Date:19/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/19/stories/2006011901030200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

A confluence of the soulful lilt of the flute and the lyrical grace of Odissi dance

Special Correspondent

Raaga Nritya Sanje, an evening of music and dance, will be held on Saturday

Hariprasad Chaurasia

Bangalore: Odissi dance and Thirthahalli? Not so far fetched for this young dancer, presenting an unusual event here at Ravindra Kalakshetra on January 21.

The story behind Kalatheera and its founder, Uday Kumar Shetty, is unusual too. Now Guru Uday Kumar, he was 23 when he began searching for a dance teacher after watching an Odissi dance performance in his hometown in 1990. He was mesmerised by the music, the costumes, the steps and gestures and entire dance event itself.

He asked the danseuse Protima Bedi if he could become her student and she gave him the address of her dance village near Bangalore, Nrityagram. He was among her early students and soon chose dance as his destiny. A decade of learning under Protima and later under the great Odissi guru Kelucharan Mahopatra and his son, Ratikant Mahopatra, honed Uday's dancing skills. He was soon performing in India and abroad. In August 2000, he founded Kalatheera to propagate Odissi dance in this region. "The dance school has been inspired by the gurukula system, where a guru offers not only his skills and knowledge but his entire being and efforts, his affection and wisdom to his students,'' he explains. Kalatheera has an interesting variety of students from four-year-old girls to enthusiastic teenagers and professionals and homemakers, all learning with the same goal in mind.

Now, for the programme here titled Raaga Nritya Sanje, an evening of music and dance: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, an internationally acclaimed flautist, is known for popularising Indian classical music all over the world. His artistry has distinguished him as one of the greatest masters of the North Indian bamboo flute. Unlike many other great Indian artistes, Pandit Chaurasia does not come from a family of musicians. It was a path, he says, he found for himself and he overcame several hurdles to emerge a great musician due to sincerity, hard work and dedication.

Pandit Chaurasia began learning vocal music at the age of 15 and a year later switched to the flute after listening to one of the foremost flautists of the day, Pandit Bholanath of Varanasi. He learned under him for eight years before performing on his own. As a musician, critics describe Pandit Chaurasia as a rare combination of an innovator and a traditionalist. His adaptation of alaap and jod to the flute had been notable. He has also composed music for many films and taught many young musicians.

Raaga Nritya Sanje has been conceptualised as a confluence of Kalatheera and Pandit Chaurasia. It will be a joining of the soulful lilt of the flute and the lyrical grace of Odissi dance. Uday Kumar will be joined by his wife Soumya Uday Kumar for the event.