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A Woman’s Mind
Ahalya’s Tale Retold
For Ages 18+
Artistes
Ahalya was created by Brahma as an impossibly beautiful woman. A besotted Indra seduces her in the guise of Gautama, her husband. Although Ahalya sees through his deception, she chooses to submit to her passions, only to face its consequences.
Conceived and performed by Shereen Saif and directed by Michael Harvey in collaboration with musicians Ganesh Desai, Jagadeesh Kurthkoti and Niranjan Hegde, the show interweaves live music and dance with contemporary storytelling to spotlight a woman who was deviant from the cultural image that was construed for women of her times.
Through a retelling of this ancient myth, the production explores traditional values in a modern world through the themes of: love and loyalty, marriage and morals, desire and deceit, rage, revenge and repentance.
Credits:
Creator & Performer: Shereen Saif
Director: Michael Harvey
Music Director: Jogiraj Sikidar
Musicians: Ganesh Desai (vocalist), Jagadeesh Kurthkoti (tabla), Niranjan Hegde (flute)
Lighting Designer: Charles B.
Supported by:
Artistes
Shereen Saif
Based between Bangalore and Dubai, Shereen is a multi-disciplinary artist with a practice that spans dance, theatre, storytelling, voice acting and conceptual art. Her movement vocabulary draws from her training in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kathak, while her craft as an actor has been shaped by several influences particularly her training in India at Natanakairali and Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research.
An Alumna of Kathalaya’s International Academy of storytelling and mentored by Paola Balbi, Artistic Director of Raccontamiunastoria, and award-winning storyteller Michael Harvey, Shereen is known for her physical storytelling style that integrates elements of music, dance and theatre.
Featured as one of 40 Power Players in the UAE and awarded the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship (2021), Shereen has performed widely in the UAE, India and abroad.
Michael Harvey
Michael has told stories both as a solo performer and with other artists throughout the UK and Europe as well festivals in North and South America. Most of his work is in either English or Welsh and occasionally both at the same time!
He draws particular inspiration from the Welsh oral heritage and landscape and combines depth of material with lightness of delivery, minted fresh for every audience. In 2011 he was awarded a Major Creative Wales Award and took part in the 3rd Labo (experimental group) at La Maison du Conte in Paris.
In 2012 he won a BASE (British Awards for Storytelling Excellence) Award for Hunting the Giant’s Daughter (based on the ancient Welsh tale Culhwch ac Olwen with music and song). The same team toured Dreaming the Night Field, in the UK, Europe and Australia with storytelling production company Adverse Camber. Michael is the author of the amazon kindle #1 bestseller Celtic Folktales of Wales.
Ganesh Desai
Ganesh is a renowned Hindustani vocalist, Music composer and tutor. He has composed and directed music for mega serials, dance ballets, art movies, choirs and live shows and performed widely both nationally and internationally.
He has been active as a Vocalist & Play back singer since 2002 and has performed widely both nationally and internationally in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Bahrain & Singapore.
A B-High Grade Vocalist (All India Radio), Ganesh is the Founder & Artistic Director of Bangalore based SamaRasa Foundation for Arts.
Jagadeesh Kurthkoti
Jagadeesh is versatile musician, tabla artiste, music composer and the disciple of the internationally renowned Pandit Yogesh Samsi from the Punjab Gharana of Tabla.
He is a graded artiste at All India Radio, Bengaluru, ‘Visharad’ from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal, Mumbai and receipient of ‘Swara Kala Gourav Puraskaar’ from Saraswati Sangeeta Vidyalaya, Bengaluru.
Niranjan Hegde
Niranjan hails from the culturally rich Uttara Kannada land of Manchikeri. He trained in the Gurukul tradition under Shri Nagaraj Hegde, one of the senior most disciples of Pt Venkatesh Godkhindi.
This talented youngster is a first place winner in Karnataka state level youth festival.
