The eyes that imagined…
She lead us to see through her kohl painted dark eyes… the divine eyes that conjured the world, the awesome gaze that vanquished evil, the alluring eye that inspired poets, and many an eye that spoke of passion and devotion…. eyes that can love, eyes that can endlessly wait and eyes that can seek the cosmic light… Danseuse Ananda Shankar Jayant thus weaves this blissful tale of Vision, showing the audience- the lucid liaison of the eye and the minds’ eye, what she herself christens as “sight and insight”. The dance production was indeed a unique work of art, one, because it was a rare theme to delve in the language of dance and, two, because it was produced for a purpose, a cause that not only complements the concepts of eye donations but also the in-depth scientific research on eye. The outcome-a symbiotic relationship between science and art, the former in a modernistic quest and the latter a creative reflection bridging the gap of what Vision means to mankind...- Pratima Sagar, www.narthaki.com, March 2005

It was a performance with a purpose addressed most aesthetically to a diverse audience. 'Darshanam' is not just 'an ode to the eye': it is a tribute to vision in more ways than one. Ananda Shankar Jayant and her team, Shankarananda Kalakshetra, chose the Bharatanatyam idiom to conceptualize the countless connotations that the faculty of sight could be vested with in the Indian context. Taking recourse to ancient literature and mythology as well, choreographer Ananda culled out meaningful verses from Kalidasa, Adi Sankara, Surdas, the Bhagavad Gita and a few from Tamil poetry. These were carefully crafted into coherent thematic composition that was encapsulated into the Bharatanatyam module. The focus was not allowed to slip at any point of time, it only shifted from the realms of the physical to the sublime. Distinctive choreography, interlaced with a briefing in English and a metaphoric costume designed with artistry, lent an intellectual aura to the entire presentation.- Ranee Kumar, The Hindu, February 2005

This is to congratulate you all on a magnificent performance of Darshanam at IHC, New Delhi on March 16th 2008. The whole performance was flawless, inspiring and soul lifting, it captured time, converted ‘KAL’ into ‘AKAL’, for me it was a pilgrimage to ‘OM NAMO SHIVA’, in person, the Bharatanatyam onstage, Coordination Excellent, and above all vision super, a glimpse of ‘Third Eye’, I felt a shower of ‘Ram Ras’ and Natraja’s grace.

May SHIVA bless you all to expose and preach his mission to two eyed creatures in human body, I feel a lucky person to be at ‘DARSHANAM’.- Harbhajan singh (Retd), NOIDA

Choreographic excellence-A production and a concept that gets seamlessly merged, taking the viewers along from the physical to the spiritual plane. Indeed a visual pleasure and a touching experience. Darshanam comes across as a mature output of poetic, philosophicaland artistic understanding. - Ranee Kumar, The Hindu, 22 August 2008