Calcutta School of Music presented the young Bharatanatyam dancer Vaibhav Arekar in a solo with his Sankhya Dance Company from Mumbai in a choreographic presentation “Namamhane-An Awakening” with bhakti as its base at the G.D.Birla Sabhagar. Founded by Vaibhav in 2009, Sankhya, in its form and content, is fired by modernity within the classical template. Its forte is Bharatanatyam through which it investigates, involves and interrogates various themes and concepts of dance with the added dynamics and vision of its co-director and ace light designer Sushant Jadav.
Vaibhav’s training was within the bounds of classical Bharatanatyam under Saroja Srinath, Tangamani Nagarajan and Dr. Kanak Rele. Having amplified his range with drama, his execution is animated and meaningful.
The evening began with the musicians paying obeisance to “Omkaram Bindu”Omkaraye Namoh namah” . The first segment was “Marga”, the path, a solo exposition by Vaibhav, beginning with an evocatively performed Periyar Stuti, “Ganapati”. A popular piece, “Subhashita” followed embracing hasya rasa. The story was about Shiva meditating in his Digambar state when his ganas guarding him sees a missile in the sky and alert him that Lord Vishnu may be visiting him. Shiva wraps himself with the tiger skin and fastens it with the snake around his neck. Seeing Garuda with Vishnu, the snake slithers away in fright and Shiva is de-robbed. The natya element of Bharatanatyam highlighted the theatrical skills of the dancer, especially the eyes and the neck movements in this enjoyable number.
Crowing piece
The crowning piece was the varnam “Mohamaginey”, exploring the relationship of the Nayika with the “Ishtadevata” based on Adi taal and raga Kharaharapriya. It was about the concept of “Biraha” — the pain of separation that the Nayika feels towards the Nayaka. Full of teasing and tender lyricism, the piece begins with soul-stirring music and a female dancer in front of Vaibhav and the performance begins with slow and steady steps gradually increasing with fast paced footwork by Vaibhav in the classical format after the female dancer leaves. She appears at the end of the performance reaching a full circle. The blend of music and portrayal of “Manmatha’s Panchavana” depicting love had exquisite abhinaya interspersed with pure dance with chiselled masculine stretches and powerful footwork.
Commenting on this piece, Vaibhav mentions that “the concept of biraha for us symbolises the jivaatma, irrespective of whether it is a male body or a female body. But the longing is of the female principle represented by the nayika for the paramatma but the take off in the choreography was how the jiva and the aatma are two people you know. In our minds, we have to follow our mundane duties but the aatma wishes to be with Shiva for many many times, but there in the piece it goes away with jiva. The choreography in this piece is about falling in love with the Shiva of Tillai Ambalam.” The delicate movements, curled hands held tight to the heart and intense facial expressions for preserving the heart in “Shiva’s Garbhagriha”, underlined the dancers’ involvement, creating moments of sheer wonder.
09dfrVaibhav1
The second part of the programme was an ensemble presentation by Vaibhav and the competent female dancers of Sankhya and was totally about Bhakti margaas, a tool towards social awareness. It was called “Nama mahne” or “Saint Namadev Says” and was embellished with fascinating abhangas of Namdev and Chokhmela and soul-stirring singing by the highly accomplished Carnatic vocalist Srikanth Gopalakrishnan. There was a fine lyrical beginning with the hymn “Anathancha Natha” and “Jai Jai Vithala Shiva” with dancers using wooden clappers and khanjani similar to way the pilgrims visit Pandaharpur. It was about the equality of all castes in the eyes of Vithala and the story of a low caste saint Chokhmela whose bones Namdev buried in front of the Vithala temple. The hunger of the poor in the song “Zohar mai baap” portrayed by Vaibhav depicted the ultimate in poignancy.
The choreography showed imagination and innovation with neat movements. “The idea was about the Bhakti movement and Namdev who fought for the downtrodden and the right of the untouchable saints to enter the temple,” remarked Vaibhav. Talking about his style, he said, ”My banis are from different Gurus who groomed me but the rest is from my personal growth. I feel I am a man of this contemporary world. What happens to me is that I represent the voice of today. You can see that a part of the choreography is from what happens around me at this point of time in life. Whatever the dance style, I feel Bhakti continues to be important and what Namdev says has not lost context.”
The Tillana was an illuminating innovative piece with scintillating music with unconventional combination of adavus within the classical format. And the dancers gave a mesmerising performance. Costumes by Sushant Jadav need special mention so do the music support of Kalisharan Pillai (nattuvangam), Satish Krishnamurthy on mridangam and Rakesh Sudhir on flute.
