Interview | Jyotsna Shourie And Aneesha Grover From Keelaka On The Mudra of Friendship And The Future Of Bharatanatyam
They merge Bharatanatyam with Kathak and Chau, weave Carnatic ragas with Western chords, add English dialogues, and even break the fourth wall.
Published : August 23, 2025 at 4:59 PM IST
Some partnerships feel inevitable. Lennon and McCartney. Batman and Robin. Add to that list: Jyotsna Shourie and Aneesha Grover, who decided, after years of student-guru bonding, to fuse their energies into something quite different: the Keelaka Dance Company situated in Delhi.
If you’ve ever wondered what Bharatanatyam would look like if it shook hands with immersive theatre, fashion design, and the odd dose of bold experimentation... that’s what Keelaka is. The name says it all: Keelaka, literally “friendship,” is a mudra where the little fingers lock and cross. Small gesture, big meaning.
“We wanted to keep Bharatanatyam alive and relevant,” says Jyotsna, who is also founder of the Jyotsna Shourie Dance Company and a classical dancer with a formidable career behind her. “But relevant not just to connoisseurs. To the curious ones as well. Aneesha brought in the temperament of a younger generation.” Hence the name. Aneesha, who has danced with Jyotsna for over 25 years, adds: “It was about telling stories differently. About widening the frontiers of Bharatanatyam without breaking its soul.”
Why Stand Still When You Can Dance Through Walls?
Bharatanatyam, of course, has been around for centuries. It’s structured, codified, and absolutely beautiful but, as Jyotsna puts it, “if you stand still, you stagnate.” Which is why Keelaka productions don’t always look like the temple dance you may have in your mind.
They merge Bharatanatyam with Kathak and Chau. They weave Carnatic ragas with Western chords. They add English dialogues, theatrical sets, moody lighting, and elaborate costumes. They even break the fourth wall in Echoes of Time, a performance where audiences move through different rooms and eras of mythology.
“I always wanted to create an interactive classical dance piece, something along the lines of Sleep No More (created by British Theatre company Punchdrunk),” says Aneesha. “The audience walking through the Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali Yugas in Echoes of Time... it shifts the whole emotional dynamic.” Jyotsna agrees: “Dance need not be confined to certain spaces. The blurring of line between performer and audience is actually quite thrilling.”
Keelaka works because it balances tradition and invention, often through a bit of creative tension. “Jyotsna ma’am brings decades of classical rigor,” says Aneesha. “I bring curiosity about re-layering the form. Sometimes that clashes, sometimes it’s a conversation. But always, it sharpens the work.”
Jyotsna says: “Our productions are still 70 percent rooted in Bharatanatyam vocabulary. Nritta, abhinaya, rhythm, scripture. But the rest we borrow, we blend. We make sure the art doesn’t stretch out of shape but gets lined with new ideas.”
When Couture Meets Classical
If you’re picturing an austere stage with temple bells in the background, think again. Keelaka collaborates with fashion designers and labels like Gaurav Gupta, Ogaan, and Raw Mango. Not for glamour, but for dialogue.
“With couture designer Gaurav Gupta, it was about exploring how movement and sculpture interact,” says Aneesha. “His designs have this fluid futurism that echoed our themes of time and transformation. The costumes weren’t just costumes; they were extensions of choreography.” Raw Mango, on the other hand, brought tactile handloom energy into play, linking textiles and tradition. “These collaborations expand the context in which Keelaka’s work lives,” she says.
Dream Projects and Moonlit Oceans
The company has toured across India and abroad. Which audience surprised them most? Jyotsna refuses to pick one. “We are overawed everywhere,” she says. “People appreciate when a production remains classical at heart yet speaks a new language.” But when it comes to the digital space (Instagram reels, YouTube shorts) Jyotsna throws up her hands. “I feel handicapped,” she admits. “It’s Aneesha who takes charge there.” Aneesha laughs: “That’s our partnership. She grounds us in tradition, I push us into contemporary spaces. That’s the balance.”
Every artist dreams of the unconstrained stage. Jyotsna’s version? “A full moon night, the ocean as backdrop, the finest musicians playing extempore while my team of dancers responds in rhythm... building to a crescendo of rasa.” It sounds both extravagant and simple. Much like Keelaka itself: a friendship mudra transformed into an evolving dialogue between tradition and experiment, between guru and disciple, between the ancient and the now.
As Aneesha says, “Keelaka thrives on intergenerational dialogue. That’s the pulse of our work.”
Read more:
- Interview | Padma Shri Geeta Chandran Is Building A New Classical Dance Gurukul, Inclusive, Rigorous, And Rooted In Modern India
- Manjari Chaturvedi On Turning Sufi Kathak Into Cultural Activism
- Kathak’s Evolution Through Classical Danseuse Neeti Jain's Eyes
- Interview With Dance Maestro Sanjeet Gangani of the Jaipur Gharana on Taking Kathak to the World Stage
