Thunderous solos at Natya Vriksha’s World Dance Day 2026
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| Madhu Nataraj, Geeta Chandran, Anita Ratnam and Sharanya Chandran (Pic credit: Facebook/Geeta Chandran) |
On 25 and 26 April, Natya Vriksha held the World Dance Day celebrations at the IIC in Delhi. It is a huge effort undertaken each year by Guru Geeta Chandran, Rajiv Chandran and the team of Natya Vriksha. The first day started at 9 a.m. with a movement workshop by Surjit Nongmeikapam.
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| Sagarika Patwardhan and Guru Sucheta Chapekar (Pic credit: Facebook/Geeta Chandran) |
In the afternoon, around 4 p.m., the post-lunch session was a lecture-performance titled ‘Pravaahita’ by Guru Sucheta Chapekar and her granddaughter Sagarika Patwardhan, on their Marathi and Hindi repertoire of Bharatanatyam. It was an engrossing session in which Sucheta ji demonstrated the legacy of Bharatanatyam, and the most amazing thing was to see her still dancing perfectly! They presented Nritya-Ganga, a unique presentation combining Bharatanatyam dance technique and Hindustani classical music. On the second day was a seminar on ‘AI and dance’ curated by Anita Ratnam, with Madhu Nataraj as the keynote speaker and Sharanya Chandran as moderator.
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| Guru Ranjana Gauhar and Guru Geeta Chandran (Pic credit: Facebook/Geeta Chandran) |
Perhaps the most popular part of the annual NV World Dance Day utsav is the Young Dancers’ Festival, which starts at 6.30 in the evening on both days, after the repast of a scrumptious tea spread by the hosts. Geeta ji invests a lot of time and effort identifying excellent dancers from different forms of dance and from all over India to present on the WDD stage. This huge effort needs a lot of encouragement and applause. The curation takes a lot of effort, money and organizing skills. Everything is worked out to the smallest detail. Kudos to the NV team for making the WDD utsav better every year. But what I do miss sometimes is that the NV girls, whom I look forward to watching, even if in a short appearance, hardly ever perform in the festival.
Karuna Sagari – Bharatanatyam
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| Karuna Sagari Venkatachalam |
The Young Dancers’ Festival started on the first day with a Bharatanatyam performance by Karuna Sagari Venkatachalam. Karuna Sagari Venkatachalam is a classical Bharatanatyam dancer trained by her mother, Dr. Neela Venkatachalam, then at Kalakshetra and then by Sheejith Krishna. She is currently being mentored by Malavika Sarukkai. She also received instruction in bhakti, poetics and performance from her grandmother, Smt. Swarna Somasundaram, a scholar of classical and medieval Tamil literature.
Natya Vriksha’s Madhura Bhrushundi announced that Karuna endeavours to create a lingering emotional experience rather than a fleeting aesthetic performance.
Accompanying Karuna were Vijay Kumar on nattuvangam, Subiksha Rangrajan on vocals, Sarvesh Karthik on mridangam and K.P. Nandini on violin. Sharad Kulshreshtha handled the lights.
Her first piece was a varnam, ‘Entani ne delupudaraa’ in raag Khamas, a composition of Subbarama Dikshitar. She elaborated that the Thiruvarur Thyagesha is a form of Shiva known as Somaskanda, who is with Parvati and little Skanda. He is an enigmatic presence, one you might not fully see. His form is veiled with garlands, so that the serpents on his body also look like fragrant garlands.
He is seated on a ruby throne flanked by two thin swords. Within him are both majestic valour and tender sensuality, the Veer Vasantha Thyagaraja. Also with him is the deer that represents maya, and a young maiden. Thyagesha dances to the rise and fall of the breath of Lord Vishnu, who resides in his heart, ‘ajapa natanam’. She embodies this connection.
That is how Karuna described the varnam. She was dressed in blue and magenta aharyam. Through this varnam, she also paid homage to Rukmini Devi Arundale. She started with a leg lift in front, taking the stance for Shiva. The nayika says that she has been waiting for him. As you strike with your lotus, my heart flutters.
In the nritta portion, the hands moved up and down with precision, and the footwork had equal precision. She did leaps with precise up and down moves of hands. Lord Vishnu resides in his heart and Shiva dances to that heartbeat. Lord Vishnu reclines on Shesha with his shankh and chakra. Shiva moves with the breathing of Lord Vishnu.
She depicted with her hands a circle showing Shiva surrounded by both flowers and flames alternately. The garlands cover his form and the snakes in his neck peep from under them. What a pleasure it was to see an amalgamation of perfect nritta and balanced abhinaya. Karuna won rounds of applause. Her hands moved up, down and sideways precisely, her leg lifts had perfect balance and her footwork was neat. The leaps were taken with agility. The lights dimmed as the varnam came to an end with a soft embrace.
The second piece moved from the sacred temple of Thiruvarur to the sandy shores of the coast. A young fisher girl, free-spirited and beautiful, wanders along the seashore. A rich, wanton man from the city makes advances at her. Her friend intervenes and tells him that this girl is the daughter of deep sea divers, the shark hunters. They return with their catch. He might be wealthy, with chariots and riches, but the women of her clan can resist trespassers. Her refusal is non-negotiable and firm. Beneath her refusal lies the agency of choice. She is Natini, the daughter of blue seas. Music composition was by Aarti Gautam.
Karuna began her depiction showing the beautiful maiden holding a basket of fish and selecting the best. A man makes advances towards her. Her friend intercepts and tells him that her father goes into the deep seas, hunts fish and gets the catch back.
The suitor might be wealthy, with big houses, ornaments and chariots, he may be richly attired and move with attitude, twirling his moustache, arrogant. She shows him a crab that moves sideways with its pincers flashing, but when the waves come, it is carried away. Her father gets the pearls from the seas and sleeps in peace. The rude man tries to grab her hand, but she refuses – no means no. She dismisses him and moves away with attitude in her gait. The piece was well-depicted and also relatable.
The final piece was a tarana in Charukeshi followed by a Kabir bhajan, ‘Ud jayega hans’. The choreography draws from the falling leaves and the flight of a swan. The tarana had been composed by Subiksha Rangrajan, the vocalist. Each swan finds its own way. Some soar and fly high and far, others stay close. They do not fly in a group like other migratory birds, but alone. The nritta had expansive footwork and moves of hands – lotus hands, arms going up and down. Firstly, it was a Kabir bhajan, compositions that are laden with intense bhakti, and then the legendary Kumar Gandharva’s voice and rendition had magnified the impact of the bhajan. Credit to Subiksha, who sung it so soulfully that day.
Karuna started by using the hastas for the swan’s head and beak. Turning gently, she opened her arms to show closed wings opening from rest to a position of taking flight. And what an expansive slow movement it was – it was a moment that gave you goosebumps! She then leapt to show the flight. The mridangist added to the feel of flight.
Next, she showed the dried leaf falling and being blown away with the wind, which is like a storm. You have completed your breaths and life is over; then the yamadoot comes to get you and it all ends with a tussle. The swan gets thirsty and comes to drink from a pot – the pot is hidden in a bid to trap it. The swan does not bother with the water and continues its flight, leaving the pot behind. Do not fall in the trap of what is mine and what is not – just take your flight when the time comes. Karuna, her vocalist and mridangist gave a rendition that touched the inner cords of any discerning human present – it was beyond words. What an enthralling performance.
Ameera Patankar – Kathak
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| Ameera Patankar |
The next performance for the evening was Kathak by Pune’s Ameera Patankar, a disciple of Shama Bhate and a recipient of the national scholarship from the Ministry of Culture. One of her strengths, unusual among Kathak performers today, is accomplished bhava. She wore a purple costume with a shaded odhni. She was accompanied by Charudutt Phadke on tabla, Brajesh Mishra on vocals and harmonium, Dhaval Joshi on flute (who carried an unusually large flute) and Krupa Tendulkar on padhant.
She started with the invocation of Lord Rama in raag Megh. The bansuri set the mood for the piece. She started by taking stances for Lord Rama – the bow and arrow, with a very exact hand for the arrow, describing the beauty of the lord, he who is worshipped by the Vedas, he who is served by the devas, Janaki nathaye, he who crossed the bridge to Lanka, the vanquisher of the danava Ravana, with a body the colour of megh, with a tilak of chandan. She collects flowers to make a garland and lights a deepak for aarti, ending on ‘Janaki nath Raghunath mangal’.
In the nritta ang, she told the story of rhythm, since wanted to weave a story in Kathak – the story of teen taal. She stared with thaat, gently pressing her feet down as she moved and using exact, expansive hand movements. She performed aamad with chakkars and dragging feet, natwari, traditional dha tak dhunga in chatushra and tishra, paran with rapid speed and chakkars, upaj, parmelu with bird hands and jumps, tricky layakari and footwork in five speeds, each phrase introducing a new speed, ending with natwari and a tez aamad and leaps. The tabla player exhibited speed in his interlude. She exhibited great expertise in nritta, with very precise hands and footwork.
For bhava, she performed a traditional thumri. Krishna has just left Gokul and Vrindavan for Mathura, without a promise to come back, without even a goodbye. All Brajvasis know in their hearts that he is not going to be back. One gopi, in disbelief and denial, keeps saying, ‘Shyam na ab tak aaye, asha doobi jaye.’ She has chosen to live in a world of dreams and delusion. When she realizes that he is not there, she says, ‘Aao, man mandir mein aao.’
At times, she feels betrayed – ‘main roun tu muskaye, preet kare bhali paye’ – and she again goes back to her world of dreaming and relentless waiting. The flute for the piece created the music of viraha. The nayika is sitting and waiting – ‘ab more nainan jhar laage’. She looks for the mor pankh. She reminisces about how they would play together as children, when she was pulled from behind and he would grab her hand. How all the sakhis would swing on the jhoolas – ‘ghar ghar sakhi hindola jhule’ – and sing along. The jhoola was depicted by leaps back and forth. When she does not see Krishna, she rubs her hands in disappointment – ‘asha doobi jaye’.
She looks up the path and counts the days. As she thinks of him, she hears a knock on the door and listens for his footsteps on the floor. He just put on his tilak and patka and left, never to come back. She again falls into a world of dreams, his caressing hand, holding his hand – ‘aao man mandir mein aao’.
The truth about the path of love is like the shama and patanga – one just gets singed in the fire. Her last word are ‘preet kiye dukh paye videshi’. Ameera was able to convey the emotions of a virahini gopi, aided by Brajesh Mishra, who evoked them with his singing.
The finale was a tarana of the Gwalior gharana in raag Basant, followed by tode, tukde and tatkar. The bansuri again set the mood. Ameera started with chakkars and her footwork was exact, with expansive and crisp moves. Even after the sam, she exhibited footwork and leaps and then came back to the sam. She showed immense energy and stamina. Natya Vriksha and Geeta ji always present some of the greatest talent from any corner of the country.
Vrinda Chaddha – Odissi
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| Vrinda Chadda |
On the second day too, the entire auditorium was resplendent with the scent of the mogra flowers piled high on the edges of the stage and filled into urns placed in the corners. I associate the smell of mogra with the WDD celebrations – after the performance, armfuls of the fragrant flowers are deposited into large bags and given away to all and sundry who attend.
The first dancer for the evening was Vrinda Chadda from Delhi, presenting Odissi. Vrinda, whom I have been watching for many years, is a disciple of Guru Ranjana Gauhar. She has a National Scholarship for Odissi from the Ministry of Culture and is a member of the International Dance Council (CID), UNESCO, Paris. She is a dance teacher and arts educator too and teaches Odissi as well.
Accompanying her on manjira was her guru Ranjana Gauhar, with Saroj Mohanty on vocals, Prafulla Kumar Mangaraj on mardala, Dhiraj Kumar Pandey on flute and Yaar Mohammad on the sitar.
Lord Shiva takes care of the creation, preservation and destruction of the universe. Vrinda began her performance with Shiva as the cosmic dancer. Creation began with the unstruck sound, manifested through vibrations as the sacred dance. It was through Shiva’s dance that natya was born and Bharat Muni wrote the Natya Shastra, giving soul to this divine art.
At the heart of this sacred dance lies the Panchakshari mantra – ‘Om namah shivaya’ – which represents the five elements of creation: earth, water, air, fire and ether. With this mantra, one aligns with the universe, balancing mind, body and spirt with the cosmic rhythm. Shiva’s body is the universe, his speech is all sound, his ornaments are the celestial bodies.
The choreography for this piece was by Guru Ranjana Gauhar, music by Acharya Bankim Sethi in raag Darbari, ektaal khemta jati. Vrinda wore a green and blue aharyam with beautiful ornaments. The instruments created the atmosphere that became the base for the performance. Vrinda sat with her back to the audience, her hands moving up and down in waves. The vocalist recited each syllable separately. ‘Angikam bhuvanam…’ the stotra was recited.
Vrinda took expansive moves to show the universe, the celestial bodies – moon, stars and sun – the five elements and Shiva’s attributes, moving very effortlessly in her nritta. She invoked ras, bhaav, nriyam, vyanjana on the stage and wound it all up with a pranaam. She presented the perfect dancer envisioned in the Natya Shastra – lotus-eyed, perfect body, ornaments etc.
The next presentation was the pushp vatika prasang from Ramcharitmanas. Composed by Tulsidas, the poetry captures the poignant moment when Ram and Sita meet in the pushp vatika. I was thrilled when I heard the announcement because being a north Indian and from a family where Manas is like a rulebook, there was a feeling of being in familiar waters. Ram and Lakshman are in Janakpur with their guru Vishwamitra, and they are going to pick flowers for their pooja in the morning.
On the other hand, Sita also goes to get flowers for Gauri pooja. Her sakhi, who gets a glimpse of Ram, tells her to go and see him. Sita loses herself to love for the handsome prince. On the other hand, Ram hears the sounds of her ornaments and is drawn to the source. He is consumed by her beauty, like a chakor by the chandra. Lakshman has to pull him away and Sita’s friends have to bring her back to proceed for pooja. Sita tries to compose herself and not look at him, trying to look at a deer or a bird. But suddenly, she is hit by the realization that her marriage is conditional – she cannot simply marry a young man she is taken with – because her match will be made in a swayamvara to the one who lifts Shiva’s bow, like she did. The composition was in raag Basant, taal ektali triputa.
Vrinda started with the sakhi describing Ram’s beauty, ‘kimi bakhani’. She says that eyes have no speech and speech, no eyes. Vrinda said earlier that these chaupais had stayed with her. She depicted Ram roaming the garden, admiring the flowers, the bees on them, the creepers and the vines. When Sita arrives, she is speechless; their ageless love spanning previous avatars comes into play – priti puritan. ‘Madan dundhubi’ are the words used to describe the sounds that Sita’s ornaments make. Vrinda showed the arrows being shot from the Madan’s bow. Ram and Sita’s eyes meet and Ram looks at the moon of her face like a chakor. The demeanour of Ram and the expressions of Sita first at being in the greatest love and then gaining their composure was very sensitively done. The words of Tulsidas created the magic of the moment. The nritta that was incorporated was apt and exhibited Vrinda’s technique. She danced with stances for bow and arrow, broad plie jumps, dancing on the heels, cross-legged and, footwork with jumps. She moved around the stage in perfect footwork in chauka and tribhanga. The final expression of Sita, when she realizes the difficult situations and becomes very still, was beautifully elaborated.
The final piece was a pure dance piece, pallavi. Pallavi means blossoming and is a celebration of the joy of dance. It was in raag Kalyani, taalmalika. Choreography was by Guru Mayadhar Raut. Vrinda started with a back leg lift and depicted the sword, tilak lalat, suvarna vesham and prachand murti, the attributes of the mother goddess. She presented very neat nritta incorporating all the moves – feet on heels, hands moving up and down, wide moves all over the stage, chakkars on one foot, squats, cross feet jumps. Vrinda was as if intoxicated with the rhythm and moved smoothly all over the stage with varied energetic moves.
The final abhinaya piece was ‘Beeti Nat Jamini’ by the Odiya poet Kavi Kalicharan. The music was by Balkrishna Das, inspired by his guru’s composition ‘Ka Karu Sajani Aaye Na Balam’. This was in Odiya in thumri style. The night is coming to an end and dawn breaking, but Radha is wilting like the flowers. The moon has bidden farewell and is setting behind the mountains. Radha’s eyes have lost their glow due to endless crying as Krishna has left for Mathura. She only chants the name of Krishna. The raag is Bhairavi, taal ektaali. Choreography was by Guru Ranjana Gauhar. Vrinda elaborated that in the present context, in this world with chaotic times and unrest, it is the soul that seeks to connect with the divine or one’s inner self, just as Radha seeks Krishna.
Vrinda stated by walking in with the deepak in her hand as she looks for Krishna. She hears the sound of the flute, forgets the diya in her hand and burns her hand. The lotuses blossomed with the sun and closed at sunset, but Krishna has not come. She counts the number of days this has happened. She becomes hopeful at a knock on the door, quickly ties her hair and wears her ornaments, but on opening the door, she sees only a calf and caresses it. She falls to the floor as she breaks down. She burns like the deepshikha and her tears flow all the time. She picks the diya and looks at the path, but finding no Krishna, she aches. Finally, she imagines she can hear Krishna playing the flute and calling her. Vrinda reached the end with chakkars to chants of ‘Krishna he’. It was a very wholesome performance with very appreciable nritta and nritya. Vrinda looked pretty in her costume and elongated eyes, which were very expressive. The abhinaya was very sensitive and mature in the entire performance and Vrinda’s command over nritta outstanding as usual.
Avijit Das – Kuchipudi
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| Avijit Das |
The last performer was Avijit Das, performing Kuchipudi. I had seen his work online but had never seen him perform. Thanks to Natya Vriksha, I was finally able to. Avijit started with Bharatanatyam, not Kuchipudi, at the age of five under Smt. Sanaka Biswas of Shanti Niketan, West Bengal, and went on to graduate from Kalakshetra. His Kuchipudi training started later in life at Kuchipudi Art Academy under Guru Sri Vempati Chinna Satyam and Smt. Manju Barggavee, and he is currently training under gurus Jaikishore and Padmavani Mosalikanti.
His style was described as ‘fiery, introspective and expressive’. As Avijit elaborated, the solo form of Kuchipudi is known as the vyashti nritya, where the dancer himself becomes the story and the storyteller, the journey and the destination. This form was shaped and structured by the great Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastri and later refined by his disciple Padma Bhushan Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam.
Avijit was accompanied by Devi Prasanna Kumar on the nattuvangam, Raghuram R. on the vocals, Vidya Shankar N. on the mridangam and Raghu Simha M. on the flute.
He began his recital with the traditional invocatory piece ‘Vaniparaku’ followed by a Shiva stuti in raagmalika, taal aadi, choreographed by Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam. He began with an ode to Lord Ganesh, going on to praise the rest. With the melodious notes of the flute, the Shiva stuti began. Avijit got up from a squat to form the hands and feet of shiva, one foot rising horizontally. Then he moved to the back of the stage and came forth with the power of his footwork, depicting the attributes of trinetra, chaturbhujam, shantam, showing the eyes to be restful, raktavarnam, smitananam, Ganga on his head and the chandra on his jooda, the posture of his feet; in one hand he holds the damru, agni in the other, adorned by snakes and bhasma, addressed as the Natesha.
The nritta was very energetic and covered the entire stage. He showed the Shiva tandava with all the musical instruments – veena, mridangam, bansuri. He rides the Nandi, is covered by snakes and his jata spreads out in all directions. The nritya was so expansive that the stage was falling short for his moves. Occasionally, he would go and stand at the back of the stage and look for a glimpse of the lord, his eyes seeking. The round of applause this got was befitting.
The following piece was a tarangam, in which a gopika complains to Ma Yashoda about naughty Krishna breaking her butter pots and stealing butter. But even as she complains, her heart melts and she knows that this child is the supreme lord who lifted the Govardhan parvat to protect the villagers and vanquished the serpent Kaliya in the Yamuna.
Her heart becomes full of devotion and she knows it when she sees in him the radiance of a thousand suns, and sees him as Varaha, who rescued Bhoodevi. She remembers him to have killed Mushtika and Chanoor in Mathura. Yashoda Ma is blessed and proud to be his mother, she says. The Krishna Leela tarangini has been written in Telugu by poet Narayana Teertha Swami. The composition was in raagmalika, taalmalika. Music composition was by Rajkumar Bharthi and choreography by Avijit.
The notes of the flute were heartwarming, making you think of the divine flute player. In his portrayal, Avijit showed the little Krishna running after breaking pots on the gopis’ heads and the gopis running after him. Avijit’s stamina showed in the very energetic running he depicted.
The gopi goes to Ma Yashoda to complain. She says that Krishna comes and flings open the door and jumps to get to the pot hung high up from the ceiling. When he is unable to reach it, he calls his sakhas and as they boost him up, Krishna climbs up to get the butter. The gopika comes in at that time and catches hold of him.
The Govardhan leela was depicted to show how Krishna lifts Govardhan and brings all Brajvasis and cows under the parvat. Avijit showed how the arrogant Mushtika and Chanoor were destroyed by Krishna, who wears the kaustubh mani on his chest. The fight scenes had exact hand movements, leaps and leg lifts.
Avijit then entangled his toes, twisted his feet and mounted the plate. He depicted the flute and morpankh with his hands. He moved in all directions – sideways, forwards, backwards. On the plate, he crossed his feet again, moving forwards and backwards with hands moving in waves. He moved on the plate very effortlessly.
The Krishna leela was depicted further as the Navneet chora. As the gopis go to Yamuna to fill their pots and bathe, he steals their clothes. Avijit took the Kaliyadaman stance, dancing on the head of the serpent. The bhakta then tells the lord that he wishes to be born as his mother so he can love and caress him like Ma Yashoda. Avijit’s eyes were moist with emotion and his eyes were still seeking the lord.
The final piece was a composition of the great bhakta poet Annamacharya, ‘Bramhamukte’. The composition is based on the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, the oneness of all creation. The bramha is present in all and is the same in everything, transcending all superficial distinction. The divisions drawn to make social differences, like caste, status and wealth, are illusory and all are the same, whether king or servant, brahmin or chandal.
Nature does not make any distinction in who gets sunshine or who sleeps and is the same for all in existence. The supreme lord Shri Hari is the same in all, without distinction, or sarvam bramhayam. The composition was in raag Mauli, taal tisra jati.
Avijit started depicting playing the manjira, feet moving rapidly. He enacted the king moving with the chhatra over his head and the servant holding it. The rich man is served by his servant, who makes the bed, pours water for his master and sits at his feet, pressing them. But sleep will come to all just the same. All animals big and small – cows, elephants, lions – have the same supreme lord in them.
The vocals lingered on ‘Aum namah Venkateshaye’. Avijit rang the bell and knelt down, crying. He then portrayed the chaturbhuj of Lord Venkatesha, shankh, chakra, varada hasta and kati hasta. The audience started clapping even before the end and the applause did not die off for quite a few minutes.
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