Co-produced by the Aga Khan Museum and Toronto-based dance company Pratibha Arts, Tarana is a video project focused on engaging audiences with South Asian dance while equipping viewers with educational tools to further the awareness and appreciation of the Kathak tradition.
This piece evokes emotional responses in both the performer and the audience by enacting the Navarasas - imagining them as emotions through Mudras and Abhinaya, hand gestures and facial expressions.
The nine emotions in the human experience, as identified in the Natya Shastra, a 2000-year-old treatise on South Asian classical dance, are, Sringara (Love), Adbhuta (Wonder), Bhaya (Fear), Veera (Bravery), Raudra (Anger), Bibhatsa (Disgust), Karuna (Sorrow), Hasya (Laughter) and Shanti (Peace).