Sundari Kalapam: The Ballad of Belle

Who is the mysterious monster who has lured Belle to his castle? And more importantly, why? Can it be that there is something other than cruelty animating a Beast who would sentence her father to death for taking a simple rose?

Drawing on the eighteenth-century literary origins of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale, Bethesda-based Kalanidhi Dance reimagines the beloved “Tale As Old As Time” through the eyes of Belle, or Sundari. Sundari Kalapam features an original take on the story that is inspired by a dramatic and humorous style of storytelling from the Indian classical dance tradition of Kuchipudi. In the Kalapam, Sundari navigates a world of fairies, imps, and of course, an enigmatic Beast, as she discovers the magic behind her predicament…magic that, true to Kalapam form, the audience is in on right from the start!