Two ends of the spectrum
For art enthusiasts gathered at the Yellow Drawing Room of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, the release of Commemorative Postage Stamps on some of the legendary Indian musicians evoked joy that the contribution of artists was being immortalised by the Government. Many may have nurtured a secret hope that if music came in for recognition, dance could not be far behind. But on the other hand, the strange silence on the national television about the passing away in Bangalore of Kathak Guru Maya Rao this past week was an inexplicable act of omission. As one of the very first batch of students to join the Bharatiya Kala Kendra in 1955 as a disciple of the great Guru Shambhu Maharaj, Maya Rao forms a very important historical link in the spread of Kathak in contemporary India. A soul of dignity and decorum, her efforts in linking Kathak theory with the shastras (which after some hesitation even Guru Shambhu Maharaj applauded) and her entire foray into choreography after training under Russian choreographers finally leading to the institution she ran in Bangalore, earned her great respect in the Kathak biradari. The nearly 5000 strong crowd at her funeral spoke for itself of the kind of place she occupied in the heart of the art — loving Bangaloreans.
Strange apathy to quality
Guru Gajendra Panda, one of the senior most disciples of late Guru Debaprasad Das, highly informed and talented artist as he is, seems surprisingly lacking when it comes to turning out disciples of excellence. The 7th Guru Debaprasad Nrutya Parampara 2014, organised as a tribute to the late Guru, at the India Habitat Centre’s Stein auditorium where Tridhara from Bhubaneswar and Debadhara from New Delhi presented their students, was a case in point. How can half-baked disciples, who still have a long way to go before their bodies become familiar with how the Odissi technique works be presented on an occasion where one is paying homage to one of the strictest of Gurus?
The only redeeming feature of the evening was Ramli Ibrahim’s solo. His body retains its shape even now and while he may not be the dancer he was a decade ago, his ‘Ganga Tarangam’ had the passion of a lifelong journey in the dance, and ecstatic involvement in portraying the grandeur of Shiva, making up for the loss of virtuosity. Dashavatar had the same vibes of strong conviction transcending dwindling physical vigour in the dance.
Gangadhar Pradhan’s disciple Sangeeta Hazarika could barely move, though she may be a good teacher. Her ‘Nava Durga’ in non action failed to communicate. As for Archana Murali of Coimbatore, with her typical Bharatanatyam fan costume, the body from years of Bharatanatyam has not mastered the isolating of the torso required in Odissi technique. The straight lines and linear geometry of movement, (notwithstanding her desire to learn Odissi, coming all the way from Coimbatore for the event), was anything but Odissi and the ‘Ashta Shambhu’ she presented, despite rhythmic accuracy could only be called nondescript in identity. The Kalavati Pallavi, presented by students of Binayak Panda of Debadhara, mustered a general uniformity though the students were not individually of the same professional standard.
The evening ended with Gajendra Panda’s group presenting ‘GananayakaPanchakam’. Some of the group arrangements were aesthetic and the sequence well brought out pertained to the birth of Ganesha with Shiva being disallowed entry into Parvati’s chamber — the young dwarapala being beheaded by Shiva, whose remorse after knowing what he had done led to the birth of Ganesh. The entire choreography with possibilities needed more immaculate dance with participants of professional calibre.
Parampara festival
Daughters of the Natya Tarangini Parampara of the Reddys, were the main participants of the annual Parampara event — Yamini and Bhavana — providing the inspiration for the theme of the festival ‘Bhavayami’. Following the breezy Ganapati invocation, Yamini presented ‘Narasimhavataram’ set to Kamala manohari in Khandatriputa talam. For a female dancer, not impersonating a character in a Yakshagana performance, draped in the required costume, to portray in a theatrical ekaharya lasyanga presentation, Lord Visnu as man-lion chasing Hiranyakashipu to tear at his entrails with his claw-like hands, is not easy to sustain. That Yamini could transcend her femininity goes to her credit. Experience will enhance the quality of ferocity evoked. In Vijayashri, she had a tuneful vocalist, with fine mridanga accompaniment by Tanjavur Kesavan. And Kaushalya Reddy was at her authoritative best in the nattuvangam. Yamini’s own visualisation of Swati Tirunal’s Thillana ‘Geetadhwani’ showed an encouraging eye for group aesthetics. The nritta interludes interwoven gave the item a racy character. Rasa Sabdam, based on Oothukadu Venkatasubbaiyer’s “Marakata Manimaya’’ in Arabhi Ragam with the Tarangam, showed Yamini and other disciples in a well combined presentation.
Riveting combination
The other young torchbearers in the Parampara festival, Vidha Lal and Abhimanyu, made a riveting Kathak lasya/tandava combination. If Vibha with her presence and quicksilver ‘chakkars’ makes for winsome appeal, Abhimanyu’s grasp over the abstract rhythmic combinations adds a strong definitive element to the weight of the entire performance. The chalans, the ‘Dha dhi Kitataka’ sequence, ‘Lamchand Paran’ (by Vidha), the 2 to 8 arithmetic woven into a phrase with perfect awareness of the fractional intervals between beats (by Abhimanyu) and all the nritta bits with ‘chakkars’ both clockwise and anti-clockwise were racy and immaculate. In all this, a word of caution to Abhimanyu to look after his waist line better!
Raigarh gharana’s future
After Alpana Vajpeyi — the sole dancer of solo repute — in the last several years from the Raigharh gharana, it was a welcome sight watching young Srishti Gupta, a disciple of Alpana, performing at the India International Centre, the evening jointly sponsored by Seher. Right from the invocation to Ganesh, the audience could feel the ability for involvement, in the tranquillity, meditative tone and quiet wonder the dancer — very aesthetically turned out — brought to bear on the dance. One would have liked to experience her interpretative abilities, which with a too crowded calendar for that evening, one missed. But the nritta in Tala Dhamar with the quaint mingled aroma of both Jaipur and Lucknow gharanas in the Raigarh repertoire, displayed in the rhythmic correctness a soft freezing without any harsh or aggressive tones. A Kavit, Parmelu or Thata (the last more of Jaipur gharana) one saw the graceful ang which combined lyricism of movement without any strident angularities. In the improvisations strung into the lehra, synchronised percussion with Ravi Dwivedi on pakhawaj and Ramendrasingh Solanki on tabla, and footwork, could have been better. The dancer tended to rely more on the lehra played on the Sarangi by Ghashyam Sisodia. One would like to see more of this dancer.
