'When the divine dance': Melange of dance forms

Eight dancers, four classical art forms, one-hour presentation... the experience at Godrej Theatre, NCPA was divine

How does one convey the missive of the formless, by using forms of course! Four classical art forms, eight young dancers came together at the Godrej Theatre of NCPA to present a multi-style ‘When the divine dance.’

Conceptualised by Prachi Saathi in collaboration with seven others, the one-hour presentation was crisp and clear. It was for the first time that the eight of them had come together under the aegis of Tribe of Taal, a dance company that promotes dance.

Inspired by the book

Singing Emptiness by Linda Hess and a random remark by her mother-in-law on Kabir’s Nirgun philosophy, Prachi worked around the idea of formless.

Using the bhakti ethos of Indian dance, Prachi delineated the dancing of gods, finally concurring on the formless. The juxtaposition of sagun and nirgun, exploring divinity in its form was shared in four segments with a final thillana, highlighting the ultimate, universal formless through Saint Kabir’s couplet.

“For me divinity is subjective and it can be found in either form or formless state. Space is an idea which has always intrigued me. I was inspired by scientist Neil Tyson’s quote ‘Space itself exploded.’ That was a starting point for our piece,” says Pooja Pant.

“We have been practicing for nearly six months and it has been an enjoyable learning and sharing experience,” says Keerthana Ravi.

The opening segment portrayed the metrical balance in nature, where things seem random yet are in place. Abstract attributes of five sensory functions and five elements were depicted. Unsynchronised rising and sitting to denote fire was striking.

Varied styles

Adi Sankara’s ‘Champeya Gaurardha’ by Prachi and Keerthana Ravi was in Bharatanatyam format. Based on Rama Vaidyanathan’s choreography, it was different in execution with Siva and Parvati dancing first in turns and then together in sync, representing the Ardhanareeswara tatvam. The tandav and lasya aspect of the Divine Dancers was presented by Pooja Pant and Sarita Shirodkar in Kathak style. The peacock danced, bees hummed, the deer capered and the elephant swayed, all to denote Shrishti in the prapancha. Tandav showed the samhara in speedy movements.

Mohiniyattom by Krishna Niddodi and Saji Menon, both alumni of Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya, was centred on Ganpati, dancing in jubilant abandon. The benevolent deity who bestows blessings on everyone was worshipped in the simple ‘Mooshikan meleri’ from Sage Agastiyar’s text, set to music by Kavalam Narayana Panicker and choreographed by legendary Kanak Rele. The melodic swaras of the song for Odissi by Namrata Mehta and Tamanna Tanna were well matched.

Forms of Devi

The four continued to bring out the three forms of Devi, through Odissi music and dance. The adaptation of Guru Daksha Mashruwala’s choreography depicted Saraswati as Veena pustaka dharini, Mahalakshmi ashtakam, Goddess as Garudarude, Conch sounds and the varying tempo in ‘Jayanti Mangala Kali.’ Tridevi in many forms, both benign and formidable, the entire segment was an expressive exploration by Namrata and Tamanna. Odissi in prominence, with support from Mohiniyattom dancers, was visually appealing.

In the next section, Pooja with Sarita donning a veil, represented Krishna and Radha. Choreographed by Rajashree Shirke and Pooja Pant, the composition by Pt. Bindadeen Maharaj in Rupak taal, described the wondrous transformation of nature with the advent of rains. Prachi and Keerthana were happy to enter as peacocks, and when the Kathak dancers swirled in scintillating chakkars, the twain were depicting fauna and flora in the background, keeping beats in beholden stances.

Thillana began with beautiful attami, each of them taking the spot and moving in and out, back and forth, executing the jatis, bols, ukutas, in quick sequence, so brilliantly composed and recited by Satish Krishnamurthy with breathless ease. This piece added the crowning touch to the entire show. The finish would have been better left to serene stillness than the dancers walking endlessly on stage.

“It is customary to interpret the verbal meaning in dance. I wanted to steer away from the padarth and bring out the abstract using cross patterns and non-linear movements. Each time we rehearsed we evolved in the ideation process and our energies came together. In the entire presentation we move from formless to form and back to formless,” says Prachi.

The presentation proved that a collaborative work need not be pieced together but a clear illustration of each genre, a comprehensible consolidation of distinctive individuality. The eight of them brought out the inherent beauty of their idiom without an attempt to imitate or interfere.