Nov 23 2025 to Nov 23 2025 11 a.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

“Shhh… Listen!” is a powerful, multidisciplinary performance that addresses two of today’s most pressing issues—climate change and the rapid loss of global wetlands. It invites audiences to step into the hidden worlds of these fragile ecosystems, revealing their beauty, complexity, and vulnerability. Through the performing arts and the voices of marginalised communities, the production gives life to the small but vital creatures that sustain our environment, making their presence—and disappearance—deeply felt.

While forests and iconic species like elephants or tigers often dominate conservation stories, “Shhh… Listen!” turns attention to the overlooked realms of frogs, dragonflies, sandpipers, and marshland vegetation. These seemingly insignificant beings are essential to maintaining water systems, biodiversity, and the delicate balance of flood and drought cycles. Yet across India and the world, wetlands are disappearing—drained, polluted, or buried under unchecked development and industrial expansion.

Reflecting this ecological neglect, the performance also highlights human marginalisation. It is voiced through traditional art forms historically practised by communities labelled “untouchable,” who continue to face social exclusion and the harshest effects of climate change. These performers bring not only their art but also their lived experiences of displacement, water scarcity, and disease, reclaiming their right to be seen and heard. Thus, the work becomes both an ecological lament and a human one, linking environmental destruction with social injustice.

The performance weaves together multiple South Indian traditions—Kattaikkuttu, Parai, Oyilattam/Devarattam, Oppari, and Bharatanatyam—each rooted in nature and community. Through rhythm, movement, and song, the performers embody flora, fauna, and natural elements, transforming the stage into a living landscape. Their art channels the spiritual and ecological interdependence at the heart of animist traditions, where every tree, stream, and creature holds sacred value.

At its heart, “Shhh… Listen!” tells the story of a frog king searching for his queen, joined by a dragonfly and other marshland beings. Their joyous world beneath a banyan tree is eventually destroyed by pollution and bulldozers, silencing the once-vibrant chorus of life. Yet even amid loss, the performance ends with a call to action—to recognise wetlands not as wastelands but as vital, living ecosystems. Through evocative music, movement, and imagery, “Shhh… Listen!” transcends language and geography, urging audiences everywhere to listen, feel, and reimagine a world in harmony with all living beings.

Credits
Artistic Director: Sangeeta Isvaran
Script: Shrilakshmi Sridhar, Sangeeta Isvaran
Lyrics: Thilagavathi Palani
Performaned by: The Katradi Youth Dance Theatre

This performance is part of the larger Coexistence Mela at BIC on Nov 22 and 23.

Presented by:

Performers

Sangeeta Isvaran
Director & Founder, Wind Dancers Trust
Sangeeta Isvaran is a Bharatanatyam and Contemporary performer, Choreographer, Teaching Artist, and Social Activist whose work has extended across more than 35 countries over 5 continents. A pioneer is using the arts for education, empowerment and conflict resolution, her work has touched over a million lives. She is the Founder of the Wind Dancers Trust (Katradi) and creator of the Katradi Method of Empathy Based Social Transformation. She has created powerful initiatives using the arts to bridge the polarising divides of caste, community, and gender, and to bring marginalised people into spaces of agency: some include – Lorry Lolakku – Mobile Theatre for Social Justice; She Matters! – Radical Immersion Leadership Camps. She is the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Bismillah Khan YuvaPuraskar and several other international awards and fellowships. Speaking over 7 international languages, she has taught in 50+ universities and community organisations.

Katradi
Collective
Katradi brings together people who are passionate about social change. What excites us is creating innovative, out-of-the-box strategies to jolt people out of their comfort zones and search within for the biases that create fear and separation. We constantly strive to nurture the empathy within ourselves and infuse it in every aspect of our work, creating powerful spaces of transformation.