The promise of more to come
LEELA VENKATARAMAN
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It was a week of Kathak recitals on the Capital's dance scene.
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PLEASANT RECITAL: Sadanand Biswas displays a flare for abhinaya.
By happenstance both recitals of the week pertained to Kathak of the Gangani line of Jaipur gharana. Performing under the banner of Kathak Disha Society of Dance and Music, at the Little Theatre Group auditorium, were disciples of Parveen Gangani. Parveen, after initial years of training under his brother and guru Manish Kumar Gangani, came under the tutelage of Pandit Birju Maharaj at the Kathak Kendra. So technically he calls himself a follower of both the Jaipur and the Lucknow gharanas. For an evening of dance by fledglings and slightly more advanced students, the title of Koshish was eminently fitting.
Amongst the very young performers, Nisha Bageshwar was by far the most promising. Her movements have already acquired a set steadiness perceivable right from the Ganesh Stuti start. The chakkars and ability to knit in the tisra and chaturashra combinations in footwork showed feel for timing and rhythm. The interpretative side has still to evolve. Among the more senior dancers, Dinesh Parihar, gifted with a pleasing stage presence, displayed in his Sampan Prastuti an erect stance and agility, the expansive sweep of arm movements giving his Kathak a wide ambit and movement spread. Pirouettes in the selected Teen tala bandishes were neatly executed. Asmita Narota's tarana rendered to recorded music seemed to be very much of an individualistic attempt revealing talent still to be groomed in the youngster.
Young Mukesh Gangani was a little uptight performing, the visible need to count the matras before each bandish preventing the dancer from relaxing. Geetanjali Sharma in her generally soft dancing had grace, though the quality of energy in the rather listless hand movements has to improve.
Sadanand Biswas, a disciple of Rajendra Gangani, gave a pleasant Kathak recital at the India International Centre, the entire presentation not exceeding a brief hour. The most encouraging aspect of the recital was in a male dancer from the Jaipur gharana evincing an aptitude for abhinaya going beyond the usual bhajan formula. The title for the entire evening of Abhiman was somewhat indulgent, for the only concession to abhinaya came in the brief starting item rendered to recorded music, thanks to there being no singer in the live melodic support for the performance. Sadanand's abhinaya, which is bound to evolve more, is sensitive to music and poetry. The expressional empathy is a far cry from the usual deadpan face of male dancers of this gharana, their dance exultation being more related to rhythmic virtuosity. In depicting the pangs of Radha in her separation from Krishna, the interpretation of the song "Priya Tora Kaisa Abhiman" found the dancer reminiscing on Krishna by holding in his hands by turns the yellow peetavastra, the flute, and ghada (pot) that Krishna delighted in breaking - all objects kept in a line on the stage. This was making literal what abhinaya is meant to suggest. Besides there was enough of the natya element in the dramatic intensity while responding to phrases like "Nahi Aye Kesariyan Balam" or "Apne Nayanse Neer Bahar" not to need props on stage. But on the whole Sadanand has a flair for the expressional aspect, and this needs to be further developed.
With grace
With a fine stage personality, the dancer went through the Teen tala demonstration with grace, the rhythmic precision on a couple of occasions less than immaculate. Uthan, Ganesh paran, a fine tripalli paran amad and Chakradhar toda were breezily executed. There was also an unusual paran based on folk percussion mnemonics. The kavits on maakhan chori and "Sheesh Mukut Bansi" showing the various phases of Krishna's life were sensitively rendered.
Particularly impressive was the finale to a bandish, catching the sam with fluttering hands showing a flying bird - subtly aesthetic. In the torso inclines and micro movements of body, gat nikas had delicacy. The sawal jawab footwork interacting with Shakeel Ahmed's tabla which provided the lead, lacked rhythmic authority and confidence. Kamal Ahmad on the sarangi and a guru behen for padhant (with the dancer himself showing enjoyment in reciting the bols) completed the wing support.
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Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
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Thiruvananthapuram
