Bhushan Academy brought male dancers to centre stage
Bhushan’s Academy of Performing Arts, Mysore, conducted Purusha Bhushana, an event of classical dance concerts exclusively committed to bring into lime light male dancers of appreciable learning, with an exhaustive repertoire.
Young duo, Vasanth Kiran and Vijay Shekar presented Kuchipudi. Focus of the concert was Thyagaraja’s pancharatna Kriti, “Jagadaanandakaaraka” (Naata). They presented it with every commitment that spoke of their confidence. If there was a sense of incompleteness, it was the absence of a live music ensemble.
Consequently, this shortcoming posed natural restrictions on spontaneity, which is the sine qua non in the process of assessing and establishing any artiste’s proficiency. Stage activities appeared mechanical – it was a faithful representation of what they had rehearsed.
Moreover, the pace of the audio track was not favourable for graceful completion of movements, and as such, many of the passages lost their crispness and appeared to have performed in a hurry. The concert comprised a short tharanga too.
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Vilasini Natyam was another performance that created interest in the spectators, and it was by Sanjay Kumar Joshi. The dance form is rich in delicate movements (laasya) which the dancer’s competence displayed with winning softness and appeal.
An overview of the concert revealed a content chiefly of a descriptive nature; the emotive content was missing though. Whereas one of the pallavis described the morning rituals observed in the temple of Ranganathaswami, the other elaborated on the evening rituals.
Two compositions, “Nanda Nandana Govinda” and “Bruhi Mukundethi” (Sadashiva Brahmendra), were other highlights of the concert. The show depended on pre-recorded audio track, and therefore could only provide an incomplete glimpse of the art form.
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Rakesh, another young dancer presented Bharatanatya on the same evening. He was graceful and expressive. Within the constraints posed by pre-recorded audio track, he proved himself an adept in abhinaya, which came to the fore in Kshetrayya’s pada: the dancer’s expressions convincingly displayed Rama’s pangs of separation.
The concert included a tillana (Hindola) of Tiru Gokarna Iyer.
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Odissi by Madulitha Mohapatra and her team was the best of the four, for the near completion or perfection the dancers achieved in placing before the spectators nuances of the art form. By virtue of the inherent grace nested in the dance form, merits of the performance glossed over much of the perceptible limitations posed by pre-recorded audio tracks.
The artistes materialised the grandeur of Odissi at all levels. Particularly in genres like Bajoji Sahi Baajore and Yaahi Madhava: melting expressions in consonance with the nature of the characters under interpretation irrefragably proved the artistes’ commitment in upholding the gravity of the art form they were professing.
Keywords: Bhushan Academy, Performing Arts
I definitely go by you Rekha.Pre-recorded music,oflate has its own
benefits.Thanks to the digital audio recording systems which plays a
very vital role in giving the best output as good as the Live Music.
Even the writer of the above article mentions that the dancers used
pre recorded music.This is another evidence which talks high about
recorded music has today become one of the reliable backbones for a
Performance.Nevertheless, Live music also creates an extraordinary
sensation to the viewers of all forms of art.
It is an highly applaudable initiative taken by Bhushans'
Academy in creating a very rare and unique platform which is
exclusively dedicated to Male Dancers !!!
The comments by the person named, Rekha, here are untrue. Odissi has fabulous male exponents of the art form. Rahul Acharya, Lingaraj Pradhan, Pravat Swain, and many others, I adore watching them. I’m sure, platforms like these, will motivate more male participation in the field of classical dance. To answer another question by Rekha, I understand, the review is written according to the order of performances. Our slot was the last in the evening, so it is rightly mentioned at the end. My name is Sigma Satabdhi. I’m an Odissi dancer and learning under Smt. Madhulita Mohaptra. I danced at Purusha Bhushana with our Odissi dance troupe comprising of male and female students Madhulita Mohapatra.
My sincerest thanks to The Hindu newspaper for the coverage and space dedicated to classical arts. For a software professional like me, who’s been passionately taught and motivated to dance on stage, it is so heartening to get reviewed, corrected and guided.
Shri Badri Bhushan Ji must be congratulated for such a noble initiative of a dedicated dance festival for male dancers. Being a committed and concerned male Bharatanatyam exponent, he understands the necessity of promoting more male practitioners in our classical art forms and does his bit, as the male numbers are on decline. We all, including my teacher Smt. Madhulita Mohapatra, advocate the need of more male dancers and male dance events.
It appears that Purusha Bhushana, an event of classical dance concerts exclusively committed to bring into lime light male dancers of appreciable learning, has again brought into the lime light the fact that women dance far better than men. If the Odissi by Madulitha Mohapatra and her team was the best of the four, it should be given more space in the review, and pushed to the top. There would be no such a thing as perceptible limitations posed by pre-recorded audio tracks if the audio was recorded well.
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