Guru Ranjana Gauhar’s year-end fest, ‘Unbound Beats of India’, celebrating young classical dancers’ foray into this arena, presented Dr. Sridhar Vasudevan (direct disciple of Vyjayantimala) on the Bharatanatyam front, Dheerendra Tiwari in Kathak (pupil of Rajendra Gangani) and Kuchipudi dancer Avijith Das (disciple of Kishore Mosalikanti) – three up and coming male dancers pitted against Swapnokalpa Dasgupta (Odissi – Kelucharan Mohapatra school), Vrinda Chadha (Odissi – Guru Ranjana Gauhar’s pupil) and twin Kathak dancers Varsha Dasgupta and Era Dogra (Vidha Lal’s students).
Since there were so many solo artistes on stage within one evening, one is bound to draw comparisons in terms of quality, repertoire and overall stage presence. Though all of them were able to keep the audiences’ interest up without waxing, there were some who elicited more than a round of applause which was richly deserving.
Vasudevan gave an electrifying performance with just two power-packed pieces – one invoking goddess Lakshmi and the other, Ravan’s Shiv Tandav. He embedded these into the alarippu format very creatively. His footwork to ‘Anjali’ mudra as an opening statement conveyed both obeisance to the goddess Lakshmi as well as his viewers. The deity is extolled as perched inside the heart lotus that floats on the milky ocean – a very esoteric way of presenting the goddess. A flawless footwork with matching mudra merged harmoniously into the verses of Mahalakshmi Ashtakam wherein the artiste in his inimitable style and mercurial mukhabhinaya (facial expressions) depicts her in swift succession as gentle to her devotees and unflinching to detractors, and finally as omniscient, bringing the contrasting elements with perfect clarity.
Dexterous dancer
The dancer’s expertise in showing the refrain ‘namosthuthe’ in diverse ways and not just with an Anjali mudra is worth a mention. The Shiv Tandav began with mind-boggling nritta to a percussion that emulated the damruk with matching mnemonics. The ultimate unification of Mahalakshmi and Shambu was done with flair and finesse.
The lithe Avijit Das has already established himself as a dancer to reckon with in the realm of Kuchipudi. His costume, a milky white aesthetically clad dhoti was in keeping with his theme for the evening. The Narayana Teertha tarangam, a quintessential piece from this genre was replete with varied abhinaya and sanchari along with springing footwork . The dexterous dancer knew how to utilise the entire stage space as well as showcase Kuchipudi at its best. The tarangam which extols Krsna as a child-god explores the Kaliya (vicious serpent in the Yamuna) combat. Avijit’s mime at certain episodes was spectacularly vivid and realistic. Like for instance, Krsna wading through the waters of the river to get his hands on the serpent, similarly Krsna minding his cows to prevent them from going astray – were convincingly worked out in detail.
Dheerendra Tiwari held his audience in thrall from start to finish. He unhurriedly went through the invocatory verse on lord Shiva in a squatting posture depicting the god in diverse gestures with deep concentration. The serenity then gave way to Teen taal with stylistic techniques that were executed with amazing agility and aplomb. The chakkars were breathtaking like a doll on spring. His simple costume in grey and black enhanced the Kathak recital.
Tagore’s masterpiece
Swapnakalpa Dasgupta’s ‘Chitragadha’, adapted from Rabindranath Tagore’s play, brought out her virtuosity in the field of abhinaya though the Odissi element hardly figured in the performance. It was more in the form of a solo dance theatrical, yet very engrossing as she unfolded the story of her in a dialogue with her little son Babruvahan. With an aesthetic headgear which embellished her costume, the dancer’s narration of Chitrangadha, the warrior princess of Manipur’ love for Arjun, her transformation into a beautiful damsel to gain his attention, her guilt of trying to kill her own identity and finally her realisation of her self-worth that fetched Arjun for her, was played out through the language of eyes and gestures with astounding clarity. The earlier Ashtapadi, ‘Sakhi hey...’ was executed with lovely body alignment. But the two women she portrayed had nothing in common nor in contrast to be shown in sequence.
Vrinda Chadha
Vrinda Chadha’s showcased the popular goddess Durga with striking postures and dance alike but these poses and mannerisms have become commonplace now with many a dancer in this genre. However, her ‘Dancing footsteps in the rain’ was an original piece choreographed by guru Ranjana Gauhar. With a lucidity and limpid expression, she elucidated the raindrops as intermittent tiny bubbles touching the earth and causing joy to fauna and flora alike. Her peacock gait with its jerky movements went down well with the audience. But somehow in this school (bani) of Odissi, the sway of the upper half is missing and so is the aesthetics. Vrinda pulled off the crescendo and the fall towards the end, quite adroitly.
The duet Kathak by Varsha Dasgupta and Era Dogra took up a unique theme, ‘Krsna Rang’ which runs on the lines of Shiv-Shakti as two halves of a whole. Here it is Radha and Krsna who are depicted as a unified entity which when seen apart are two slices. The moves and dance enriched the idea with statuesque stances with perfect sync between the two dancers. Their dance with ‘gwalan’ (cowherd) gesture was very impressive. The footwork artistry would have complimented the theme had both been more nimble in body and movements.
The one-day fest was hosted at Triveni Kala Sangam.
