New milestone for a pacesetter
LEELA VENKATARAMAN
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Besides the 75th birthday celebrations of Odissi doyen Guru Mayadhar Raut, this past week also witnessed Kuchipudi by Vedantam Venkatachalapathi.
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THE FEMALE CHALLENGE: Vedantam Venkatachalapathi Rao. PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR.
A dwindling tribe in the proliferating performer/teacher scene, the guru would still seem to command respect in this age of cynicism for any form of authority. A well supported three-day guru-shishya celebration at the India International Centre auditorium, marked the 75th birth anniversary of Odissi guru Mayadhar Raut - the only surviving guru from amongst the epoch-making teachers who structured present day Odissi. Gotipua trained, in 1945, he joined the Annapoorna Theatre of Orissa like so many of his colleagues, coming under the tutelage of Guru Pankajcharan Das. The turning point in his career was his being awarded a scholarship to study Bharatanatyam, Kathakali and Bhagavatamela Natakam under renowned gurus in Kalakshetra - this stint giving him the shastra foundation utilised to optimum effect in the systematising of Odissi grammar, working in close collaboration with scholars like Dhirendranath Patnaik and Kalicharan Patnaik.
Mayadhar's notable contribution is also to Odissi abhinaya, elementary till he enriched it with the sanchari technique of elaboration. Adding to the Odissi repertoire with compositions ranging from solo items, dance drama productions and ashtapadis like "Priye Charusheele" and "Pashyati Dishi Dishi" (as far back as 1960 and 1961), the guru's teaching has not only guided established dancers like Yamini Krishnamurti and Sonal Mansingh, but has also trained several dancers as the flag-bearers of his Odissi style. While his students from Stichting Dansacademie (Holland), Indian Cultural Institute (Germany), Kannagi Indian Dance School (Japan) and Mayadhar Raut School of Odissi (Delhi) participated, presenting pure abhinaya was Madhumita Raut, the guru's daughter.
The full thrust of the guru's choreographic genius came to light only in `Durga', presented by Jyotirranjan, Lucky Prajyatmika Mohanty, Swagatika and Suchishmita of Kala Vikash Kendra, Cuttack - the alma mater where Mayadhar Raut began his teaching career. Demonstrating the tandav force of Dasavatara was a senior disciple from Trinidad.
QUETLY INTENSE: Radhika Ganju. PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY.
But should a diamond jubilee be only for amateurs? What of the fine disciples like Kiran Segal and Guru Ramani Ranjan Jena and even Geeta Mahalik and others who should have found space in this programme - all finished products of Mayadhar's training?
Capping the celebrations was a panel discussion, Taking Odissi into the Third Millennium, with some important issues being brought out.
Solo Kuchipudi
GEM OF AN ARTISTE Guru Mayadhar Rout's 75 years have been consecrated to Odissi.
The galvanising power of Kuchipudi Yakshagana and Bhama Kalapam of non-urbanised regional vintage, presented under Habitat's HCL Concert Series by Vedantam Venkatachalapathi made the refined solo Kuchipudi look vapid by comparison. A traditional presentation with all its conventional trappings including consecration of performance space, the melodic support notwithstanding singer-nattuvanar Keshav Prasad and Durga Prasad's overloud violin being at sruti odds, throbbed with dramatic intensity. As Satyabhama, Venkatachalapathi sparkled in both rhythmic virtuosity and the mercurial moods of the heroine - whether as the vainglorious princess, as the love-struck coquette, as the nayika accusing Manmatha in "Madana... ", as the wife overcome with love as she pens a letter "Srimat Ratnakaraputrika" to her spouse Krishna, and as the petulant wife being pacified in "Kopamelane". The artist's versatility was clear when he next appeared in the Yakshagana "Prahlada Charitam" as Hiranyakashipu, in the awesome power he imbued each move with. Each gesture in a power-packed presentation showed masculinity, so different from the earlier Stree Vesham, now a vanishing art in Kuchipudi. Foot-sure and well trained, the supporting cast gave the right fillip, keeping tempo unflagging. An exhilarating evening but with a woefully thin audience! Habitat must get more out of their programmes.
Radhika Ganju-Sehgal, disciple of Guru Kanaka Srinivasan, after a four-year layoff following marriage and motherhood, re-entered the performance arena with a quietly intense Bharatanatyam recital at the Stein auditorium. Thanks to a panel discussion engagement, this critic saw only from the charanam part of the ragamalika varnam, Kanaka's latest composition based on Kabir's verses, with Sudha Raghuraman's score. Watching the mysticism and ache of Kabir's poetry take on the expression of sringar yearning in Radhika's internalised interpretation, one marvelled that absence from performance fever had helped infuse her dance with more mature stillness. The khandita sarcasm in the Surati padam "Indendu Vachchitivira" confirmed the inner understanding from which the dance sprang. Kanaka's competent conducting and Sudha Raghuraman's singing guided the recital.
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