Samuha Udupi presented two productions -- ‘Urvashi’ and ‘Nenapadalu Shakuntale’ in Bengaluru recently. Conceptualised by a father-daughter duo- Prof. Udayavara Madhava Acharya and Bhramari Shivaprakash, both productions delved into popular stories in an attempt to resurrect them for a fresh enquiry.
Interestingly, what stood out about both productions is the kind of effort put in by the duo. The text for ‘Urvashi’ for instance, was written by Acharya, a well-known writer and poet.
Bhramari had not just choreographed the piece but had also set it to music, sung and recorded it herself too. This, apart from performing the composition. ‘Nenapadalu Shakuntale’ had more performers, all of whom were coached by the duo.
The intention with ‘Urvashi’ was to put forth the argument that there is a woman like her in all of us. Bhramari, in this solo presentation, took the audience through Urvashi’s life, convincingly portrayed her tribulations and ended the performance with poignant questions about whether what was done to Urvashi in the epic was fair at all. While Bhramari’s dance, on its own, was neat and beautiful, it was the music that one felt, did not always work. The pre-recorded music alternated between the format of a commentary and a song. Often, the commentary would intervene in moments externalising Urvashi’s thoughts or voicing the narrator’s views on Urvashi’s predicament. This tended to rob the performance of an element of subtlety and nuance and Bhramari’s abhinaya often became a literal representation of words in the text.
This changed drastically with ‘Nenapadalu Shakuntala’ which also relied on a heavy text but made room for poignant moments that took the narrative forward through dance alone.
All sequences with Dushyanta and Shakuntala were proof of this. The team brought alive the epic romance of Kalidasa on stage.
Whether it was the costumes, the props or the energy of the dancers, what was discernibly visible was that it was a sincere effort.
A.N.
