An experimental Bharatanatyam work on crisis, climate and connection.
The Sarvavidya Dance Ensemble returns to the Lesedi Stage at the Joburg Theatre with Bhumi, a bold reimagining of its experimental Bharatanatyam production for a world in crisis.
Meaning Earth in Sanskrit, Bhumi explores humanity’s changing relationship with the natural world, and with one another. First staged in 2023 in response to the escalating climate crisis, the production returns three years later to a world transformed by accelerating climate disruption, devastating wars, extraordinary advances in artificial intelligence, and deepening concentrations of economic, political and technological power.
Drawing on the ancient vocabulary of Bharatanatyam, Bhumi brings Indian classical dance into conversation with contemporary music, spoken word and theatrical storytelling. The result is a work that moves between beauty and destruction, rage and grief, resistance and hope.
This production is a meditation on the climate crisis and an examination of power, responsibility and human connection. Bhumi asks audiences to confront not only the world we have created, but who we are becoming within it.
