JOIN USEk Anant- Revisiting the Solo’, a two-day festival, was presented at India International Centre recently. It was curated by two eminent choreographers known for their classical styles, Priya Venkataraman (Bharatanatyam) and Shagun Butani (Odissi).
The duo also presented their solo choreographies along with other renowned dancers from different parts of the country that included Neena Prasad, A Lakshmanaswamy, Bimbavati Devi and Prashant Shah.
The auditorium had dance aficionados standing in a cluster to enjoy the performances. The idea of a solo choreography festival came to the duo when they were contemplating on the evolution of these classical art forms and the struggle the gurus went through in creating them.
“The idea of putting this festival was on an impulse, an attempt to present solo dance culture,” says Shagun Bhutani.
Though dancers have accustomed to the culture of group dance and choreographies, Bhutani added that “with pop culture taking over people’s minds, they are used to seeing dance as a form of entertainment.”
Bimbavati Devi, a trained Manipuri dancer, who presented three choreographies on the second day of the festival, said that, “this chance of dancing solo feels great, but I cannot deny I love group choreographies.” The dancer presented ‘Mridu Uddhata’, ‘Maha Shakti’ and ‘Poong Cholom’ as well.
The festival definitely revived an old sentiment in the artistes, who claim to have come face to face with the primordial instinct of dancing, which their greatest gurus developed through dancing solo.Prashanth Shah, a virtuoso in Kathak techniques, has performed a vast repertoire, but he says that “dancing solo keeps his ‘roots’ stronger.” The dancer performed pure ‘Kathak Nritya’ and ‘Abhinaya’, edited only to fit the timings of the show.
Bhutani also added that “classical dance is not a form of entertainment but a call for the spectator to invest their thinking into the dance and this together with the performance makes it classical.”
Other highlights of the festival included lectures, audio-visuals and commentaries, portrayal of the lives of legendary gurus: a journey into their art-bound lives to gain a deep understanding of life and a formidable knowledge of dance, music and literature, to shape the choreographic works.
The curators and spectators would be thankful to Sudhaaya Foundation who in spite of low funding was able to gather a large audience.