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“Shhh… Listen!”
A Multidisciplinary Performance
Part of the Coexistence Mela
Performers
Beneath the rhythm of drums and the sweep of dance, a quiet plea rises from the marshes, the reeds, and the frog king.
Shhh… Listen! is a powerful, multidisciplinary performance that gives voice to the voiceless: our vanishing wetlands, their unseen creatures, and the communities most affected by their loss. At its heart lies a tale of beauty and loss: a vibrant marshland silenced by pollution and bulldozers, yet still whispering a call to renewal. Through music, movement, and myth, Shhh… Listen! reminds us that the wetlands are not wastelands, but living, breathing worlds, waiting to be heard again.
Through Kattaikkuttu, Parai, Oyilattam, Oppari, and Bharatanatyam, performers from historically marginalised communities embody both the living pulse of nature and the pain of its erasure. Their art, rooted in resilience and reverence, becomes an act of remembrance and protest, linking ecological destruction with social injustice.
At once an ecological lament and a deeply human one, Shhh… Listen! bridges the fates of land and life. A poetic call to listen anew; to the whispers of the earth, the silenced voices of its keepers, and the music that still stirs beneath the mud and rain.
Credits
Artistic Director: Sangeeta Isvaran
Script: Shrilakshmi Sridhar, Sangeeta Isvaran
Lyrics: Thilagavathi Palani
Performaned by: The Katradi Youth Dance Theatre
This performance is part of the larger Coexistence Mela at BIC on Nov 22 and 23. You can find the complete program here.
Presented by:
Performers
Sangeeta Isvaran
Sangeeta Isvaran is a Bharatanatyam and Contemporary performer, choreographer, teaching artist, and social activist whose work spans over 35 countries across five continents. A pioneer in using the arts for education, empowerment, and conflict resolution, her work has touched over a million lives. She is the Founder of the Wind Dancers Trust (Katradi) and creator of the Katradi Method of Empathy-Based Social Transformation. Recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar and several international fellowships, Sangeeta’s initiatives, such as Lorry Lolakku (Mobile Theatre for Social Justice) and She Matters! (Radical Immersion Leadership Camps), use art to build empathy, agency, and community.
Katradi
Katradi brings together artists, educators, and changemakers passionate about social transformation. The collective designs innovative, experiential art-based strategies to challenge prejudice, nurture empathy, and bridge divides of caste, community, and gender. By using performance, play, and storytelling, Katradi creates spaces for reflection and dialogue: encouraging individuals to step beyond comfort zones and participate in building more compassionate, inclusive societies.
