The Return of Spring

1990

A dance‑drama based on the 4th century work of the poet Kalidasa. Akademi’s second production, produced under the name Academy of Indian Dance.

In 1986-87 the Academy of Indian Dance produced The Return of Spring, a dance-drama based on the 4th century work of the poet Kalidasa, a classical poet of the North Indian Gupta Empire (ca. AD 320-550).

The Return of Spring is originally a completely Sanskrit work without music or lyrics, portraying medieval South Indian oral epics and devotional poetry. In order to make the production more accessible to the audience, Sita Narasimhan, who played a character in the dance drama, also acted as a narrator, the sootradhar, who gave summary explanations of the plot in English.

In this production the styles of classical Indian dance and the folk dance of southern India merge, portraying a dramatic tale of love and war against the richness of Indian mythology.