At times, a production with the best of everything – in this case the theme and title, dancers, music, live orchestra, spacious stage and dance aficionados – doesn’t reach the expected heights; or rather high expectations may not yield desired returns. The recently-staged unique thematic presentation, “Navarasa Nayaka” in Bharatanatyam, proved to be one such experience. It had an array of wonderful young male dancers who have taken centre-stage on the dance arena of late and the crux of the show was the delineation of navarasa (nine artistic moods) of a hero – in this case lord Shiva. Each individual mood was portrayed in solo with a Puranic story to accentuate the mood. It was a real challenge for the male artistes who had to deal with the complexity of the hero (lord Shiva) which they did through footwork and facial expressions as also through convincing abhinaya.
Spectacular entry
Technical brilliance in the form of music and dance was not compromised either. For instance, the entry of every dancer was spectacular, marked as it was by nritta to swar bhol (swara as substitute to jatis) in place of mnemonics. The agile dancer Pavitra Bhat handled shringara rasa with refined firmness that kept his body kinetics in balance and yet aroused the required mood. Hasya rasa (mirth) followed with the dapper Parshwanath Upadyaye who also wielded the Veera rasa with aplomb. His expressive Ganesha gait pictured the merry deity of our imagination. Apposed to this deity on a mouse, he depicted the brother Kartikeya’s arrival on his mount, with a swooping footwork and mime that reflected the feathered peacock landing from its flying position.
The well-woven sancharis took the story forward. The locks of Shiva holding the frothy, curvaceous flowing Ganga river with unmatched courage established the mood in its entirety. Suhail Bhan with flashy footwork and stunning postures to the chant of ‘Om namah Shivaye’ mirrored the ‘Bhayakranthaney bhasmasaney sharanam..’, the fear aspect (bhaya ) of the lord. There was however a deviation from the classical Bharatanatyam which may not go well with the conservatives.
Mithun Shyam’s embodiment of Bheebatsa and Roudra rasa was in keeping with the male kinetics and psyche and proved a cakewalk for this able dancer. He executed the emotions with vigour and verve both through fiery footwork and facial expressions. Mithun, however should take care of his exit and work on it with the same care as he does with his entry. A dancer should never drop his artistic stance till the curtain is down.
Brisk footwork
Himanshu Shrivastava was an epitome of masculine grace as he traced his way through the Adbhutha (wonder) with brisk jatis (footwork patterns) and pauses going into striking poses. The expression of wonder writ all over his face as he enacts the story to supplement the mood was realistic and convincing. Parimal Phadke gave a matured abhinaya oozing Karunya from every pore to the song. His stylistic footwork may not be everybody’s cup of tea but the rasa, in itself, gave him a lot of opportunity to showcase his virtuosity, which he did. The culmination was beautifully brought out by the entire group of six who merged in and froze into varied postures of Shiva who is personification of Shanta rasa (tranquillity).
Having said that, what did not lift such an exalted theme to its pinnacle exuding the rasa in the audience, were the songs in multiple languages whose lyrical quality was far from profound going by the mainstay of this presentation, viz. a godhead as ambiguous and mighty as lord Shiva.
Some of the episodes that tried to substantiate the rasa paled into insignificance and could not establish the mood in its right sense.
Something as lofty as Sati’s immolation and consequent wrath of the lord could have brought home the ‘roudra’ than the Markendeya episode which is more akin to ‘Karunya’. Vocal support by Satish Venkateswaran, percussion by Chandrasekhar and flute by Rajat Prasanna and mnemonics by Akshara made for a fitting orchestra.
Conceptualised by Usha RK, Navarasa Nayaka was hosted at Kathak Kala Kendra.
