Anupama Raju and Rajashree Warrier bring ‘NINE’; A dialogue of poetry and Bharatanatyam
Bengaluru: Poet Anupama Raju and Bharatanatyam dancer Rajashree Warrier are set to stage their collaborative production NINE — Our Circle of Lines at the Bengaluru Poetry Festival on August 1.
The performance blends poetry, dance, music and space to reinterpret the navarasa — the nine emotions described in Bharatamuni’s Natyashastra.
The idea began a decade ago when Raju published Nine, a book of triolets that presented the nine rasas in a new light. Years later, she wanted to give those poems a physical form and found a collaborator in Warrier.
The result premiered at the Kerala Literary Festival in Kozhikode in January 2025, followed by a staging in Kolkata in December. For the production, the duo chose to focus on three rasas: shringaram (love), bibhatsam (disgust/aversion) and bhayanakam (fear).
The stage becomes a conversation. Raju recites a verse on a rasa, Warrier interprets it through movement, and Raju responds with a new poem.“It is like a dialogue between us, with me using words and Rajashree, movements,” Raju said.
Both artists are celebrated in their fields, and NINE — Our Circle of Lines marks their attempt to explore powerful emotions through the interplay of spoken word and classical dance.
