In the week before Mahashivaratri, which is on February 24, as winter turns to spring, dancers flock to Shiva temples to dance in natyanjali s, offering their art to the lord of dance. Shiva engenders multiple stylistic possibilities. There’s tandava , the vigorous and acrobatic dance of change and destruction that he is associated with, or lasya , the mellow and lilting movement ascribed to his consort Parvati. Deeply embedded in the vocabulary of classical dance, Shiva is a versatile subject. On Friday night, at the NCPA, in An Ode to Lord Shiva, this multi-faceted deity lends himself to solo and group performances by Bharatanatyam dancer Pavitra Bhat and Kathak dancer Anuj Mishra.
Shiva is an austere deity who thrives in some of the murkier settings offered by mythology — cremation grounds, for instance. Snakes and supernatural beings surround him, stoking his quick temper, which on occasion sees him reducing people to cinders. He drinks poison and adorns himself with a garland of skulls. Parvati and Shiva are halves of the composite being Ardhanariswara, which is half-man, half-woman, displaying both their attributes, simultaneously suggesting both completion and nothingness.
Mumbai-based Pavitra Bhat admits to a fondness for Shiva’s raudra rasa, which he will portray as part of a composition on navarasas , the nine emotions, during his solo recital. When Shiva’s meditation is disrupted by the flower arrow that Kama, the deity of love, lets loose at him, he opens his third eye, and the force of his rage reduces Kama to ash. The navarasa composition was originally choreographed on Bhat by his guru Deepak Mazumdar. “With my guru’s permission, I have reframed it [for the performance]. With age and maturity, you understand dance better. I have added some nritta (pure dance) portions that relate to the rasas ,” he says.
The navarasa composition, which is the centrepiece of Bhat’s recital, is preceded by a mallari , a processional dance that marks the start of a Bharatanatyam performance. He ends with a thillana , a fast-paced pure dance piece in Raga Surya.
Age and maturity weigh heavily on Bhat’s mind in 2017, as he marks 20 years of his solo dance career. “Every age has its own charms. The energy level in young dancers of my age is very high. Our gurus perform the same choreography with much more expression. Both these styles of dancing are equally good in their own right.”
Meanwhile, Anuj Mishra, who performs with his company, digs into the repertoire of the Lucknow gharana in the course of his recital. Dhrupad music accompanies the invocation performed by the company, depicting the ananda and raudra tandavas of Shiva. It’s a dance that is peaceful yet ecstatic, followed by the one that is fuelled by anger, destroying everything in its wake. Mishra’s solo, Naad Dhamar, sees him donning a microphone as he sings, recites compositions and dances simultaneously.
Shiva as Ardhanariswara is integral to Mishra’s imagination of him. “With men and women, we complete the world,” he says, speaking of the final composition in his recital, where eight women and three men dance a vigorous ode to this manifestation of Shiva. But Mishra’s reality as a classical dancer also calls for completion in different quarters. He is saddened when he sees talented young dancers leave dance to find better livelihoods in other professions. This is a familiar story, for there is little institutional support available to younger artistes seeking a career in dance.
As he dances, Mishra constantly encounters these challenges. “The gurus of the older generation could focus on dance. The world has changed a lot. Now, besides dance, you also have to think about how you can make a visual impact, how you are promoting yourself on social media. There is a lot to consider before you can present anything,” says the Kathak exponent.
An Ode to Lord Shiva will be performed at the Experimental Theatre, NCPA at 7 p.m today. Tickets are priced between ₹200 to ₹400
