These women are trying to reclaim public spaces, one dance at a time

Classical dances are usually opulent, stiff and formal affairs to be performed on stage. Rarely do you imagine or see people perform these art forms in an informal setting, let alone in busy alleys and street corners. But a new documentary series called Bharatnatyam In The Wild is attempting to do just that. In the series, classically trained Swathi Gangadharan, along with Aishwarya and Priyanka Kali, as well as Tirna Sengupta, take the streets and break into spontaneous dance.

The series is an exercise in reclamation—of the streets, of their own bodies, of their agency and of Bharatnatyam of-course.

Check it out below.

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Filming after a hiatus of more than half a year was a tumultuous affair. Turns out, the thick skin we had grown so assiduously over the course of this project had a tendency to erode away due to disuse. We spent a lot of time thinking and then over-thinking but we were still so dissatisfied with our sub par effort that we then filmed a second video to string together with the first, and here's the result, for better or for worse. Dancer – @swathi_ganga Filmed by @priyankakali and @aishwaryakali Edited by @aishwaryakali #BharatanatyamInTheWild #dancersofinstagram #dance #dancefilm #artofmovement #cinedance #screendance #danceoncamera #bharatanatyam #videography #videographer #videooftheday #videogram #videoart #videoinstagram #publicspaces #spacesaregendered #feminist #reclaimingspaces #urbanjungle #thewild #kolkata #street #dancevideo #bharatnatyam #nofilter #DIYfilmmaking

A post shared by Bharatanatyam in the Wild (@bharatanatyam_in_the_wild) on Jan 31, 2018 at 2:38am PST

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