Solo Work

Devi (2023)

Devi addresses the historical disconnect between how literature paints womanhood & how women are treated in the real world with a woman – centered repertoire in Bharatanatyam that includes stories of complex historical and Hindu scriptural personalities.

The pivotal piece Devi, is an experimental work in Bharatanatyam that juxtaposes perceptions of ideal womanhood with a counter-narrative involving dance, live-music & spoken word. The counter-narrative was collaborative scripted by Gender Studies scholar, Dr. Debajani Chakravarty.

Devi was supported by a Tier I Individual Artist Career Empowerment Grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council to Jyothsna Sainath. It was presented in collaboration with Nitya Nritya Foundation.

Concept and Choreography: Jyothsna Sainath

Script: Dr. Debjani Chakravarty & Jyothsna Sainath

Live Music Ensemble:

Voice: Supraja Ranganathan

Pakhawaj: Debanjan Bhattacharjee

Voice: Dr. Ruma Chopra

Sangam (2022-23)

Sangam was a year-long project that culminated in the telling of a string of fables through Bharatanatyam; Indian, Greek and Native American to freshly created music at the intersection of Indian classical music, percussion from around the world and Native American flute.

Sangam was made possible because of a Tier I Individual Artist Career Empowerment Grant of 2022 from Salt Lake City Arts Council to Jyothsna Sainath.

Sangam was undertaken collaboratively with Nitya Nritya Foundation. Details at: https://nityanritya.com/sangam/

Cats And a Hat (2022)

An adaptation of the beloved Dr. Seuss story, The Cat in the Hat, this is an experiment geared to entertain through Bharatanatyam with stories of universal appeal given the varied milieus in which the dance form thrives today. Kudos to Jasmine Stack for her inputs as a dancer and film editor!

Lead Me to Light (2021)

A short film in memory of the tragedy of September 11th. This is a collaboration with film-maker Sudipta Maity and was produced by Nitya Nritya Foundation toward the stream of the 5th Annual Nitya Nritya Festival in September 2021.

Chaya - Bateria: Contours and Sounds (2021)

An ensemble screen dance project in collaboration with percussionist Wachira Waigwa-Stone and film-maker Parth Dudhiya, this was produced by the Nitya Nritya Foundation as part of its on-going series of short films, Arpana.

Perspectives (2018)

The “Rashomon Effect”, so named after the 1950 Kurosawa movie “Rashomon”, refers to the notion that an individual's perception is colored by what that individual is attuned to perceiving. In other words, we see what we want to see!

In a light hearted adaptation of this concept, students of Nitya Nritya Dance Company presented an everyday playground event from three different perspectives and then left the audience to choose their own!

Jyothsna Sainath collaborated with musicians local to the Salt Lake valley to create original music for the production.

Script and Choreography: Jyothsna Sainath

Music Composition and Arrangement: Samathmika Balaji and Shravanthi Manohar

Live Music Ensemble:

Voice: Samathmika Balaji and Shravanthi Manohar

Nattuvangam: Jyothsna Sainath

Mridangam: Jai Appaji

Violin: Maya Iyer

Voice-over: Vishal Jammulapati

Tala Bhedam - One Dance, Many Rhythms (2018)

An unusual ensemble repertoire in which each piece was characterized by rhythm and melodic shifts.

Concept and Choreography: Jyothsna Sainath

Live Music Ensemble:

Voice: Aditya Kanukurthy

Nattuvangam: Jyothsna Sainath

Mridangam: Jai Appaji

Violin: Maya Iyer

Panchatantra - Fables from India (2017)

“Panchatantra - Fables from India”

The Panchatantra is an ancient Sanskrit text of fables that teach principles of morality, friendship, statecraft and diplomacy through animal and other fables. Dated to be at least 2000 years old, this text is attributed to the scholar Vishnu Sharma who, as records suggest, employed story telling as a means to educating three young princes of the ancient city of Mahilaropya. Five stories from Panchatantra were presented as part of the production, carefully chosen to reflect universal values of co-existence, friendship, love and mutual acceptance. These were presented mostly by young students of the Nitya Nritya Dance Company in September 2017.

Jyothsna Sainath collaborated with musicians from within and outside the Salt Lake valley to score original music.

Credits:

Concept, Script and Choreography: Jyothsna Sainath

Melodic Compositions: Snigdha Venkataramani and Anabil Chaudhury

Rhythmic Compositions: Jyothsna Sainath and Debanjan Bhattacharya.

Live Musical Ensemble:

Voice: Shruti Aravindan

Nattuvangam: Jyothsna Sainath

Tabla: Debanjan Bhattacharya

Violin: Anabil Chaudhury

Voice-overs: Vishal Jammulapati

Mridangam: Jai Appaji