Many faces of innovation
LEELA VENKATARAMAN
|
It was a week that saw different approaches to creativity.
|
Made for each other: Dancers of the Centre for Mohiniattam performing Swan Lake with the classic music score by Tchaikovsky. Photo: Avinash Pasricha.
Swan Lake in Mohiniattam rendered to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's music? What sounds too quaint and idiosyncratic got transformed into an aesthetic delight at the Kamani in the presentation by the Centre for Mohiniattam. So effortlessly did the Mohiniattam movements match Tchaikovsky's score, dance and music looking made for each other, making the viewer forget this was a cross-cultural effort. Resulting from the long nursed obsession of Vijayalakshmi, the choreography by her and Bharati Shivaji kept movement faithful to the Mohiniattam body language while making it look inevitably part of the music. Vijayalakshmi playing Odette also made a researched selection of relevant passages from the music for an edited version of just an hour and a quarter. Totally unhampered by the a-rhythmic music, the rapturous dancing seemed to emanate from dancers liberated from the tala-bound conventional measurement of time. The pristine white Mohiniattam costume, the delicate elevations and dips with the graceful andolika torso sway seemed tailor-made for the swan. Adding power to the sensuous Mohiniattam movements were strong Chhau leaps and legs in rhythm-in-the-air swirls, in Santosh Nair's designing for the male roles - again totally in tune with the throb of the music. If Santosh with his impeccably balanced body made a fine prince, Anil Panchal made an equally convincing Magician Rothbart, and scenes of the latter chasing the former were superbly conceived to Tchaikovsky's soaring music.
The pas-de-deux between the princes and Odette, the visually delightful group scenes of the swans, the dramatic second act with the Prince rejecting all the prospective brides parading before him and the swans in the final act desperately trying to hide Odette from Rothbart, were all very convincingly presented. To add the final touch was Naresh Kapuria's elegant stage setting and the exquisite white flowered border for the stage.
Laudable effort
In keeping with its annual Rabindra Jayanti celebration projecting a classical group dance interpretation of Gurudev's songs, Impresario India offered this year, at Habitat's Stein auditorium, a Kathak ballet `Prem Prokriti O Nayika' by Kolkata's Padatik Centre. Laudably choreographed by Madhumita Roy under the guidance of Chetna Jalan, the dance drama revelled in the not unfamiliar scenes of nature - rain and clouds, flower bedecked spring, cascading waters, rivulets, mating birds and animals - all triggering love and romance in the nayika. Whether evoking the joys of togetherness or the ache of separation, Tagore's poetic wealth excels in the mystic expression of love in response to nature. The choice of songs caught shringar, in the nayika's solo expressions, with the partner and in the joyful exchanges of heroine with friends. Madhumita's dance visualisation was assisted by well sung Rabindra Sangeet (on tape), spiced with matching interspersed instrumental passages providing scope for Kathak virtuosity in varying arithmetic of matras.
Above all, the group of really professional dancers sustained a high standard of performance. A bit overstretched, the recital was a handsome success, despite a mix-up with Jayashri Mitra having to repeat the Basant introduction.
Unwavering commitment
The pre-occupations of a full time profession notwithstanding, Swati Biswas's commitment to Bharatanatyam remains unwavering. Her recital under Abhinaya Aradhana at the Triveni showed a dancer evolving, particularly in internalising abhinaya. The varnam's lilting score in Durga and Bageshwari by O.S. Sridhar, sung in the smooth flow of Sadanam Radhakrishnan's voice, revolved round scenes from the life of Krishna (as Vishnu) in the charanam part. Linked by nritta passages, the joyful tone fell short of evoking the fire of the conventional shringar varnam climaxing in the charanam. Swati's generally correct movements need more tautness in the leg stretches giving her pure dance greater authority
At Habitat Centre, Dristikon Centre students gave a neatly rehearsed `Gurave Namah' choreographed by Aditi Mangaldas, where the wonder of Divinity, a synonym for the guru, is perceived in the five elements.
Set to 7, 10, 16, 12 and 14 matras, the nifty dancing and the earlier musical effort showed a praiseworthy integrated approach to dance by the institution.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
