About the Book: Tagores Dance-DramaOmnibus
The six dance-dramas translated in this book cover aculmination of Rabindranath
Tagorersquo;s dance-interest in thelatterrsquo;s most effulgent manifestation.
It was only in the lasthalf decade of Tagorersquo;s life that his
dance-consciousnessreached its zenith and he could offer the best of his
life-timepassion for dance in the form of six dance-dramas, namely,
twomusic-dramas: Taser Desh (interspersed with prose dialogue), Shapmochan (with
narrator), and four full-bodied dance-dramas: Chitrangada, Shyama, Chandalika
and MayarKhela (re-visited). Allthe dance-dramas are predominantly
lsquo;recitativersquo; musicdramas. The clear story-line is piggybacked mainly
on thelsquo;recitativersquo; pattern of the melodiously articulateddialogues and
narratives, interlaced with songs.
The translation follows closely the letter and spirit of theoriginal (including
the