Sangita Chatterjee and Gauri Diwakar’s mesmerizing Kathak at Milind Shrivastava’s festival

A two-day festival was organized at IHC in Delhi by Milind Shrivastava’s Lightsense Arts Foundation on 14 and 15 April. Lightsense is the natural name for a foundation whose director is a renowned light designer, of course. Milind Shrivastava hardly requires an introduction in the field of classical performances – the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Awardee has over three decades of experience and has brought alive hundreds of the biggest events with his talent in illumination. His work is exemplary and innovative. The title of the festival was ‘Renaissance 2026’. Renaissance is a movement of rebirth in arts, politics and economic upliftment. It manifests in the revival of classical learning. 

Sangita Chatterjee - Kathak  

Sangita Chatterjee

Sangita presented a group choreography, ‘Mirage – A Lust for Life’. All of our desires in life turn out to be an illusion, and the more we chase it, the further away from us it moves. The more we desire, the more enigmatic our desire becomes. We become like the musk deer that chases the scent that is within it. The thirsty deer sees water from afar but when it comes closer, it sees only the air shimmering due to the heat. The deer is so exhausted by then that it does not know whether to go back or to look further. It is trapped by this seductive phenomenon. 

 

Music for the production was by Anirban Bhattacharya, with the music team comprising Rahul Vishwakarma on tabla, Ajay Prasanna on flute, Rahul Chatterjee on sitar, Debanjan Bhattacharjee on sarod, Ahsan Ali on sarangi, Deborshee Mukherjee on keyboard and Soumen Paul on sound production, with Carnatic vocals by Sudha Raghuraman (in associated multimedia/project iterations). The costumes were by Sandhya Raman, light design by Milind, concept, script and choreography by Sangita and dancers were Kavita Das, Lisa Saha, Abhipsha Kasnobish, Tilottama Bhattacharya, Praveen Prasad, Manpreet Singh and Sangita herself. Film direction, cinematography and editing for the companion short dance film were by Lubdhak Chatterjee. 

Sangita did the voice-over, in which she said that the senses are intoxicated and seduced. An enigmatic pull binds and entraps my wisdom. The beauty engulfs the senses; mesmerized and bemused, I walk the path of delusion. Maya, the biggest illusion in life, has us in its grasp. The piece was presented to recorded music. 

Maya was depicted through ropes hanging from the high ceiling. The dancers, with their backs to the audience, began to move gradually through them. They moved gradually in a gat, as Sangita stood on a pedestal. The dancers held the ropes behind her; they moved in a circular pattern all over the stage. As the lyrics said, ‘Main dor maya ki chhal kapat se urjhaon’ – the strings of maya are wrapped with deceit and dishonesty. Sangita pulled the ropes while taking chakkars. The entire group moved with deer hands in groups and formations all over the stage, moving backwards, forwards and diagonally across, hands and fingers entwined as if pulling. The deer moves with leaps to show the musk deer that is lost – ‘Manmad naach magan tu’. The group exhibited great tayyari in coordination and footwork. They sat rubbing their hands when the deer realizes that it is a mirage that it has been running after. 

 

For the next section, the dancers wore blindfolds to show the blind state of the deer and of humans, who do not fathom the reality of the maya that they are trapped in. The group moved from side to side with their hands at their sides with footwork – ‘Intoxicated and seduced, I get blinded as I follow my peers and not my instinct’. They danced in alternate and synchronized patterns. 

 

In twos, they raised their hands to show mirrors, trying to look in the mirror. In desperation, they try to clean the mirror rather than realizing that they are blindfolded. It is then that fear is shown in the human who tries to pull away. Sangita depicted the state through leaps and chakkars. ‘Deluded and unperturbed, I question: who am I? Mirage, an illusion. Maya ya kaya. How do I face my reality?’  

What followed was a part of the choreography that was not only aesthetic but technically wondrous. Sangita wrapped the rope around her and tied it in knots, depicting a shackled state that she wants to break and fly away – ‘Maya ki dor tod de’. The other dancers joined her. As one tall dancer held the ropes high in their hands, the dancers tied the ropes on their waists. They moved together in and out, wrapping and unwrapping the rope around them, moving in and out in a circle with perfect coordination. 

 

It effectively depicted the ‘maya ki dor tod de manva, rakh paanv zami par odh aakash le manva’. They performed an uthan with excellent footwork. Finally, all seated, they pointed at the sky, which is also an obscure path. ‘Still I walk, the thread fragile, still I wind, the time still I sift. I keep walking on the sand dunes in the hope of a mirage, holding the ropes again.’ 

Sandhya’s costumes were beautiful and lent themselves well to the choreography, which had a flowing feel to the movement. The music was excellent, with rhythm and flow, which supported the choreography. The voiceover was by Sangita herself, giving soul to the choreography. The vocals again were an asset to the theme and choreography. The dance and the choreography using the ropes was a visual treat, bringing the theme alive. And the theme, of course, was wisdom that all of us realize during the course of our life – mrig trishna. 

Gauri Diwakar – Kathak 

On the second day of the festival, it was Gauri Diwakar who presented a solo. She wore a peach costume and looked beautiful in it. She first presented a Ram stuti – ‘Ram ka gun gan kariye’. She started by depicting collecting flowers, pushpanjali, seva, aarti to Ram. She described the beauty of Lord Ram in a very delicate manner – ‘sagun swaroop, roop sukhkar’. She ended with expansive stances of Ram with the bow.  

Gauri Diwakar

For the nritta section, she presented pieces in teen taal which dated back to the days when she joined Kathak Kendra as a student. She presented pairon ki uthan, gentle footwork, and then the foot coming forth with a gentle drag. Soft footwork going from slow to drut laya. Thaat, with expressions, neck and eye movements, expansive hand moves, uthaan, paran, aamad with clapping; her parmelu stood out for the expanse of hands and footwork. The tabla interlude showed the prowess of the one playing. She performed a natwari with chakkars, footwork with leaps, tez aamad; the ease and flair with which she takes the moves is impressive. The bandish was an old one, source not known. The aalap was melodious – ‘aali albeli sundar naar’ opens the door, shy, holding her ghunghat. She looks in the mirror, ties her hair into a knot – ‘kar shringar’ – sits, applies kajra, reddens her lips, applies bindi, itr, wears her bangles. Gauri presented stylish moves with her feet and hands. 

What followed was very typical of Gauri when she presents her tayyari and expertise built over the years – drut bandishes, tihai, paran, a piece with the stance of shooting arrows, tihai footwork with a flair, gat nikas, walking with gentle feet, hands also gentle, covering the stage. She pulled a ghunghat on her head, pulled down and threw it up again, gently touching her chin. Next, a tihai, a paran dedicated to Vidha, who was in the audience, then tatkar at speed. What a performance it was – filled with agility, ending with tinkling the ghunghroos by trembling the foot, lifting it and then dragging it further again. Accompanying Gauri were Akhilesh Bhatt on tabla, Sankumay Debnath on vocals and Ghanshyam Sisodia on sarangi.