Nehru Centre's Cultural Wing organizes, throughout the year, several cultural programmes in all branches of performing arts such as dance, drama, music, etc.,. One such programme, held this year from 14-16 November, was the annual Dance Festival which brought together some of the most renowned dancers of the country - Pt. Birju Maharaj, Dr. Mallika Sarabhai and Dr. Sonal Mansingh.
Day 1: Kathak by Pt. Birju Maharaj
The three day festival commenced with a Kathak performance by none other than the legendary Pt. Birju Maharaj, along with his senior disciple Smt. Shaswati Sen. After a brief introductory talk about the programme and the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, by Pt. Birju Maharaj, we were off to a mesmerizing start with an invocation by Shaswati Sen - the Madhurashtakam, composed by Shri Vallabhacharya and rendered in the voice of Birju Maharaj.
It is indeed difficult, nay, impossible, to translate into english the essence of the word 'Madhuram'! The most simplistic translation would be 'sweet' or 'beautiful', but these words miserably fail to convey the divine essence of this poem which describes the lovely attributes of Lord Shri Krishna's form. But where words fall short, expressions convey even the deepest of emotions with utmost ease! And Shaswati Sen did complete justice to the essence of Madhurashtakam with some wondrous emoting. Whether it was as an innocent child, or a playful cowherd, a naughty thief, or an amorous lover, every depiction of Krishna was totally endearing! Indeed, "madhur-adipater akhilam madhuram" - everything about the Lord of sweetness is sweet!
Another short performance by Shaswati Sen and then her guru Pt. Birju Maharaj took over the stage!
In keeping with his philosophy of making classical dance comprehensible to the masses, Birju Maharaj chose to get down to the very basics of understanding the rhythm in things and its expression in dance. Be it the depiction of a prancing hen trying to avoid trampling its chicks, a boy joyfully skating, a peacock dancing with its feathers unfurled, or a gopi complaining to Yashoda about her brat Krishna, Pandjitji was grace personified! Thundering applause and a standing ovation from a packed-to-the-last-seat auditorium is proof enough of why Pt. Birju Maharaj is considered one of the foremost exponents of Indian classical dance.
Day 2: Bharatanatyam by Dr. Mallika Sarabhai and Revanta Sarabhai
Day two of the dance festival had Bharatanatyam performances by Dr. Mallika Sarabhai, a noted Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer, with her son Revanta Sarabhai.
If Birju Maharaj has chosen the down-to-the-basics approach in dance, Dr. Mallika Sarabhai has boldly experimented with new themes, trying to make classical dance more enjoyable and relatable, particularly for the younger audiences. Her efforts have earned her the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Creative Dance (2000), apart from the prestigious Padma Bhushan (2010).
While the mother-son duo emoted with their eyes and hands, an overhead projector usefully flashed English translations of the traditional Tamil compositions to which they performed. Though the repeatedly changing phrases on the projector screen was a bit distracting, I realized it was helping the audiences overcome the language barrier and truly enjoy the dance recital.
For me, the highlight of the day was a solo by Revanta, about long distance relationships in present times. Penned by Mallika Sarabhai, and translated into literary Tamil by her troupe, it is the story of a youth whose girlfriend relocates abroad for a job. Over time, the heroine gets caught up with her career and stops responding to calls, emails and skypes from her lover. While a fastrac lover would have moved on, not so our hero. Though he is desolate and heartbroken, he understands that his lady's career is as important as his own, and hence ardently prays to God that she must not forget his love. As is the case with all happy endings, the heroine finally returns to the hero for a joyous union.
I have often scoffed at, and surely never been able to relate to, goofy mythological love tales of Shakuntala pining for Dushyanta, who has obviously forgotten her, or Pururava roaming the forests, searching desperately for his lady love Urvasi who has deserted him. But how different is our reality from theirs? In the absence of telephones and computers, these mythological lovers turned to birds and beasts to carry their messages of love. They roamed the forests and often revisited the fragrant bowers which were witnesses to their love scenes. Since we no longer have the privilege of forests and bowers, we make do with malls and movie theaters for meeting our loved ones. The form in which we maintain relationships has indeed changed a lot, but the essence remains the same. The pangs of separation, the sorrow of loneliness, the ecstasy of union are still the same!
Though Revanta's performance was not spectacular, it was very effective because of the strong connection the story was able to establish with the audience.
Day 3: Odissi by Dr. Sonal Mansingh
The festival drew to a close with a spectacular Odissi performance by Dr. Sonal Mansingh. A disciple of Kelucharan Mohapatra, she is the recipient of several awards and honors including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Padma Bhushan (1992) and the Padma Vibhushan (2003).
Sonal Mansingh's performance started off with the traditional blowing of conches and an invocation to Lord Ganesha. This was followed by an oh-so-forgettable nritta (pure
dance movements as a medium of visual depiction of rhythms) performance by a youth whom neither the organizers nor Sonal Mansingh herself felt the need to introduce to the audience!
Thankfully, we were not subjected to the torture of watching this youth for long and Sonal Mansingh soon took over the stage to present what was undoubtedly the highlight of the day - Shiva Navarasas, depicting the nine rasas (or emotions) through mythological stories connected with Lord Shiva.
The storytelling in each of the rasas was phenomenal, with Sonal Mansingh bringing out even the finer nuances dramatically with her gestures and expressions. Two rasas which were a particular treat to watch were Hasya (amusement or laughter) and Bhayam (fear), two emotions that are very difficult to associate Shiva with! But not only was the selection of episodes spot-on, Sonal Mansingh's dramatization of the fables was totally enchanting.
For depicting Hasya rasa, Sonal Mansingh chose the Mohini-Bhasmasura encounter where, much to the amusement of the celestial beings, Shiva himself gets enamored by the enchanting beauty of Mohini, forgetting that it is Lord Vishnu who has assumed this form to kill Bhasmasura! The dance contest between Mohini and Bhasmasura was brought out beautifully with the softer, more graceful movements of Mohini, the enchantress, as against the aggressive, even arrogant, reproduction of the same by Bhasmasura, the demon.
'Every man fears his wife!' Sonal Mansingh quipped as she explained her choice of incident for portraying Bhayam - Shiva trembling in fear at Parvati's fury when she realizes that Shiva has beheaded Ganesha. Sonal Mansingh's expressions in this piece were simply mindblowing, especially where she enacts Parvati creating a clay image of a boy, breathing life into it, watching with pride as her boy grows up instantly and then torn by anguish and fury when she learns that her husband, Shiva, has beheaded the boy so created by her!
Unlike Mallika Sarabhai's programme on the previous day, which was extremely well coordinated, today's programme was marked by several highs and lows. Sonal Mansingh and her accompanying singer lost sync when he missed one paragraph in the invocation (maybe because of the low light on stage), but he quickly recovered. Then again, Sonal Mansingh's armbands came loose and after trying to adjust them a few times, she finally discarded them (her attempts to adjust and discard the jewellery were so beautifully interwoven with her dance moves that it was lovely to watch) and the lesser said about the performance by the unnamed gentleman the better (who also performed a duet with Sonal Mansingh)! But Sonal Mansingh's unmatched storytelling and wonderful portrayal of a few episodes saved the day and earned her a standing ovation.
At the end of it all, I really enjoyed the dance festival and look forward to being here again next year...
The three day festival commenced with a Kathak performance by none other than the legendary Pt. Birju Maharaj, along with his senior disciple Smt. Shaswati Sen. After a brief introductory talk about the programme and the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, by Pt. Birju Maharaj, we were off to a mesmerizing start with an invocation by Shaswati Sen - the Madhurashtakam, composed by Shri Vallabhacharya and rendered in the voice of Birju Maharaj.
It is indeed difficult, nay, impossible, to translate into english the essence of the word 'Madhuram'! The most simplistic translation would be 'sweet' or 'beautiful', but these words miserably fail to convey the divine essence of this poem which describes the lovely attributes of Lord Shri Krishna's form. But where words fall short, expressions convey even the deepest of emotions with utmost ease! And Shaswati Sen did complete justice to the essence of Madhurashtakam with some wondrous emoting. Whether it was as an innocent child, or a playful cowherd, a naughty thief, or an amorous lover, every depiction of Krishna was totally endearing! Indeed, "madhur-adipater akhilam madhuram" - everything about the Lord of sweetness is sweet!
Another short performance by Shaswati Sen and then her guru Pt. Birju Maharaj took over the stage!
In keeping with his philosophy of making classical dance comprehensible to the masses, Birju Maharaj chose to get down to the very basics of understanding the rhythm in things and its expression in dance. Be it the depiction of a prancing hen trying to avoid trampling its chicks, a boy joyfully skating, a peacock dancing with its feathers unfurled, or a gopi complaining to Yashoda about her brat Krishna, Pandjitji was grace personified! Thundering applause and a standing ovation from a packed-to-the-last-seat auditorium is proof enough of why Pt. Birju Maharaj is considered one of the foremost exponents of Indian classical dance.
Day 2: Bharatanatyam by Dr. Mallika Sarabhai and Revanta Sarabhai
 |
| Dr. Mallika Sarabhai |
If Birju Maharaj has chosen the down-to-the-basics approach in dance, Dr. Mallika Sarabhai has boldly experimented with new themes, trying to make classical dance more enjoyable and relatable, particularly for the younger audiences. Her efforts have earned her the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Creative Dance (2000), apart from the prestigious Padma Bhushan (2010).
While the mother-son duo emoted with their eyes and hands, an overhead projector usefully flashed English translations of the traditional Tamil compositions to which they performed. Though the repeatedly changing phrases on the projector screen was a bit distracting, I realized it was helping the audiences overcome the language barrier and truly enjoy the dance recital.
 |
| Revanta Sarabhai |
I have often scoffed at, and surely never been able to relate to, goofy mythological love tales of Shakuntala pining for Dushyanta, who has obviously forgotten her, or Pururava roaming the forests, searching desperately for his lady love Urvasi who has deserted him. But how different is our reality from theirs? In the absence of telephones and computers, these mythological lovers turned to birds and beasts to carry their messages of love. They roamed the forests and often revisited the fragrant bowers which were witnesses to their love scenes. Since we no longer have the privilege of forests and bowers, we make do with malls and movie theaters for meeting our loved ones. The form in which we maintain relationships has indeed changed a lot, but the essence remains the same. The pangs of separation, the sorrow of loneliness, the ecstasy of union are still the same!
Though Revanta's performance was not spectacular, it was very effective because of the strong connection the story was able to establish with the audience.
Day 3: Odissi by Dr. Sonal Mansingh
The festival drew to a close with a spectacular Odissi performance by Dr. Sonal Mansingh. A disciple of Kelucharan Mohapatra, she is the recipient of several awards and honors including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Padma Bhushan (1992) and the Padma Vibhushan (2003).
 |
| Dr. Sonal Mansingh |
Thankfully, we were not subjected to the torture of watching this youth for long and Sonal Mansingh soon took over the stage to present what was undoubtedly the highlight of the day - Shiva Navarasas, depicting the nine rasas (or emotions) through mythological stories connected with Lord Shiva.
The storytelling in each of the rasas was phenomenal, with Sonal Mansingh bringing out even the finer nuances dramatically with her gestures and expressions. Two rasas which were a particular treat to watch were Hasya (amusement or laughter) and Bhayam (fear), two emotions that are very difficult to associate Shiva with! But not only was the selection of episodes spot-on, Sonal Mansingh's dramatization of the fables was totally enchanting.
For depicting Hasya rasa, Sonal Mansingh chose the Mohini-Bhasmasura encounter where, much to the amusement of the celestial beings, Shiva himself gets enamored by the enchanting beauty of Mohini, forgetting that it is Lord Vishnu who has assumed this form to kill Bhasmasura! The dance contest between Mohini and Bhasmasura was brought out beautifully with the softer, more graceful movements of Mohini, the enchantress, as against the aggressive, even arrogant, reproduction of the same by Bhasmasura, the demon.
'Every man fears his wife!' Sonal Mansingh quipped as she explained her choice of incident for portraying Bhayam - Shiva trembling in fear at Parvati's fury when she realizes that Shiva has beheaded Ganesha. Sonal Mansingh's expressions in this piece were simply mindblowing, especially where she enacts Parvati creating a clay image of a boy, breathing life into it, watching with pride as her boy grows up instantly and then torn by anguish and fury when she learns that her husband, Shiva, has beheaded the boy so created by her!
Unlike Mallika Sarabhai's programme on the previous day, which was extremely well coordinated, today's programme was marked by several highs and lows. Sonal Mansingh and her accompanying singer lost sync when he missed one paragraph in the invocation (maybe because of the low light on stage), but he quickly recovered. Then again, Sonal Mansingh's armbands came loose and after trying to adjust them a few times, she finally discarded them (her attempts to adjust and discard the jewellery were so beautifully interwoven with her dance moves that it was lovely to watch) and the lesser said about the performance by the unnamed gentleman the better (who also performed a duet with Sonal Mansingh)! But Sonal Mansingh's unmatched storytelling and wonderful portrayal of a few episodes saved the day and earned her a standing ovation.
At the end of it all, I really enjoyed the dance festival and look forward to being here again next year...
