Mary: A heartbreaking tale of an elephant hanged to death retold through kuchipudi

Over the years, the story of Mary, the elephant hanged by an angry mob for killing her handler at a circus in Tennessee, has been retold through several theatrical adaptations. Now, nearly a century after the execution in 1916, the tale of the ‘murderous elephant’ executed in a faraway land has found expression in a kuchipudi narrative, thanks to IT professional Reshma U Raj of Ernakulam.
Reshma, who has been practising kuchipudi since she was three, wanted to share a unique story through the art form, which is often steeped in mythology and folklore. “Mary’s story was real and equally compelling. I wanted to explore her emotions and trauma through my dance rendition,” says Reshma, who has released a 12-minute video of her performance on YouTube.
Basing a narrative solely on an elephant is no easy task, but Reshma took up the challenge. She spent months researching the topic to understand the complexities of the situation and capture the emotional highs and lows of Mary’s last hours on Earth.

“Mary was the centre of attention at all the circuses she attended. She had also captured the hearts of the audience at the Sparks World Famous Show circus in Tennessee. What had started as a beautiful adventure turned brutal for the South Asian elephant. You can imagine the turmoil she was in,” says Reshma.
Sajitha Rasheed, a soft skills trainer, wrote the script for the dance rendition, while the music, a fusion of Western and Eastern styles, was composed by Anantharaman Anil. The elephant’s pain is captured in the words: “This is the story of Mary, a five-ton Asian elephant. In September 1916, she was assisted into the show by a new, untrained person. During the show, he prodded her in the ear, and she responded with rage, pulling him off her back, throwing him down, and stomping on his head. To calm the crowd, Charlie Sparks, the circus owner, had to make an immediate decision to hang the elephant in public…”

Mary’s tragic tale is perfectly captured both through Reshma’s dance performance and her beautifully modulated voice-over. “I had participated in several kathaprasangam (storytelling) competitions in school, so capturing her emotions through my voice was not difficult,” she says. The professional dancer also incorporated the Ganesha pose and mudras used in kuchipudi into the dance rendition.
The most challenging part of the entire performance, however, was showcasing the hanging of the elephant, says Reshma. “We used light and shadows to bring more originality to Mary's final moments.”

The kuchipudi rendition does not end with the killing. It questions the humanity of those who hanged the female elephant. “It was from a time when animal abuse as a term was still not coined. If you protest, you are silenced, just like my body lying there. If you have the power, should you not be protecting it?” asks Mary in the video.
The video, choreographed by Reshma and conceptualized by her husband Dipin, has garnered appreciation on social media. They plan to showcase the performance at major festivals globally. This, however, is not Reshma’s first major production. Her dance film titled The Vulture, based on Kevin Carter’s famous picture, The Vulture and the Little Girl, has premiered at several international film festivals. She has also converted the famous Letters from a Father to His Daughter, written by Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi, into a dance recital.