Through the looking glass
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POORVA DHARA FESTIVAL Four traditions on one platform.
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Even as dancers look to the past to discover the roots of the present, they experiment with the present to create a more forward looking language. Well-known Odissi dancer Sharmila Biswas presented a festival of dances of East and North-East India, "Poorva Dhara", at New Delhi's Kamani auditorium, placing on one platform four traditions whose relationship she wanted to establish. The moment traditions are packaged for the stage, however, they don a contemporary garb, and the four choreographers here presented crisp, designed snippets.
Sharmila planned an evening, "Vadya Sanchar", in which each form - Odissi, Sattriya, Manipuri and Gaudiya - went on stage for approximately 20 minutes. The visual and aural link was the horizontal drum - pung for theManipuri dancers, khol and Odissi mridanga in the case of the others.
While the festival was aesthetically
designed, enjoyable for lay
audiences and educational for students,
one wondered how come in
a festival dedicated to the four
forms of the region - with two
days for stage shows and one day
given to discussions - Odissi got
the lion's share of the stage space.
On the first evening, Sharmila's
troupe, the Odissi Vision and
Movement Centre, performed her
new production "Chaturang",
while the second evening was divided
between all four. In a programme
supported by several
government agencies, such questions
cannot but surface.
That said, it must also be said
that "Chaturang" was an exceptionally
aesthetic production. It
had four sections: an invocation,
the introduction of the technique
(nritta), storytelling, and a finale
with physical, mental and emotional
consecration through movement.
Sharmila's dancers are agile
and gel well as a team. Their entries
and exits were smooth, and their
occasionally joining the musicians
on the ramp at the back of the stage
to play the manjira or just take up a
posture spoke of a calm discipline
besides adding a visual dimension.
For the abhinaya she selected
"Katha Surpanakha". Based on various
traditional sources, including
the Ramayan versions by Kamban,
Biswanath Khuntia and Balarama
Das, the piece depicted the varying
emotions and ultimate grief of the
woman demon, who becomes a
beautiful damsel not so much to
trick Ram and Lakshman but because
her love transforms her, and
who is finally a pawn in a world of
men. In nritta as in abhinaya, Sharmila's
group work is enjoyably unpredictable.
Yet she never seems to
indulge in the unprecedented
movement or formation for the
sake of newness only. Thus her
works maintain visual balance and
a link with the tradition to which
she is attempting to contribute.
These remarks apply to the work
of Priti Patel too, whose Anjika
group presented serenely soothing
Manipuri with choreography
around the pung drummers. Titled
Pungyamyeiba - The Dancing
Drums, it was inspired from the
tradition of Dhumel. Music com
position was by W. Suraj Kumar
and K. Ratan Singh.
Krishna-based themes
The Sattriya presentation choreographed
by Naren Chandra Boruah
featured both male and
female dancers performing Krishna-
based themes. With music by
Bhaskar Jyoti Ojah, the presentation
was notable for the colourful
costumes and elaborate movements
that reflect how this monastic
practice has steadily adapted to
the stage.
Gaudiya of Bengal is not much
seen in the Capital. Its pioneering
researcher Mahua Mukherjee presented
Radha Krishna Alapchari
and Balaram Alapchari. The beginning
scene with a khol player and
two manjira players had the fragrance
of the soil. The choreographed
group portions showed
the sophistication of a stage performance.
They would have better
retained their technical and cultural
identity, however, without
the shiny colouors of the costumes,
which looked like a shortcut solution
and were garish.
The Odissi portion choreographed
to a percussion theme,
with music by Sri Ramhari Das,
ended the show on a rousing note.
ANJANA RAJAN
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