While watching a dance performance, the first look unconsciously is taken at the costume and a more careful one if the performance is classical. Classical dance costumes boast of a rich cultural backdrop; of history of a region and aesthetics attached to the dance form. Bharatanatyam, the 2000-year-old classical dance form from Tamil Nadu has an elaborate costume quintessentially made of the famous Kanchipuram silk from the Kanjeevaram town in the southern state.To trace it’s evolution over the years, a unique exhibition has been put on display at the India International Centre until June 21. Titled “When The Pleats Dance!” the exhibition is presented by Natya Vriksha and Desmania Foundation and curated by designer Sandhya Raman.Every evening, dancers perform to show the audience how the pleats dance. Displays of hair jewels and dance jewellery have added to the oeuvre.The highlight of the show is renowned classical dancer Geeta Chandran’s very first Kanchipuram silk costume which the dancer wore when she was five years old. “Today, like everything else in Bharatanatyam, costumes too are being modified to suit the changing visual aesthetics of the dance and to flatter the particular physical frame of the dancer, even while keeping a sharp eye on how the clothed body will look in motion,” she wrote in The New Indian Express in 2012.Raman has researched on how the costumes have evolved in the last four decades owing to various reasons like comfort, trend, body shape, traditional values etc. Some of the typical and traditional styles of the costumes are pyjama costume, cycle-cut costume and skirt costume which later evolved into sari style and nuanced fans, pleats and borders.The exhibition is on view at India International Centre, 40, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi till June 21Follow @ARTINFOIndia
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