Shivratri invokes nation-wide reverence to Lord Shiva, who is also the cosmic dancer. The tiny town of Siva Sagar (home to ancient Shiva temple) in upper Assam, known to be the capital of Ahom kings from whom the state derives its name, woke up to celebrate the auspicious occasion with dance ranging from folk to classical. A single man’s initiative, the Deputy Commissioner , adept at art and culture, the event was a wholesome treat in the form of a three-day festival that included morning analysis sessions, quiz, painting, poetry, music and dance competitions for aspiring school children, food courts, stalls with ethnic display of wares like tea, native handlooms and handicrafts and evening dance performances by eminent international/foreign artistes who imbibed Indian classical art form and have dedicated themselves towards its propagation. So we had one of the best in Bharatanatyam — Justin McCarthy, Sharon Lowen performing Odissi and Masako Sato, the young Japanese Kathak artiste, giving us a glimpse of their artistic prowess. It was a varied fare but definitely not disjointed. Everything was related to culture and fell into place like a finished puzzle.
The up and coming artistes were also given stage space and they turned out brilliant performances. It was a joy to see audiences in thousands throng the open air auditorium and watch the programmes with rapt attention despite the breezy chill of Siva Sagar. Day one opened with Masako’s Kathak which was devoted to verses to Lord Shiva. Her Shiv Vandana was marked by invocation, “Nagendra Haraya Jatadharaya”, and her dance to Adi deva was conducted in a fine manner with absolute adherence to taal. The Ginti Tihayee and the shifting stress on numbers as she twirled along (chakkar) was impressive. The sawal-jawab was like a conversation between the percussionist and the anklet bells (ghungroo) and Shiv ke tarana was the best as it wrapped up with Ravan’s tandav stotra. Though Masako was breezy with her movements and drifted along with ease, the internalisation aspect of Kathak was missing and seemed to lack depth which is the pivot of Indian classical dance system. A little more understanding into the intricacies of the medium would help her evolve as a fine artiste. The live orchestra pepped up the dance.
Nine artistic moods
Justin’s mime to Navarasa verses enriched through Sudha Raghuraman’s dulcet tones, was an elaborate treatment of each of the nine artistic moods all of which centred around Shiva and Shiva alone which was beautiful piece of choreographic artistry especially when he showed adbhuta (wonder) rasa as Shiva (Neelkant) swallowing the poison (halahal) as Parvati and the world watched in wonder. The Sankarabharanam varnam on Lord Brihadeeswara of Thanjavur was also a well-patterned, complex piece of nritta, crafted with care — the raga being named after Shiva’s jewel —the serpent and the rest of the song being an eulogy on the Lord. The padam on Chidamabaranatha in Sindhu Bhairavi dwelt on the various musical instruments associated with Shiva but the emotive element went missing in the padam — it was more surgical than artistic.
Sharon Lowen’s stage presence is mesmerising. Her Ishana vandana with a three-fold salutation spoke eloquent on the formless form of Shiva, the essence of the primal sound and so on. Her vivid portrayal of various aspects of Shiva to matching footwork made it a brilliant piece.
The episode from Kalidasa’s “Kumara Sambhavam” where Parvati watches a supine Shiva dotingly comparing Herself to Him and then her expression as the Lord opens His eyes which flash like lightning was brought out through exquisite abhinaya by the artiste. Sharon’s large lucid eyes spoke volumes about the changing emotion in Parvathi’s heart or so it seemed. The Ashtapadi “Yehi Madhava...”, of Khandita nayika Radha reiterated the dancer’s expertise on abhinaya.
Earlier two young up and coming artistes bowled us over with their extraordinary talent. Anwesha Mahanta’s Sattriya was the highlight of the festival. Her thematic presentation “Hari Hara Leela” culled from Shankaradeva’s composition on Hara Mohana which tells the story of Shiva falling in love with Mohini avatar of Lord Vishnu was excellent in every sense of the term — her contrasting abhinaya along with brisk footwork to depict the masculine lord as against the lasya Lord Krishna is something to write home about.
Anwesha’s movements and expression with gesticulations picturised the sequence of events with astounding clarity. She made Sattriya dance a thing of beauty. So was Vishwanath Mangaraj’s complex Pallavi in Sankarabharana raga. The text-less pure dance was made appreciable in his lightning movements and superb stances. The very challenging footwork and movements were handled with élan by the young dancer. The audience sat glued as he meandered through the lengthy dance structure delineating it with clarity of gesture and synchronising it to perfect tala and rhythm. A slice of Assamese culture was showcased by tender artistes interlacing the main programmes which was a feast to the eye.
