"Muktilekha" (On Human Rights issues) Man is born free. Each man is equal in dignity and rights. And yet, social structures have forced some into bonded labour and turned few into the ruling class. Shovana raised her voice against such discriminatory society which violates the rights of human beings, for the gain of another in her ballet "Muktilekha" based on concepts provided by eminent jurist Dr LM Singhvi. In this particular ballet, the choreographer in her took up the global issue of human rights and handled it successfully. In fact this production can be counted as "Gesamtkunstwerk" perspective of Richard Wagner.

"Om: Cosmic Dance of Creation" Identified with Shiva in Indian mythology, His Rhythmic Play, the tandava, is the source of all movements within the cosmos. This piece celebrates the birth of movement and hence dance, through the ode to Lord Shiva, considered the Cosmic dancer. For the show at Kamani auditorium, Shovana used two of her old items based on the tandava stuti "Jatatavigalajjala ..." written by Ravana in praise of Lord Shiva and the meditative Riga Vedic Chant of "Om karam bindu sanyuktam" to create the item OM: The Cosmic Dance of Creation. This item, for the first time ever in Kathak, started with all dancers showing their backs to the auditorium (as till then, showing of the back was considered unacceptable).

"Sujata" (1988) The issue of caste discrimination has always moved Shovana. The questions raised by Buddha's initial refusal of taking meal from Sujata raised several questions? Was it to do with her comparatively lower born status or cast than that of the ascetic or was it a gender issue. This enquiry resulted in the dance production "Sujata".

"Tridhara" : Collaborative work with Yamini Krishnamurty and Sonal Mansingh for ICCR To the concept of national collaborative work by Vice President Venkataraman, who himself selected the dancers of three dance styles, the evening "Tridhara" became a reality. Presented by ICCR and the title of the evening was given by Jiwan Pani, the noted Oriya literary figure, the evening featured three renowned dancers of their respective styles - Yamini Krishnamurthy (Bharatanatyam), Sonal Mansingh (Odissi) and Shovana Narayan (Kathak). As the name of the evening suggested, each dancer represented their regions through the life giving river flowing through it namely Cauvery for Bharatanatyam, Narmada/ Mahanadi for Odissi and Ganges for Kathak.

"East Meets West" (1987) with Western Classical Ballerina in Austria For the first time ever, an Indian classical Kathak dancer, Shovana Narayan performed a duet with a Western Classical ballerina, Andrea Campianu in various Austrian Festivals.

Khayal Bandish: Performing to chhota and bada khayal became familiar features in Shovana Narayan's performances such "Kaisi nikasi chandni" or "Meha re ban ban daar daar" etc.

Schubert's "Der Tod und Das Maedchen" During the course of the one hour film on Shovana Narayan by ORF titled "Das Geheimnis des Indisches Tanz" , the German Film Director Joern Thiel, exhibited the improvisatory aspect of Kathak through abhinaya to a German poetry and to Franz Schubert's musical composition "Der Tod und Das Maedchen" (Death and the Little Girl).

"Meera - The Divine Lover" What are the obstacles in the path of divinity? Ego, pride, prejudices, or even a certain lack of sincerity…..? Is divinity to be achieved only by donning the robe of the saints!! These questions are sought to be answered through the episodes in the life of Meera, the princess from Rajasthan.

"Dhwani-Pratidhwani" - based on footwork only. This piece continued with the seed sown in 1981 in "Nupoor". In "Dhwani-Pratidhwani", the group choreography accentuated various panorama of 'tatkar' through 'laris' and 'tihais' of various 'jatis'. As in Nupoor, only the feet were highlighted with lights while the rest of the body were in darkness. To avoid spilling of light and reflection of light on the costume, a very dark coloured angarkha was utilised. The accompanying music was the sombre 'dhrupad'.

"Thaat Nirupan" For the first time, the ten "thaats" of Hindustani Classical Music (Bilawal, Marwa, Bhairav, Poorvi, Bhairavi, Todi, Asavari, Kalyan, Khamaj, Kafi ) were utilised to showcase the ten aspects and salient features of "nritta" and "nritya" aspects of Kathak dance (Uthaan, Aamad, Thaat, Tora-Tukra, Lari-Tihai, Gat Nikas, Gat Bhava, Paran, Pirmilu, Tatkar).

"Kab Aogey Rama" Continuing the introspective journey, Shovana's next quest was to study the meaning of the term 'Ramatwa'. This issue was analysed in the context of various episodes Lord Rama's life.

Hadi Rani' - based on Rajasthani tale.

"Dishantar" (ballet on environment degradation & associated social ills) With several concerts on till hitherto, unexplored realms of Hindi and Sanskrit literature, the ballet "Dishantar" added a new dimension to the milestones of Shovana and her Asavari group. For the first time, the dance ballet in traditional classical Kathak focussed on the issue of environmental degradation through mindless cutting of trees as also decadent socio-economic conditions prevailing in our society, highlighting issues of bonded labour, ills of caste system, subjugation of women. This ballet brought out the environmentalist and social crusader within Shovana.

"Das Madchen mit den Schwefelholzern" in Austria In the year 1982 began Shovana Narayan's journey of International collaborations. One of Vienna's eminent music composer-teacher Prof Otto Faerber composed evocative music for the moving story of Hans Christian Anderson of a little maiden with the matchstick. Shovana performed this piece marrying traditional Kathak 'abhinaya' to delineate the story set to Western Classical Music to a rapt audience. A Western classical singer sang the German text "mir ist so kalt habe keinen plätzchen" while the musical score was played by a pianist.

"Nupoor" Shovana daringly presented an item highlighting various aspects of footwork, such as 'ladis', tihais', 'chalans', etc, so much a hallmark of Kathak, accentuated by lights only.