The Veil of Janki Bai

November 7-9, 2025

ODC Theater 

Presented by Chitresh Das Dance

Choreographer: Charlotte Moraga

Filmmaker and Co-D

irector: Alka Raghuram

Dancers: Vanita Mundhra, Ishani Basak, Srija Bhattacharya, Ishq Pradhan 

By Kristen Cosby

The Veil of Janki Bai was presented at ODC Theater on November 7-9 by Chitresh Das Dance.  The project was led by artist and director Charlotte Moraga along with filmmaker Alka Raghuram and featured musical performances by Indian classical vocalist Saneyee Purandare Bhattacharjee, with Sudhakar Vaidyanathan on tabla, Rohan Misra on Sarangi and Narendra Joshi on harmonium.

Ishq Pradhan of Chitresh Das Dance. Photo by Alka Raghuram

This Kathak dance, a form which merges song, classical dance from northern India and mime, is often marked by bells being bound to the dancer's ankles. The Veil of Janki Bai uses this medium along with animated film to tell the narrative of a famed Allahabah courtesan and one of Hindustani's first vocal recording artists. This artist, we learn, was known by two names: Chhappan Chhuri and Janki Bai. Despite being a revered courtesan, she was most known for performing behind a veil to hide the 56 scars that had been gouged into her face by an assailant. The story of how she was injured is unknown. This creates a bit of a gap in the backstory of the performance, which is rendered by filmmaker and co-director Alka Raghuram in an animation that ran between the three different parts of the choreography performed by dancers Vanita Mundhra, Ishani Basak, Srija Bhattacharya, and Ishq Pradhan. The animation’s voiceover was told in verse. Within the program notes, the words of the singer were also translated, without which the narrative link between the film and the dance wouldn’t be discernible. 

The highlight of the performance were the intonations of Saneyee Purandare, the singer who gave voice to Janki Bai and her narrative. Her range and the precision of her vocal undulations were amazingly precise and energized. The choreography was performed by four young dancers who appeared on stage as an ensemble first, then each for a solo. 

Kathak utilizes rhythm, hand and eye gestures to convey much of its meaning. The choreography was most intriguing in the opening ensemble when the four young dancers enacted a scene of Janki Bai and her friends before the attack. Their hands frequently opened in a lotus flower gestures and their footwork and spins felt playful and joyous.  When Janki Bai disappears and reappears onstage with a mirror, and her face marred with red lines, the youthful comfort established on stage is shattered. It’s the moment of highest emotion in the piece in which the choreography, song, and film coalesce.