The Abduction of Sita

Artistic director: Joachim Schlömer
Artists: writers: Arundhati Roy (IND); Vijay Vaitheeswaran (USA), Jyatindra Jain (IND) and others
Dancers: Graham Smith, Tishani Doshi (IND), Joachim Schlömer
Actors: Marianne Hamre, Manisch Chandhari (IND)
Musicians: Dhruv Sargari (IND), Robert Hermann

Venues:
Auroville (IND): 5 Apr. 2007 preliminary showing
Freiburg: Theater Freiburg: 19 Jun. 2007
Düsseldorf: Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf: 16. Jun. 2007
Berlin: Haus der Kulturen der Welt: 29 Jun. 2007
Additional performances at the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf.


The Ramayana and the Mahbharata are two of the oldest Indian national epics, both of which were written sometime between 400 BC and 200 AD. The beautifully poetic Ramayana tells the story of Prince Rama and the abduction of his wife Sita. The project The Abduction of Sita built a bridge between the Rama myth and the political and social reality of present-day India. Choreographer Joachim Schlömer combined excerpts of the Ramayana with texts by the well-known Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy in such a way that the transition between dance, language and music illustrated the smooth change between the mythical realm and the real world.