‘Niyantri’ launches in Chennai, blending dance and music to rethink tradition

Chennai: Dancer Divya Devaguptapu and musician Ranjani Ramakrishnan have set out on a distinctive path, bringing their work together under a shared banner — Niyantri.

A glimpse of the vision underpinning this initiative was revealed at its thoughtfully curated launch, held recently at the M.S. Subbulakshmi Auditorium at the Asian College of Journalism.

Niyantri aims to create interdisciplinary work at the intersection of classical dance, Carnatic music, and contemporary thought. The launch featured short performances and a discussion on how traditional forms can converse with present-day questions of form, authorship, and audience.

Devaguptapu, a Bharatanatyam soloist known for her text-driven choreography, and Ramakrishnan, a Carnatic vocalist and researcher, said Niyantri will function as both a performance company and a lab for collaboration.