“I wanted to move away from the aspect of divinity while presenting Krishna and wondered how it would be in reverse,” says Chitra C. Dasarathy speaking of the genesis of ‘Apara,’ a production, which she presented recently.
“There are several elements that the human mind has imposed on Krishna’s image and I decided to take four key ones — neela megha (his blue colour), pitambara (silk), mayirpili (peacock feather) and murali (flute) — for detailed picturisation,” she explains.
Exploring these ideas through form, colour and movement Chitra wove a beautiful tapestry.
The narrative began with a prelude visualising a pichhvai , the painted cloth that frames the Krishna idol in the sanctum.
Instead of using a prop, the dancers set about evoking the background consisting of the cows and kadamba tree associated with the blue-hued God. Aesthetic choreography notwithstanding, the desired image did not come across.
The expansive space and the ephemeral nature of the rain clouds from which Krishna derives His colour were conveyed through movements using verses from ‘Krishna Karnamritam.’
The exhilaration of the yellow silk as it is draped on Krishna and the joy of the lonely peacock feather, as it adorned Krishna’s crown made for a captivating portrait. The syllables of the sollukattu for the peacock movements captured the bird’s spirit effectively. “This jathi was a spontaneous expression that came out of the choreographic movements,” says Chitra. Music, in fact, was one of the highlights of the production.
“It was an outcome of a reverse process wherein I choreographed the movements to translate the ideas and then developed the score,” she explains.
Praveen D. Rao sang through many rehearsals. My requirements and his creativity matched perfectly to yield good results. I would make special mention of the caressing notes for pitambar and the staccato for the peacock movements.”
Interplay of emotions
A beautiful poem by Surdas captured the interplay of the emotions between Krishna and the flute. It was an interesting segment, where two dancers emerged as flutes, one of whom became the flautist, the notes finding physical representation in the form of individual dancers, culminating in Krishna’s raas.
The concept was innovative but the communication could have been more effective. The constant group formation was monotonous.
Chitra Dasarathy was joined by Pavithra Jayaraman, Priya Kaul, Rajalakshmi Suresh, Rajeshwari Aravind, Rupa Guha and Rupa Manoj.
