Nishagandhi Festival had a few surprises this time. A handful of group productions and male dancers found a place among the soloists; a pleasant feature that does not happen often. A neat backdrop without any clutter signified that the organisers were keen on giving the festival a facelift.
Soloists take the stage
Parshwanath Upadhye was in full flow right from the beginning as he started with a kauthuvam on Vinayaka. While the energy, involvement and finesse in his dance were remarkable, what made it exhilarating was the way he dealt with the narratives. He visualised and depicted the excerpts beautifully, with an eye for detail. Be it Rama or Krishna, Sita or Hanuman, he infused apt emotions into his characters. This helped him to connect with the audience. Applause was generous when he finished dancing to the jatis every time, and also when he improvised on the sancharis!
His presentation of the gopis stealing Krishna’s clothes, not the other way, in the tanavarnam ( Vanajaksha ninne nammiti... in Behag, Adi) and the act showing Sita’s childhood where she casually lifts the thrayambaka to get her ball back in the presentation of Kanaka Dasa devaranama were some instances that underlined his calibre as a thoughtful dancer. Credit also goes to Adithya P.V. for choreographing these items. He also did the nattuvangam.
By giving her a one-hour slot cramped between two other performances, the festival organisers made it hard for Alarmel Valli to give her audience the kind of visual experience that she is capable of. She tried to do her best under the circumstances and started with a piece in praise of the goddess, taking verses from the traditional texts and using Subramania Bharati’s poetry.
As her stylised nritta sequences with the characteristic hand throws and synced head moves came alive, she looked charismatic as ever. Even though the usual metaphors along with sequences linked to the sahithya were presented in the varnam, her soulful abhinaya made it enthralling. Unfortunately, she had to skip an abhinaya piece owing to time constraints and had to quickly wrap up her show with a ‘Nrithya Lahari’.
Pasumarthy Mruthyumjaya was another soloist who got featured in the same category, but he couldn’t make the best of it. While his choreography was interesting and seemed to have enough to make an impression, his presentation could not live up to expectations.
Group extravaganza
Among the eight group presentations that were featured in the festival, it was Rudrakshya Foundation that impressed the most. The all-men team literally took the stage by storm and did their guru - Bichitrananda Swain, proud.
Managalacharan, paying obeisance to Lord Surya, was the opening item followed by ‘Taal tarangam’, a pure dance piece. The two items were beautifully choreographed and the vibrant dancers were in full flow right from the start. But the highlight was the last piece, ‘Chakravyuha’, narrating the tale of Abhimanyu. The dance segments – especially the one that depicted Abhimanyu’s fight with the Kauravas – were superb and together with apt abhinaya of the lead actors, the presentation turned out to be an absorbing experience.
Nadroop, a Kathak dance production company envisaged by Shama Bhate, presented ‘Krishna – The Liberator’, one of their innovative productions. The idea was to present the familiar tales of Krishna in a contemporary context. It could be seen as a modern day musical ballet, skilfully infusing traditional Kathak elements into it, without spoiling the spirit of the theme in the process.
With the dancers moving in sync, utilising opportunities to display their rhythmic virtuosity and dancing abilities along with performing the narrative parts, the presentation had enough to keep the audience engaged and entertained.
Nadam Ensemble, led by Nandini K. Mehta and Murali Mohan K., tried their best to bring some freshness into their recital. The items were suitably picked and the use of multiple costumes made the dancers look good on stage. However, when it came to the performance, the team left a lot to be desired.
Eye candy
Glittering costumes and some eye-catching formations certainly worked for the team of youngsters led by Deepika Reddy during their Kuchipudi recital and it was well received by the audience. But the rest of the presentation had nothing much to write home about. The same could be said about the Odissi performance by Kaishiki Dance Academy with Daksha Mashruwala in the lead.
With two items on navagrahas and navarasas, they seemed to be keen on bringing in some substance into their presentation. A pallavi based on rag Behag was also presented.
One can only wonder what the authorities of Kerala Kalamandalam was thinking of the festival! According to the brochure, they were expected to give a Mohiniyattam group presentation but the dances were a mix of Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi numbers. The only consolation was the Kuchipudi tarangam presented by Kalamandalam Sangeetha Prasad.
Apt finale
The final day of the festival featured two group presentations. The first one was by members of Chitra Visweswaran’s Chidambaram Dance Company. They did ‘Anubhuti’, featuring a few group items put together based on the framework of traditional Bharatanatyam margam.
The dancers – moving in and out on their cues, all stepping in tune, creating different formations – did a fine job and made it worthy of a presentation.
By presenting an a la carte of different flavours of Manipuri dance, the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy’s rectial was awe-inspiring.
While the dancers were elegance personified, not only in looks but also in their performance, the real excitement was created by cholom dancers and martial art combatants. The team ended their recital with ‘Vasant raas’, a real visual treat, in which the dancers presented themselves in the stylised costumes of the repertoire.
The seven-day long festival was organised under the aegis of Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala.