Resistance | ചെറുത്തുനില്പ് – South Indian Dance production

The show brings South Indian Traditional Dance to the Forefront of Protest and Performance in Australian Premiere. 

Powerful solo dance theatre work challenges gendered violence through ancient form and contemporary storytelling. 

Acclaimed dancer and choreographer Swaroopa Prameela Unni makes her Australian
mainstage debut with Resistance | ചെറുത്തുനില്പ്, an interdisciplinary solo
performance running at The Blue Room Theatre from 8–11 October 2025. Earlier this year,
Swaroopa was awarded a choreographic residency through the Arts and Culture Trust,
which played a crucial role in the development of Resistance.

Fusing the traditional South Indian dance form of Mohiniyattam with spoken word, digital
media, and original music, Resistance confronts systems of power and gendered violence
through a deeply personal, culturally grounded lens. This is the first time Mohiniyattam — a
form often associated with idealised femininity — has been presented in this way on a West
Australian stage.

“Mohiniyattam is often seen as a celebration of idealised femininity—soft, delicate,
obedient,” says Unni. “Perth audiences don’t often get to witness traditional Indian forms
like Mohiniyattam being used in this way: not to preserve an ideal, but to challenge it.”
Drawing from both personal experience and broader social issues, Resistance contributes a
vital and often absent perspective in national conversations around gender equality,
particularly as they relate to migrant and culturally diverse communities in Australia.
“My hope is that audiences leave with a deeper awareness of how gendered violence can be
embedded not only in systems, but in the most intimate parts of culture—and how art can
be a powerful way of pushing back,” says Unni.

About the Artist

Swaroopa Prameela Unni is a Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam dancer, choreographer and
educator who relocated to Boorloo/Perth in 2024 from Aotearoa/New Zealand. Since her
arrival, she has presented work at Subiaco Arts Centre, Scratch Night – Perth Festival 2025, Adelaide Fringe Festival 2025, The Blue Room Theatre Season and more. She is also a recipient of the Arts and Culture Trust choreographic residency and Make A Start 2025
residency at Lucy Guerin Inc.

Unni’s practice has spanned Aotearoa and India over more than a decade. She is the
founder of Natyaloka School of Indian Dance (Ōtepoti/Dunedin), and her choreographic
works often explore feminist narratives, identity, and belonging through Indian classical
forms. Resistance | ചെറുത്തുനില്പ് was first premiered in 2019 in Aotearoa and is her
most personal work to date.

GET TICKETS HERE: https://blueroom.org.au/events/resistance/