An unusual tour

ONE ASPECT of Jugalbandi is to present each form with its identity undiminished, and the other is to keep in mind the fact that each dancer is performing in relation to the other Instead of settling for virtuosity of rhythm, both dancers opted for artistic minimalism as the guiding force. The introspective nature of the slow blossoming of movement in the opening Samkriti had Madhup Mudgal's sonorous alap, Upanishadic verse and Tarana as melodic accompaniment, a deliberate departure in convention for both styles of dance. Movement slowly opening out with bodies profiled in different angles became a slow obeisance to the Earth and the different directions. As the mnemonics of the Tarana began, sound and dance had assumed an enhanced presence enveloping space all round as it were. Subtle in the manner in which levels and lines were explored to become architecture in space, both music and dance retained and evoked that reverential and meditative quality.

As a concession to full blown individual identity of each style as seen in orthodox recitals, Leela Samson gave a dignified presentation of the Swati Tirunal composition in Hamsanandi ``Shankara Sri Giri'' with a prelude set to Kambodi, and Madhavi demonstrated the full flowering of Odissi in a Pallavi, rendered in an immaculate manner. It was in the expressional part of the programme that one had a real comparison of how abhinaya is treated in the two styles. In the Ashtapadi ``Dheera Sameera'' Jayadeva visualises the sakhi, who, painting a picture of desolate Krishna eagerly awaiting Radha, urges the latter to join him on the banks of the Jumuna.

When one dancer took up the sakhi's address, the other remained a pensive figure in the background - present in the total frame but as a quiet outline which did not distract attention from the other dance. At times the treatment of the Ashtapadi saw the sakhi in the act of coaxing Radha. But here again the histrionic element was very subdued, with Leela's mukhabhinaya always bolder than Madhavi's minimal facial expressions. It is angikabhinaya which tells the story in the latter's case. So even in the two approaches one saw a difference.

The Javali in Paras ``Cheli ne netlu sadinchine'' also became an exercise in comparative studies. In this lyric the heroine, in no uncertain terms, maintains that she has had enough of the philandering ways of the man. Both Madhavi and Leela took turns in expressing the same thing and the dance became at points, an interaction between two women voicing the same thoughts. The fact tempo and the general effervescence of the Javali gives it a mood quite different from the far more heavy and serious tone of the Ashtapadis of the Geeta Govindam.

The Bindadin Thumri made the odds even for both dancers, for after the Ashtapadi rendered in the typical Odissi fashion and the Javali sung in the specialised Carnatic mode, the thumri came from a source not common to either Bharatanatyam or Odissi. ``Chedo Na'' expresses the popular theme of the Gopic asking Krishna in a mixture of irritation and love to refrain from teasing them for the world is watching and is apt to gossip. The concluding part became a joyous connivance on the part of the two Gopis to catch Krishna and have fun at his expense by dressing him up as a woman. This part was very naturally done.

One intelligent aspect of the expressional items was to keep the power of suggestion intact by never going to the extent of making the nayaka a part of the exchanges. He remained in the realm of the evoked presence, felt but not seen.

The concluding Tillana In Poorvi was a triumph of simultaneity in nritta of two styles. Dancing close to each other, preserving the individual styles and yet keeping visual formations in mind, the two dancers combined in joyous and abandoned togetherness. The entrance with only the feet of the dancers seen, with the torso hidden by the zari cloth they held as a curtain in front, was very dramatic. At points the cloth added its own design in space to the dance formations.

Both vocalists Hariprasad and Manikuntala Bhowmik and the accompanists (the flautist Kiran Kumar in particular) provided moments of inspired melody.

In concept and aesthetic arrangement, this was a programme which provided unusual fare.

LEELA VENKATARAMAN

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