O Friend, This Longing

An Exploration into the world of Nayikas (heroines) and their stories.

An evening of love lyrics, longing, contemplation, romance, music and dialogue. Meet the Nayikas to hear their stories!

'O Friend, this longing' will showcase women from the 18th and 19th century South India and the Sangam era ( 6th century BCE - 3rd century CE) and their love episodes.

Christina, draws inspiration from Notable medieval paintings such as the Mughal paintings, Ravi Varma's paintings and contemporary Artists that depict the various Nayikas of that time. The Nayika's age, place/ landscape she belonged to, the time period she lived, society and culture play a vital role in the characterisation of these women.

About the artist

Christina Prakanthan is a Bharathanatyam dance practitioner and Teacher based in Melbourne, Australia. She is the co-founder of Natyatharu school of Dance. She had her initial training in Bharathanatyam in Srilanka under distinguished gurus and completed her arangetram (debut) under Smt. Suryakala Chandrika Jeevananthan in the year 2002' in Colombo, Srilanka.

Christina continues her advanced training and mentorship under Kalaimamani Dr Lakshmi Ramaswamy founder-director of Srimudhralaya (Chennai) for the past many years.

Ms Prakanthan is a Community Leader of Melton Council and was a board member of the Intercultural advisory committee, Melton. She has served as the inaugural President of BAAVA - a teacher's association formed by Melbourne based Bharathanatyam teachers in the year 2016.

Christina conducts classes and training programmes in West Melbourne.

This show is being presented virtually. Your tickets will include a link for viewing.