Poet Anupama Raju and Bharatanatyam dancer Rajashree Warrier discuss their collaborative production
Poet Anupama Raju and Bharatanatyam dancer Rajashree Warrier have collaborated on a production titled 'NINE – Our Circle of Lines' to interpret the nine rasas of the Natyashastra. The performance blends poetry, movement, and music to explore emotions like fear and disgust through a contemporary lens.
Why it matters
The project represents a modern evolution of classical Indian art forms, demonstrating how traditional structures can be adapted for contemporary storytelling.
Can the navarasa or nine emotions in Bharatamuni’s Natyashastra be interpreted differently? Ten years ago, writer Anupama Raju presented these rasas in a new light, in her book, Nine, as a series of triolets (eight-line poems using a strict rhyme and repetition structure). Years later when she thought of giving an interpretation to these poems through dance, she found a collaborator in the multifaceted Bharatanatyam exponent Rajashree Warrier. The result was the production, NINE – Our Circle of Lines, which blends ‘poetry, movement, music and space to explore these powerful emotions’. It premiered at the annual Kerala Literary Festival (KLF) at Kozhikode in January 2025, with a second staging in Kolkata in December. This weekend, they will take the stage at Bengaluru Poetry Festival.
Anupama Raju (left) and Rajashree Warrier | Photo Credit: Bichoo
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