Celebrating the art of life
ANJANA RAJAN
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The Pandit Durgalal Memorial Festival featured young and experienced dancers who joined the audience in commemorating a great artiste and a great human being.
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ZESTFUL Arushi Mudgal.
The image of Kathak dancer and guru Pandit Durgalal, the late scion of the Jaipur gharana, remains unrivalled not only in skill and aesthetics but also in the beauty of character that endeared him to artists across genres. The large audience present on the opening day of the Pandit Durgalal Memorial Festival this past weekend at Kamani auditorium was as much a tribute to the artistes performing as to the memory of one of the greatest dancers of the 20th Century, whose sudden death at the height of his career left an art community shocked.
Fine blend
Arushi Mudgal opened the festival with one of the most delicate and aesthetic Odissi performances one has seen in a long time. It was good to see a taiyar dancer reflecting both the form and the spirit of the art. Arushi, a disciple and niece of Madhavi Mudgal, reveals a fine blend of inherited talent, hard work and individual passion. While the first could be gauged by the effortless flow of movement and the family resemblance, the second was apparent in her anga shuddham and the sustained chowk position even at high speeds, and the third came amply to the fore in her own choreographic composition.
Her poise and serene countenance set the tone of the recital. The Hamsadhwani pallavi, with music by Pandit Bhuvaneshwar Misra and choreography by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, was laced with interesting jaati changes in the footwork.
PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT
Harish Gangani performing at the festival.
In the abhinaya to Oriya poet Baladeva Ratha's `kha' champu, the dancer showed a refreshing zeal for unstilted expression, depicting Radha's sakhi taunting her for her infatuation with Krishna. The orchestra consisting of Guru Madhavi on the manjira, with vocalists Manikuntala Bhowmik and Poornachandra Majhi, accompanied by Gandhi Mallik on the pakhawaj, Yar Mohammad on the sitar and Srinivas Satpaty on the flute, was delightful musically, though the lyrics at times were hard to discern.
Arushi's last presentation, set to recorded music, was her own choreographic effort. The Bageshri composition was by her father Madhup Mudgal and sung by her elder sister Sawani. While her understanding of angles and lines was apparent, the frequent profiles and diagonals gave away her youthful ebullience. Lights by Milind added drama. Seemingly an accurate reflection of her personality as a dancer, it was just the thing to close the zestful yet contained performance. The second half of the evening belonged to Kathak exponent Harish Gangani, younger brother and disciple of the illustrious Rajendra Gangani. Harish seemed to take some time to warm up, though when he did, he had some powerful moments. He has a regal look when he freezes on the sam holding his hands above the head. At other times, his captivating smile is an asset. His footwork in Teen tala became powerful as he proceeded, and he and tabla exponent Akram Khan revelled in rhythmic wizardry. With Guru Rajendra Gangani on padhant, Ayub Khan providing lehra on the sarangi, Yogesh Gangani on the pakhawaj and Ramesh Mishra on the flute, it was a meeting of the titans. By the time Harish was in full flow, the show had to fold up, as Delhi evenings rarely go on beyond 9.30. It did bring to mind the necessity for artistes to be mentally and emotionally geared up, so that they are able to make an impact without first losing out on the momentum built up earlier.
Enthusiastic
Bharatanatyam dancer Rini Aich opened the second evening. An enthusiastic dancer, she is currently a disciple of Guru Kanaka Srinivasan, though she has been learning under other gurus since the age of four. Rini's clean lines and hold over rhythm are assets in the execution of her chosen medium. Her agility was apparent in her easy utplavanas. Now she has to channel all these into an effortless flow and internalise the dance experiences of her young life into an individual expression.
Swapnasundari's Kuchipudi performance epitomised an artiste's homage to an artiste. Her opening piece in which she played with all manner of rhythmic permutations within the line of swaras was in a way a tribute to the genius of Pandit Durgalal, whose legendary abilities included maintaining two different rhythmic patterns with the two feet. But a dance form like Kathak is known for rhythmic improvisation, while Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers have gradually moved into set patterns. This is true despite Carnatic music, on which they are based, thriving on improvisation. Thus it takes a dancer of Swapnasundari's musical prowess to dare to improvise freely on stage despite having a team of accompanists not overly familiar with her approach and newly arrived from Chennai.
Afterwards she presented excerpts from the classic Usha Parinayam, about the love of Princess Usha for Aniruddha, whom she sees first in a dream. The depiction was replete with the myriad subtle emotions, the varied ways of conveying an idea that make Swapnasudari's bhava expositions a cause for celebration.
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