The third edition of The Feet on Earth Festival, to be held in Hyderabad this weekend, invites visitors to participate in a session of tree walk and storytelling. The baobab tree at the venue — Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet — is among the oldest in the country and the festival will attempt to touch upon how trees are associated with folk or mythological tales. The festival curated by dancer Pujita Krishna is on the theme of vriksha (tree).
Since its inception, Pujita intended The Feet on Earth Festival as a cultural initiative promoting dance and the connection between the form, the practitioner and the earth. “The idea was to bring together arts, culture, history and ecology.”
Armed with a master’s degree in Fine Arts, specialising in dance from the University of California, Pujita honed her skills in Indian classical forms Vilasini Natyam and Kuchipudi and Western styles of modern, jazz and flamenco.
This year’s festival will feature dance presentations by well known and emerging artists. One of the highlights will be the Uurti Kott Patt, an indigenous performance by the Kudiya tribe from Coorg, Karnataka. Hyderabad-based Srividya Anish will present the traditional Nruthyahari. Among the mainstream dance presentations, the festival will feature Kathak by Aditi Bhagwat from Mumbai and Shilpanatanam by Maya Kulkarni and Mesma Belsare from the USA.
The line-up includes contemporary expressions of Kuchipudi and other innovative features such as Shalabhanjika Krida, inspired by a traditional sport played when the Shala trees were in full bloom; this will be an interactive performance with the participation of the audiences.
Hyderabad-based naturalist and researcher Kobita Dass Kolli will lead the tree walk and the session will culminate in an experiential movement performance named Radish by Kriti Stories. The venue will also display Tree of Life paintings by Bhaskar Rao Botcha.
Pujita Krishna
Pujita Krishna’s will be a 45-minute solo performance of dance, drama and dialogue named Vriksha Sakhi (friend of the tree), inspired by the concept of ‘dohada’, which she describes as “the magical or mystical longing of a tree, particularly one that can be fulfilled by the touch or presence of a beautiful woman.”
A woman’s embrace is considered to awaken the spirit of the tree, encouraging it to flourish. Pujita explains that this poetic imagery symbolises the interconnectedness of nature and the divine feminine, where the woman’s touch serves as a catalyst for the tree’s growth, underscoring themes of fertility, abundance, and nature’s responsiveness to love and beauty.
Vriksha Sakhi will present theories of how in ancient lore, the yakshis were revered as ethereal feminine spirits intertwined with the essence of the forest, embodying both its beauty and its guardianship. “These enchanting beings are immortalised in temple friezes, depicted as graceful women entwined with tree branches — known as shalabhanjikas,” says Pujita. Lores such as these will be presented through the retelling of the Kannada folk tale, A Flowering Tree.
(The Feet on Earth Festival will be held at Hyderabad Public School, January 18 and 19; 5pm onwards. Entry is free)
Published – January 15, 2025 03:30 pm IST
The Hindu MetroPlus
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dance
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folk dance
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arts, culture and entertainment
