Muckatira Shilpa Nanjappa from Kodagu has been invited to present her acclaimed Bharatanatyam production ‘Tales in Kodava’ at the coveted Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai on 28th February, 2025 at 7:30pm. Through this production she brings alive the stories of Kodagu, the unique cultural heritage of the Kodavas and the poetic glory of Kodava Thakk, a language deemed to vanish by the turn of this century.
The Kodava language and culture is perched on fragile grounds. It was this precarious prediction that drove Shilpa into research work over a decade ago, when she started adapting Kodava compositions in Carnatic music format and Bharatanatyam. She went one step further and began codifying, notating, translating and transcreating Kodava poems so that the entire dance fraternity has access to the language. Her work has broken the barriers that were keeping the language within the community and has to date been used by dancers across India and the USA. “My work reached the US before I could”, she says with a confident smile.
Shilpa is the pioneer (first in the world) in adapting a tribe’s language, culture and rituals into Bharatanatyam. She is the first Kodavathi to be invited to perform at NMACC- the best space for Art in India at the moment. When she’s asked how it feels to be a pioneer, she is quick to say, “There have been many ‘firsts’, but I don’t dwell on it. Of course, I feel honoured and privileged but in this case, I am not presenting a traditional Bharatanatyam repertoire. This production is about my land, its people, the waters, the psyche, the culture and heritage. There is no space for ‘me’. I prefer the focus to be on the fact that a coveted platform like NMACC has joined hands in preserving and popularising the fragile yet unique tapestry of Kodavas and Kodagu. This kind of recognition from a world class organisation which hosts the best of Art is a massive nod towards the need to preserve and propagate endangered cultures of India. I feel motivated to carry on this work in the years to come.”
Shilpa has been living in Kodagu since 17 years, working on both performances and research work related to dance. When asked how she has kept up with her career, she shares, “It has been difficult to pursue dance but never impossible. I have had the best family support throughout and my friends and supporters are always rooting for me. Staying in a rural area definitely has its own advantages and disadvantages. The hills and trees feed my creativity, the quietude brightens my thought process but the distance makes for a lot of advanced planning and organising. The values instilled in me by my elders have helped me stay grounded and focused.”
Shilpa’s dedicated efforts to preserve the Kodava heritage was recognised by the Government of India and she was awarded the prestigious Junior Research Fellowship 2019-21 from CCRT for an Outstanding Artist pursuing research.
To watch ‘Tales in Kodava’ at NMACC, Mumbai book your tickets at https://nmacc.com/performing-arts/tales-in-kodava-by-shilpa-nanjappa
