Many of us have grown up with stories like the ones in the Panchatantra (Indian traditional animal fables in verse and prose) etched in our minds. Often these stories are narrated to us by our grandparents with rather animated expressions, or we have been reading them over and again in Amar Chitra Katha (a comic book retelling stories of Indian mythology).

The origin of the Panchatantra is interesting. In the 2nd century BC, a scholar named Vishnu Sharma was assigned the task of implanting moral values and governing skills in young princes. In a matter of six months, he completed his task and created a compilation of stories of animals and, sometimes, men. The main characters in these timeless tales are sketched around the concepts of friendship, intelligence, humour, wit, bravery, vile, greed, foolishness and unity, which makes them relevant even in the current times.

These very stories find their way to the stage in a dance production called "Dancing Tales Panchatantra" by famous Hyderabad music and dance institution Shankarananda Kalakshetra. This is how the choreographer, Ananda Shankar Jayant, explains the work: “A few years ago I revisited some of these stories and I was tickled and inspired with the antics of the various characters. I decided to translate these stories into dance because they contain centuries of wisdom, compressed into funny and innocuously small fables.”  

During the performance, the viewer is invited inside the jungle and can only wait with bated breath as anything can happen: monkeys can pry around mischievously and play pranks, rabbits can skip hop and play around and devise a scheme to outwit the mighty lion king, cranes can get together and orchestrate a ballet, crocodiles can swish their tails and get wicked, doves can fly together and emphasise their freedom.   

The production is a seamless and aesthetic blend of contemporary as well as traditional dance. The basic dance style comprises of mixed flavours of Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi and Kathakali which complement each other and eventually work in tandem with the theme. The whole performance lays a great emphasis on expression, movement and body language depicting the mood and gait of the characters in the story, with excellent support from lilting instrumental music and narrative which provides introduction and context.  

Another element deserving of a special mention is certainly the costume design. While it is effectively suggestive of the various animals in stories, it is neither overdone nor does it hamper the movement of the artistes in any way. The audience can't but wonder how a hare transforms into a monkey and then a crane so quickly. The base design is an off-white blouse coupled with a patiyala salwar and a jute waist band, and for different characters the performers wear overcoats of different colours and shapes to represent the animal in the character. Where necessary, a few accessories like braided drapes are added, for instance to represent the tails of crocodiles or monkeys.

The Panchatantra ballet holds the audience spellbound and ignites the curiosity of many young minds and brings a sense of nostalgia to the grown-ups. The production showcases the spirit and wisdom of the timeless tales of Panchatantra with great energy and quality in dance. Indeed, this performance underlines the fact that art is refined form or story-telling.