Six stellar performances spread over three days engaged Mumbai audiences in the Nakshatra festival at NCPA.
Bimbavati Devi and troupe presented Ghana Baari Barikhata, Reflections in a Raindrop, on the opening evening. An emotionally charged nayika sheds tears that flow like rain when she sees her nayaka. The song deployed was traditional, sung in Natasankirtanas. “Song and dance are an integral part of the mundane life in Manipur,” avers Bimbavati Devi.
Monsoon is at once the season of fertility and love. Eternal love of lovers swinging during Jhulan Yatra, was a visual treat. Devotion flowed freely when cords of the chariot are pulled during Rathayatra. The concept, choreography and dance direction, based on ritualistic dance was by Bimbavati Devi and a skillet set of dancers accompanied the guru.
‘Shunya Se’, conceived and choreographed by Vikram Iyengar with Ranan, a Kathak based performing company, deployed Kathak grammar and principles of movement. Inspired by the five elements, the dance incorporated well- knit musical movements, arcs, hand gestures, buoyant jumps, pirouettes and whirls.
“Space, fire, earth, etc., from the abstract and intangible to the concrete and tangible co-exist and are closely connected,” says Iyengar. “An all pervading pulse, a secret at times silent rhythm binds the elements of Kathak and elemental universe,” he adds. The presentation was a sincere attempt to bring people, experiences and ideas together by building artistic connect.
Murchhana, Odissi by Sharmila Biswas and Odissi vision and movement center was based on a story sourced from oral tradition. Murchhana, the spirit enters and possesses the mrudanga, elevating the player to a spiritual plane of supreme bliss. Based on a canvas of rustic and mystic spirituality, the dance floated between real and make belief.
Under suspended light, rhythmic music was playing, with a narrator and other dancers reacting to the story of Murchhana. The mrudanga is passed on; Dancers squat on stage and sing the story of the creation of music. The underlying emotion was that there is no sangeet without soul.
The making of a mridangam, and destruction was depicted graphically.
Story of Holi (Govind khele holi) and Rasleela were told through dance. With Krishna the whole world danced. Ek nache, ek bajave — one dances, one plays the instrument and Murchana enters this Rasamandala.
Vivartana , an NCPA Bharatanatyam production, premiered in Mudra 2017 by Rama Vaidyanathan and troupe was revisited in Nakshatra.
“Vivartana explores the various ways dance transforms us. How seekers from different cultures have used dance as a medium to search for the divine. It is in a sense biographical, because the production depicts my own personal journey as a Bharatanatyam dancer, my relationship, my dialogue and my love affair with dance,” says Rama Vaidyanathan.
Centre stage was in focus with Sannidhi playing the mridangam; dancers enter one by one, performing the adavus. From then on it was a saga of exploration by the choreographer-guru, in establishing the features of dance till the closing cascading mridangam sounds merging with standing ovation.
The music recorded at Sai Shravanam, was a fine blend of various genres — Nimagna: Immersion, Persian poem by Rumi, Mira bai’s poem in Brij basha, Ajapa nadanam, Sanskrit composition by Dikshitar, Sahityam from Tirumoolar Tirumandiram, mystic Poem in Kashmiri by Lal Ded, tenets from Abhinava Darpana, obeisance to rangadi devtas.
The third and concluding day showcased ‘Antarparva - A journey within,’ in Kathak format by Rajendra Gangani and troupe.
‘Antarparva’ is the manifestation of the pure joy that one feels by simply existing,” said Gangani. Emotions are constantly created when the outer world collides with the inner self. The innate intricate rhythmic patterns of Kathak, lucid dance movements and mimetic expositions were deployed as a vessel for expression of the voice of the inner self.
Enticing huge applause even as he entered, Gangani was in the groove, dancing and directing other dancers at the same time. Dancers clad in simple stately blue, complemented by dark blue, communicated the creative choreography with conviction.
Serene Sitar sounds, stillness, speed variations, scintillating chakkars covering the huge stage, fast and fluid movements executed in perfect sync, forceful endings to each composition — Antarparva was a creative journey. Seamlessly moving from one piece to another, with no gaps inbetween, the repertoire ranged from ‘Kaun pahuncha dega us paar’ of Mahadevi Varma to ‘Sumiran kar le mere mana,’ kirtan of Guru Nanak, with rich lyrical and spiritual content.
Nadi, The River, Bharatanatyam by Leela Samson with Spanda was the crowning segment of Nakshatra. Be it Sufi fakirs of the North or Baul singers from Bengal, from Sangam poetry and classical composers in the South, the river has been a perennial subject of life and literature as seen through the eyes of Indian poets through ages.
“It reminds us of our apparent differences, yet of a single philosophy,” says Leela Samson.
Set in six languages and in varied genres of musical interpretation, threaded together by Rajkumar Bharathi, the music in Nadi represented several philosophies, languages, poets, musical categories and instruments that are area typical.
In both musical and visual content, Nadi painted a rich tapestry.
‘Jay Jay Ganga’ and ‘Ganga Aarti’ depicted with battery lit lamps, yellow saree offered to the river, Dikshitar’s ‘Ganga Maam Pahi,’ the sounds of bells, conch added to the divine ambience of the Ganga.
The Champa tree, rooted on the banks of a river, the protagonist in a Bengali poem, stood witness to the happenings and addresses the river. Trellised effect of light to depict the tree and its shadowy branches was innovative.
Vaigai Pari Paadal from Sangam literature had lilting metre. White cloth props tied around the waist were put to full use by the dancers. They created theatrical effect, falling down and getting up so quickly.
Dances set by Samson, in brisk dadra pattern, Purab Nirgun Thumri, songs on unstitched garment, the simile between kinara and kinari of the river, bandish in Urdu, Girish Karnad’s Kannada lyrics and the Yaman Kalyani thillana were select pieces covering a wide gamut of creativity.
A well-researched illustrated talk and screening of documentary from SNA archives, on legendary dancer Ram Gopal was presented by Sunil Kothari in the foyer of Tata Theatre.
