Based on the inspirational life of Guru Rukmini Devi Arundale and her revolutionary movement that liberated temple dance into modern Indian Dance, Bharat Natyam

• She was the pioneer. Rukmini Arundale is a name of movement and revolution who liberated the traditional temple dance form, which was caged in the sanctorum of grand south-Indian temples for centuries.
• The most important revivalist of ‘Bharat Natyam’ from its original ‘sadhir’ style prevalent amongst the temple dancers, the Devadasis. She also worked for the re-establishment of traditional Indian arts and crafts.
• Being a theosophist and an ardent follower of famous theosophist, Dr. Annie Besant, she was brought up in a family of paradox—a family that garlanded the atheist philosophy though the family was very much prude and tradition-oriented in social approach. She cohesively worked for the Theosophical Society of Adyar, Tamil Nadu, to serve mankind. Rukmini was an avid animal lover and her motto was to create a movement in British India to stop all sorts of cruelty against animals. Her meeting with the prominent British theosophist Dr George Arundale—a close associate of Annie Besant and later the Principal of the Central Hindu College in Varanasi—led to her building a lasting bond with him.
• Rukmini, fighting all social dogma and resistance of orthodox representation, established an ashram of dance named ‘Kalakshetra’ at Adyar, Chennai; this pristine institute later produced many notable dancers of ‘Bharat Natyam’—a renaming of the former form of ‘Sadhir’ which brought Rukmini and her Kalashetra worldwide fame and recognition. Rukmini produced some noteworthy Indian theatrical dance productions employing modern Indian stage techniques and technological development of stage equipment but remained true to the rooted tradition of Indian classical dance.
• She was a nominated upper house member of Indian Parliament and instrumental in passing the historic ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act’, 1962 and chaired the Government of India’s first Animal Welfare Board till her demise in 1986. She was doubly approached to become the Honourable President of India, which firmly but humbly refused to dedicate her life for the cause od Indian dance and culture.
• ‘Chhandey Chhandey’ is a hundred-member dance troupe of Halisahar, West Bengal; Halisahar is a centuries’ old business and cultural hamlet which had a laudable contribution in the cultural tradition of the country. The Troupe’s director, Susmita Bhattachharjee, hand-picked a very young thespian, Srijak Chatterjee, to direct the play and create the magical interpretation through set and light. The play showcases the incredible journey of Rukmini Devi Arundale, which was never attempted before as a biography through dance and theatrical languages. The play is written by Shibashis Bandyopadhyay and Piyali Das Chowdhury; several senior dancers are involved in this production to carry out pivotal roles. The production contains a complete new form in which dance is expressed through post-modern theatre techniques.

It is Chhandey Chhandey’s humble tribute to the genius of Guru Rukmini Arundale, her time and contemporaries, including danseuse Anna Pavlova, Guru Bala Saraswati and even, Rabindranath Tagore.