Yamini Muthanna rehearsing for Kundalini
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Danseuse and yoga practitioner Yamini Muthanna will be presenting Kundalini, a dance musical, this weekend. “Kundalini is an experiential concept, it is not often danced to. I have put equal hours of study and practice to yoga and Bharatnatyam, and Kundalini is a combination of both,” says Yamini.
“During my practise of almost 52 years, I have realised there is a link between the two. I conceived this idea to give a visual presentation of what one feels at the awakening of this high energy within the body,” she says, adding the ideation of this musical has been five years in the making, and will be premiering at the ongoing Medai Margazhi festival in Bengaluru.
“Though my grammar is Bharatnatyam based, I call this performance a dance musical, as I’m sharing the experiences of my meditation and Kundalini in the form of dance. It centres around how it moves inside the body and shifts energy.”
Yamini says the music for this production is tantra based, and she will be accompanied by a live orchestra. “I have incorporated traditional music into the production, and a vocalist, Bhargav HC, will be chanting the mantras. There are no other lyrics in this performance.” The composition by Raghunandan Ramakrishna will be played with Himanshu Gautam on the guitar and rhythm by Karthik Vydhatri.
Yamini Muthanna rehearsing for Kundalini
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“When one is depicting the Muladhara Chakra, which is the base chakra, you need to use heavy drums much like the ones used at temple festivals. Likewise, for the Svadhishthana Chakra, we are using long pipes found in Tibetan temples. These sounds are used to wake up certain energies.”
The artiste says she will be employing an aerial hammock to depict the descent of the Kundalini. “Over the years. I’ve built up body vocabulary where I use the hammock to represent the flow of the snake inside the Kundalini, which I will present in the form of yoga asanas, before flowing in movements from Kalaripayattu to show balance and the power of elements.”
Talking about the misconceptions that surround the notion of Kundalini, Yamini says, “It is about the potential of energy within the body, which people misunderstand to be some sort of mystical or sexual power.”
“Each section of the body is mentioned in the chakras and have an amazing potential for life in its entirety. It is not about one particular thing, but a whole lot of things which can be experienced in different ways.”
According to Yamini, the purpose of this performance is not entertainment, but rather the experience of a new perspective. “While a spiritual seeker will understand what is unfolding on stage, others might be fascinated by a form of dance or movement, which they might find unusual.”
“The basic intention behind this performance is to share knowledge.”
Since Kundalini is not a typical dance performance, Yamini says she will not be donning traditional Bharatnatyam attire.
Kundalini by Yamini Muthanna will be presented at Medai The Stage, Bengaluru, on December 12, from 7.45pm. Tickets available on Ticket9
Published – December 08, 2025 08:00 pm IST
