06/9 2011

A Spectacle Worthy of the Taj Mahal

Contributed by Christopher Jones

Actress Lisa Ray and the Taj Mahal
After 20 years at the forefront of South Asian arts in Toronto, dancer/choreographer/producer Lata Pada knows very well that the best way to ensure success is to surround herself with the brightest possible talents. Thus, for the Luminato commission TAJ, debuting at Fleck Dance Theatre tomorrow night, Pada and her company, Sampradaya Dance Creations, have enlisted the services of playwright John Murrell, director Tom Diamond, choreographer Kumudini Lakhia, composer Praveen D. Rao, lighting and set designer Phillip Silver, Quebec-based projection designer Jacques Collin, and costume designer Rashmi Varma.

“Working with such incredibly generous, talented artists has made my job so much easier,” Pada tells me during a break in rehearsals. “I know that every one of them is a master of his or her craft so I really don’t have much to do.”

In TAJ, Emperor Shah Jahan (the handsome Kabir Bedi) relates the story of why he built the world-famous monument to his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to the couple’s 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Canadian actress Lisa Ray, above, plays the Mughal princess to whom the tale is told.

Lata Pada TAJ is produced and performed by Sampradaya and was conceived by Pada, left, to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary next year. That Luminato stepped in to help finance the ambitious project’s creation is surely a blessing from Lakshmi, herself.

“I was committed to not wanting this to be a travelogue,” says Pada. “I didn’t want it to be, ‘Okay, now we go back to India and its beautiful Taj,’ the whole world knows that story already.

“What I want to convey is the human dilemmas, conflicts and emotions. This story is a conversation that could be had between any father and daughter; he’s conveying the love he felt for his late wife but he’s also trying to justify what he did; he depleted the public coffers in order to build this great edifice but at what cost?”

TAJ debuts at the Fleck Dance Theatre, a venue with which Pada and Sampradaya are very familiar. “It’s the first time I’ve confronted the challenges of it not being a fly house,” says the producer. “The sets need to drop down from above rather than being flown in from the sides but it’s all coming together beautifully. The production team has faced and conquered all the challenges posed by the physical space.”

“Jacques Collin from Quebec City has handled the projection design so sensitively,” adds Pada. “He’s taken the Taj and looked at the nuances, the cultural ethos and the aesthetic. He has worked with Robert Lepage for so many years and his level of artistry is absolutely top notch.”

tajmahal
Although she’s pushing herself artistically with TAJ, Pada insists her goal is the same as with any other show: “To simply tell the story. Of course we want to take the audience back in time to a particular era in India’s history. And we want to demonstrate that these stories, despite being bound to a specific time and culture, continue to have universal and timeless relevance because they’re the stories of human beings with powerful emotions and deep experiences. It’s about just telling that story and hopefully while the audience will revel in the beauty and the elegance of that time, they will also see that what played out in the courts of the Mughals was nothing different from what plays out in our corporate houses today.”