonjour India, a cultural extravaganza presented by the French embassy, combined dance, music and poetry in an on-stage collaboration titled Ganga. The cultural do’s Kolkata chapter thus traced the journey of the river that is known as the life source of India, equating the river with a woman who represents the feminine force of the universe. The river’s journey was broken down in three parts featuring three dancer-actors. Each had a different role to play. They moved as if to an inaudible symphony, sometimes swaying in perfect sync and sometimes going their own ways.The pace of the play mimicked the rhythm of the Ganga — alternating between a slow-sync and a fast-staccato. Was it the woman being portrayed as the river? Or was it the river portrayed as the woman? The question met no satisfactory answer. That is where the play nailed it. The presentation smacked of the genius of Brigitte Chataigner, a French contemporary dancer, who is also an expert in Mohiniattam. Both her co-performers, Mom Chatterjee and Celine Pradeu, matched step with step with effortless poise. After two hours of dancing, an exhausted Brigitte panted, “This play also describes my journey from the West to the East, the confusion of it all and the ultimate spiritual release that I found in India.’By - Sutapa Singha