Speaking tree: Bharatanatyam dancer Malavika Sarukkai’s ‘Beeja’

For her, the impulse to create new work comes from observations of the world around her. When she is stirred to speak, she does that through Bharatanatyam — the language of her dance.

As Padma Shri awardee Malavika Sarukkai showcased ‘Beeja — Earth Seed’ in Delhi a few days ago, the production had to resonate — considering the fact that media headlines have been dominated by floods, cloudbursts and landslides in the northern part of the country lately. The artiste recalls that for the past 50 years, one has been witnessing a catastrophic destruction of the environment at the cost of ‘production’, with alarming results from all over the world, including India. She says it was important for her to reflect that and more in her artistic expression.

The production witnessed recorded music ama