Soulful solos
Ek Anant,
the unending one, where one shows the potential of many, was a festival of solo
dancing held at IIC in Delhi on the 21st and 22nd
of November. It was a delight to watch solo performances laden with expressive
abhinaya and graceful movements.
Danseuses Priya Venkataraman and Shagun Bhutani were the curators of
this unique two day festival on solo choreography in various dance styles. It was
sponsored by Sudhaaya Foundation in collaboration with the IIC.
Shagun Bhutani
On the
evening of the 21st, the first performer was Shagun Bhutani. Shagun
is a leading exponent of Odissi and Seraikella Chhau. She has trained in Odissi
under Smt Aloka Panikar and late Guru Gangadhar Pradhan. Shagun is the
founder-director of Sudhaaya Dance Foundation. She began her performance with a
Durga Stuti, and after that, she did an Arabhi pallavi, a composition of Guru
Kelucharan Mohapatra. The nritta was executed with very graceful, fluid
movements. Her hastas and footwork had an exactness about them.
Following
that was an ashtapadi by Jayadeva, ‘Sakhi he keshi madana mudaram’, a
composition of Guru Mayarao. The ashtapadi speaks of Radha telling her sakhi of
her first meeting with Krishna, in a bower of leaves. Shagun went on to show
Radha telling the sakhi that she is pained by Kamadev’s arrows, and so in the
night, she dresses up, covers herself with an odhni, removes her nupur, puts
out the lamp, and leaves the house for the nikunj to meet Krishna. In the bower
of leaves, she has her first meeting with her lover. The memory of that meeting
leaves her pining. She ended her performance with a composition by Shri
Ramakant Rath.
Shagun did some impressive abhinaya. Accompanying
her were Guru Banamali Maharana on mardal, Shri Ramesh Das on violin, Shri
Parashuram Das on flute, Shri Pradeep Kumar Das on vocals, Shri Jeevan Das on
sitar and Shri Niranjan Sahu on manjira and percussion support.
Dr Neena Prasad
Dr Neena
Prasad has undergone training in Mohiniyattam , Bharatnatyam , Kuchipudi and
Kathakali . She is the recipient of prestigious awards from the Kerala Sangeeth
Academy and Madras Music Academy. Her gurus are Kalamandalam Suganthi and
Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, Guru Adyar K Lakshman, Guru Vempati Chinnasatyam and
Vembayam Appukkuttan Pillay.
Dr Prasad
performed a padavarnam on the life of Draupadi. Draupadi, while walking in the
woods with her husbands, falls into a ditch. No one comes to her aid and lying
there alone, she remembers Krishna, her bosom friend. In despair, she writes a
letter to him about her life and very strong emotions. She addresses him as her
compassionate friend, her lifetime guide and savior. Pondering about her life,
she remembers how she was born from a yajna and came to be known as the
yajnaseni. In a swayamvar, where all other kings were confused and failed, it
was Arjuna who targeted the eye of the fish and married her. It was a moment of
pride for her, which immediately turned to ridicule when she was made to become
the shared wife of the five Pandava brothers. Then she was made a pawn in the
game of dice and lost her honour to Duryodhana. Krishna saved her from being
derobed. Finally, she was accused of being the reason for the battle of
Mahabharata. In her letter, she tells Krishna that she wishes to be a commoner
and not a queen. She wants to play as a child, look young and beautiful to her
husband, have children and grow old to become a grandmother. Neena’s
mukhabhinaya for the piece was mesmerizing. Her expressive eyes conveyed Draupadi’s
emotions movingly. The entire piece was a treat to watch. It was in raga Lathangi,
adi talam. The artistes accompanying Neena were Madhavan Nampoothri on vocals,
V. Veda Krishnan on mridangam, Annadurai on violin and Satheesh on edakka.
Explaining the
literary background for the piece, she said, “My work is based on the popular
Oriya novel Yajnaseni, a work of Jnanapeeth laureate Smt Prathibha Rai. This
has been written for Mohiniyattam in a padavarnam format by Anchal Ravindran.” When
one wondered whether she identified with Draupadi’s character to have been able
to give such an involved performance, she said, “I worked out Draupadi’s point
of view about her life in retrospective, as also the life she aspires for as a
woman. I made it a point not to repeat the usual episodes taken by dancers. I
portrayed her birth, illustrious marriage to Arjuna, her being shared among the
brothers etc. I read the novel several times and conceptualized the character
of Draupadi and the possibility to make her speak as a woman of contemporary
times. The rest is up to an artist’s ability and her creative talents to
transform the poetry to dance. I enjoy each of my creative works and I do what
I enjoy. The rest is left to the rasiks.”
As for the
place and importance of dance solos in nritya, she said, “Solos are the most
essential presentation mode as far as classical dance forms are concerned. The
concept of the repertoire and exploring the possibilities it presents proves
its worth.”
A Lakshmanaswami
Next was a
Bharatnatyam performance by A Lakshmanaswami. He was initiated into
Bharatnatyam by Guru Smt Veera Venugopal and Guru K.J. Sarasa at Sarasalaya. He
performed a varnam. The story was about the heroine pining for her hero, who is
a Thanjavur king. The heroine is struck by Cupid’s arrow and begs the hero to
love her. Lakshmanaswami did a very sensual and feminine abhinaya. He was
accompanied by Sudharama Vaidyanathan on nattuvangam, V. Veda Krishnan on
mridangam and G. Raghuraman on flute. The vocals by Sudha Raghuraman were as
melodious as ever.
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