Philosophy and folk…. an unlikely combination? Verses from the Upanishads, side by side with folk music, dance and mime... A story of a girl and a tree, and the affinity that man and nature share. This is the essence of The Living Tree; inspired by ‘The Giving Tree’, a story by Shel Silverstein, and based on an ancient Indian folk tale ‘The Mango Tree’. The setting is a typical village, a global village, where there is a young girl who develops a close affinity to a tree near her home. “…They share a common soul… they breathe as one…” The story develops from there on with a moral in it for everyone… Resenting the girl’s attachment to the tree and her seeming indifference to household chores, her sister-in-law plots to marry the girl to someone far away. The marriage takes place and the girl leaves for her husband’s home. Soon after, a drought envelopes the village; the tree is neglected, and the girl’s brother falls ill. Sensing that something is wrong, the girl rushes back. Shocked by the state of the tree and her brother, she seeks to revive them both with some water. Inexplicably both recover at once, giving credence to the nurturing aspect of relationships, and the theory expounded by ancient Hindu texts, of the existence of a common breath for all life forms- the ‘samaana’.

Total synchronization of music and dance characterizes the production and effectively reflects the setting and the mood at every turn. The dance style, and of course, the music, is mainly folk, with some Bharatanatyam, Kathak and ballroom dancing thrown in. Choreography is by Narendra, a graduate from Kalakshetra who is fast earning repute as a dancer and choreographer; he along with Mahalakshmi anchor the production as the (soul of the) tree and the ‘girl’ respectively. The other dancers are all young artists from different schools of dance in Chennai whose involvement and enthusiasm is tangible. V.S.Narasimhan deserves full marks for the musical score. The instruments used are myriad: the violin, cello, veena, flute, nadaswaram, koto (a Japanese string instrument) etc. and the percussion instruments ranged from the mridangam, to the tabla, to the yedakkai, the ghatam, etc.

Rural life as it is, is portrayed with a disarming innocence laced with humour. The mood and the sounds of village life are very realistic. …The village wakes up to the birds chirping and the cocks crowing, and the common folk going about their business of the day…. Boys and girls accidentally meet by the riverside... spontaneous bantering, laughter and dance, break out between them. The ensuing folk dance was vibrant and full of camaraderie. The youngsters all troop to school. The teacher comes in ‘...Mambalama mambalam...’ With hilarity the scene conveys the atmosphere of a village school. The focus shifts to the girl and the tree. She waters the tree everyday, speaks to it and plays with it, and even goes to sleep under the shade while the tree watches benevolently. There is a charming musical interlude with the cello, the veena, and the violin when the (soul of the) tree and the girl dance together. Herein enters some confusion when the tree seems human and the bond, more like a human relationship. Can this girl betray this young handsome (soul of the) tree and marry another?

The marriage scene has props that were simple yet tasteful and the costumes are rich and gay. The spontaneous sawaal-jawab encounter between the two families dancing in gay abandon is reflective of marriages in North India. It is truly infectious, this gaiety and the amity. The girl leaves with her husband in a make believe ‘dola’- ...a chariot with huge wheels, very creatively choreographed. The brother falls ill and a witch doctor is sent for. He tries to exorcise the illness from the man’s body to the accompaniment of sound effects that are incredible. Many percussion instruments were used together creating a resonance that filled the auditorium with reverberations and mysticism. Obviously, every aspect of the production was detailed and given attention. The lighting too deserves special mention. The costumes were tasteful and aesthetically designed by C.A.Joy, a dancer. So were the props, by dancers Anusha Natarajan and C.A.Joy. Though it was a longish ballet spanning 2hrs 15mins, it was slickly made providing entertainment all the way.