Rama Devi Nalla, Founder of Sri Vari Padalu Bharatanatyam Dance Academy, is gearing up to present a Social Ballet titled ‘Shakti’, at Ravindra Bharati, on 13 November 2023 to portray the hardship and agony of the Stree Jati. Speaking exclusively to Natyahasini, ahead of the event, Rama Devi, says that she is appalled at the rising incidents against the Eve. “No women of any age are safe, be it in the four walls of her home or when she is out on the roads,” she says.
The Bharatanatyam dancer laments that even after 75 years of Independence, we still talk about protecting the women folk and extending benefits to them. “Today, even educated women are facing the same hardships that their predecessors faced,” she says. Rama Devi further says: “You pick up a newspaper and scroll down, there is crime against babies, school-going and college-going students, married women and even women as old as senior citizens are not being spared,” she says.
According to the dancer, in olden times, all of us would pray to the Goddess to wipe out our misery, “We do so today also when we celebrate Bonalu to ward off diseases, Bathukamma Festival for peace and prosperity.” She states that though the Goddess protects all of us, she has given powers to the SHE Team to bring the culprits to book and get justice for the aggrieved.
Rama Devi, who herself is a mother of two girls, has been planning on the Shakti ballet for a couple of months. In this, ballet, Rama Devi shows the journey of a girl right from her birth, when she is killed for being a girl, or acid thrown on her if she rejects someone’s advances, or burnt if she brings insufficient dowry, or raped to settle scores. The dancer has roped in the SHE Team in Hyderabad to throw light on the concept and send out a message to all young girls that SHE Team is just a call away.
Students who will be part of this Shakti ballet include: Simritha, Aakruthi, Jyothsna, Naveena, Pranathi, Shruthi, Sreshta, Karthika, Vaishnavi, Manaswini, Kavya Sri, Anika, Padmavathi, Casy, Akshitha, Thanisha and Vaishnavi.