Shyama

Presented by Vancouver Tagore Society, in partnership with Mandala Arts & Culture Society in 2015, Rabindranath Tagore’s epic dance drama Shyama has been beautifully adapted and has been given an entirely new outlook by the dancer Arno Kamolika in her solo bharata-natyam production. Steering away from traditional repertoires of bharata-natyam, this experimental piece uses this renowned Indian classical dance form to express the story. Arno, through her expressive dancing and facial expressions, portrays all the characters of this play as a solo performer. The production is choreographed by Jai Govinda and original music is recorded at Chhayanaut Studio, Dhaka. This production was also reimagined in an ensemble work which was presented by Diwali in BC at The Cultch in 2018.

This romantic tragedy of Tagore is based on around the story of Shyama, a powerful royal court dancer. Shyama falls in love with a foreign merchant Bojrosen, who is falsely imprisoned by royal guard Kotal. She travels great lengths to save her love from unjust execution. Uttiyo, a young admirer of Shyama who loves her silently from a distance, offers his own life to save Bojrosen. Shyama gives him the royal ring as a token of gratitude but fails to save him from king’s guard. Shyama frees Bojrosen from imprisonment and runs away with him to unknown lands, leaving all the comfort and prestige of the royal palace. But her love and her desire are thwarted when Bojrosen, a man of strict principle, is unable to appreciate what Shyama has done to save his life and is unable to show sympathy for her. He is torn between rejecting her as a sinful woman and accepting Shyama’s intense love for him- a love that made her forget the norms of ethics and morality.