Gurgaon stage witnesses revival of Darbari Kathak from oblivion

GURGAON: A poor grasp and shoddy appreciation of the past has meant that a lot of yesterday has been lost to the mists of time, some of it probably never to be recovered.
The terpsichorean art of the courtesans, 'Darbari Kathak' - a more embellished form of Kathak - is one that has been devoured by public neglect. A newly educated class of Indians frowned upon the ways of these women, consigning them snootily to the dustbin of history.But in a heartening piece of restoration, the regal Darbari Kathak has been brought alive by the endeavours of a few devoted folks.
'The Courtesan - An Enigma' is based on a labour of love, a history of the tawaif, 'Nautch Girls of India: Dancers, Singers, Playmates', by Pran Nevile. But the 70-minute presentation is all Manjari Chaturvedi, who lit up the evening with an incandescent (and faultless) performance. It more than a dance relived; it a story that retold.
Amidst the bursts of classical choreography, actress Neesha Singh provided commentary on the courtesans of old. Singh (resplendent in white) touched on the lives of Gauhar Jaan (born of Armenian parents)
, Chanda Bibi, Rasoolan Bai and Zarina Begum (the latter is a dowager resident in Lucknow), lives that burned comet-bright, and occasionally rumbled with storms but were never dull. They loved and fought alsos usual
Manjari, the finest living exponent of Kathak style, left everyone spellbound. How do you put such a virtuoso performance into words? Possibly more than other styles, Darbari Kathak relies heavily (and vividly) on the hands and the face for expression (also, the dancer must be exquisitely costumed). If any face told a story, if any hand gestures narrated a tale, it Manjari's. Here body language such as those courtesans would have used to entice commoner and royal. Manjari took one's breath away. She not only commanded the stage with a fluidity of motion, she owned it with a confidence of method. Little detail left out, every action conveyed emotion (a passage of deft hand movements made the ordinary extraordinary). Manjari coy and she coquettish. Cameos of delicacy segued into vignettes of poised pirouetting.
At times, the figure on the stage resembled a blur, the danseuse of today metamorphosing into the nautch girl of yesteryear.
The light - at times cascading, at others falling like moon-glow - ethereally beautiful, only adding to the occasion. 'The Courtesan - An Enigma', conceived by Manjari Chaturvedi and supported by the K.L. Saigal Memorial Circle, made for an epiphany-filled journey into the mystical realm .