Dances of India St. Louis draws inspiration from ancient epic in ‘Dreams of the Dark Prince’

At 100,000 verses, the ancient Indian epic ‘The Mahabharata’ is the longest epic poem ever written. Due to its focus on conflict amongst family — and its explorations of illusion, reality and truth — Nartana Premachandra felt it fitting inspiration for Dances of India St. Louis’ 2024 annual performance, which falls just after the Nov. 5 elections. She discusses her original play script “Dreams of the Dark Prince” and how it combines movement and storytelling to tell the story of Prince Duryodhana, one of the Mahabharata’s central characters.