Various journeys
LEELA VENKATARAMAN
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From interpretations of Mother India to a fine personal statement, the week had everything.
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PHOTO: DEEPAK MUDGAL
Moumita Ghosh.
Different from a patriotic journey in dance that January 26 invariably inspires, Sonal Mansingh's Odissi entitled `Aatmaya: Journey to the Centre of Being' in the well-packed Stein auditorium, explored the dancer's inner landscape - the dance journey aiming at getting closer to realising that `elusive constant' called the Soul. Watching Sonal perform after a two-year gap, this writer found the dancing dominated not by the visual aesthetics of dance line or grace, but by passionate conviction. Nrityaatma interpreting a chariya geeti is an old number. The high point of the short performance was arguably `Jara - the Hunter', built on Sitakant Mahapatra's evocative Oriya poem on the poignant last moments of Krishna, lying pierced by Jara's deadly arrow. The hunter discovering his arrow lodged in the right big toe of the God, laments along with the heaving Jamuna waters, Mount Govardhan, the kadamba blossoms and the gopis of Vrindavan, reminiscing on encounters where he and the God were players, and on the web of maya woven by the God into every aeonic time-cycle - praying that his arrow alone liberate the God in each aeon, from his self-woven web of maya.
The Chhau movements depicting Jara (courtesy Sashadhar Acharya), the fleeting Jayadeva Dasavatar reference evoking Krishna's glory, the typical Odissi tunes Bankim Sethi's score was anchored to and the intense performance made a potent statement.
Equally unusual was `Aatmanubhuti'. Rukmini who challenges Radha to cross a pool of water walking on a narrow bamboo with a pitcher balanced on the head, to her chagrin loses both pitcher and balance herself, while Radha nonchalantly dances her way across. Refuting Krishna attributing Radha's success to her being totally engrossed in Him, while Rukmini was more preoccupied with the pitcher, Radha maintains that she was immersed in her soul - where the universe and Krishna reside - representing total non-duality! Danced mostly to instrumental Odissi music, the pithily spoken sahitya required softened volume in the music.
Nationalistic fervour
More expressive of nationalistic fervour was `Anekaanta' conceived by S. Kanaka and mounted by Nrityaranjani at the Kamani, featuring senior dancers along with their students in different classical dance disciplines. Neatly put together, group after group followed without hiccups in a disciplined effort with competent music teams accompanying each dance form, with fine vocalists like Sudha Raghuraman, Sai Bhavani, Sadanam Radhakrishnan and Imran Khan. Based on Vallathol Menon's Malayalam poetry, it was Kathakali (a rare inclusion) which stole the thunder, Sadanam Balakrishnan's strong solo presence followed by four dancers of the International Kathakali Centre performing in rehearsed unison, the aesthetic costuming an added factor. Raja and Radha Reddy the duo, less immaculately coordinated than usual, grounded the Kuchipudi segment on Sringaram Srinivasa Rao's "Maro Prapancham" in chatushra gati, with trained disciples adding an element of rhythmic virtuosity.
PHOTO:SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Sonal Mansingh.
Strictly time bound, Kanaka's solo interpretation of Bharatiar's song advocating national integration was reinforced by four disciples in a coordinated, if uncomplicated group version. Maithili Sharan Gupt's `Udbodhan' raising a clarion call for unity to Indians to sink their differences, became a drawn-out sequence in Uma Sharma's repetitive abhinaya with Mubarak Ali's tabla tukras expressed more in the tihai conclusions than in detailed footwork. The under-rehearsed students lacked coordination. The best part was the finale, all senior dancers coming together in a well-conceived jati and Vande Mataram.
It was a quaint place in Connaught Place called the Attic where in an intimate, delightful space Moumita Ghosh, a disciple of Odissi dancer Madhavi Mudgal, gave an exquisite solo performance. Elegant and graceful, Moumita has been dancing from the age of 8 for 18 years. If the pallavi epitomised bhangi and chauka perfection and lyricism, the abhinaya interpreting the Oriya geet and a Jayadeva ashtapadi had conviction in understatement. Here is talent crying out for solo exposure. What is wrong with our performance set-up that such merit, where dance has an integrity manifesting as a personal statement, remains sidelined while mediocrity gets pampered?
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