“Divinity in Sensuality”, presented at the Blackbox Theater at the Boston Center for Arts on September 29 and 30, was an experience like none other.   Conceived and created by Smt. Suman Adishesh under the guidance of her Guru and mentor, Smt. Padmini Ravi and the renowned musicologist, Dr. T.S. Sathyavathi, Divinity in Sensuality is a labor of love that was five years in the making.  In her opening comments, Suman shared how this production arose from a process of  deep introspection, extensive research and unhurried contemplation.  This was amply evident in the performance we witnessed.  The scale of the presentation- 1.5 hours in an intimate black box theatre setting- belied its artistic and emotional impact.  Suman gave completely of herself and her quest to discover her inner voice, thus creating a special bond with the audience. It would take several viewings to fully savor the artistic and emotional riches in Suman’s offering, let alone capture it in a few paragraphs. 

As an artist, Suman is an insatiable lifelong student, forever exploring new terrain.  Her choreography derives from both the conventional grammar and repertoire of Bharatha Natyam as well as from the extensive and underutilized movements in the Natya Shastra which she has honed with years of practice. Suman shared that, during the pandemic, she immersed herself in the study of different aspects of performance and production, including an intensive course in choreography from the Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography and training in Theater.  In “Divinity in Sensuality”, Suman distilled all this learning into a perfect alchemy of lyric, music, dance, theater, costume and light design.  

Suman explored the theme of “Divinity in Sensuality” in a repertoire that spanned the millennia from the Rig Veda (1500 BCE), the Puranas (4^th Century AD), Alzhwar Poetry (7^th Century AD), the Geetha Govindha (12^th Century AD), Javalis (15^th Century AD) to Swathi Thirunal (19^th Century AD).  The concept of Divinity and the yearning of the Jeevathma for connection with the Paramathma permeated each piece.  The thread of sensuality was present throughout the production; however, Suman explored how the expression of sensuality evolved through the eras, making for a fascinating range of portrayal from sweet longing to unapologetically erotic.

The opening piece was taken from the Rig Veda, in which the penultimate divine is Paramathma or Supreme Consciousness. Suman presented Sutra 81, dedicated to dawn or Ushus.  Sensuality was imagined as the union of Ushus and the Sun who follows in her wake as would a lover, with Nritta conveying the joy of the union. In Garga Samhitha,  presented as a seamless blend of dance and theater, Suman used dialogue and rapid changes in costume and regaled the audience with her depictions of Radha, Krishna and the sakhi Gopa.  Radha, ignoring  Gopa’s warnings of Krishna’s roguish ways, instead extolls Him as the valorous slayer of demons and proclaims Him as her beloved whom she cannot forsake. In “Karpuram Naarumo”, Suman depicted the poetess Andaal who beseeches the Panchajanyam or Vishnu’s conch, which rests on His resplendent form, to share its intimate knowledge of His lips and mouth, His touch and smell.  The Panchajanyam was depicted with an actual conch on the stage and Suman effectively used lighting and position to convey the ardent intensity of Andal’s address.  In the Ashtapadi “Maamiyum Chalita”,  Divine Krishna became the seeker, pleading, bargaining and utterly human- lamenting the rift His dalliances have caused with His beloved Radha- who is so very, very angry. In Annamacharya’s “Kopamu Dhirina”, we witnessed a bed chamber conversation between a courtesan- empowered in her sensuality and fierce in her anger– and Vishnu, the lover she accuses of infidelity.   Suman ended the presentation with Swathi Thirunal’s Aaj Aaye Shyam Mohan in which Madhurya or pure sensuous love was shown through jathi sequences that portrayed the blissful Raas and the mystical union of Krishna with the Gopis.  The spell bound audience showered Suman with applause who had transcended every expectation.

The recital concluded with an interactive session with the audience members during which Suman described various aspects of her meticulous artistic process- visualizing, scripting, music and raga selection, lighting and costume design- as well as the internal transformation which was necessary to attain her vision for this production .  Suman shared how her ideas for a single piece would gradually progress from a hundred pages of notes to a danceable scope and format. 

Lighting by Keerthi Kumar, a master of his craft, was a critical aspect of the production, which was set quite literally, in a black box.  The lighting set the mood, connected the audience and was carefully scripted to deliver the backdrop as well as the aesthetic and emotional intent of each piece. 

The music, composed and performed by a veteran team of musicians from Bangalore comprising of Neela Ramanuja (vocal), Ravichandra Kulur (flute), Karthik Vydatri and N.G. Ravi (mridangam and percussion) and Srinivas (Sitar).   The music composition drew from a wide range of Carnatic and Hindustani ragams and had a fresh contemporary sound.

“Divinity in Sensuality” left us with much to contemplate - What does it mean to innovate and push boundaries? How should the art form evolve? What does it take to create art with such a lasting impact well beyond the performance? We were left enriched, feeling joy and gratitude to have shared this experience with Suman.

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