A tribute to the Mahatma
LASYA VEMPARALA
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Malti Shyam embellished the three remarkable recitals with variegated gestures, surges and emotive expressions.
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Photo: P. V. Sivakumar
HOMAGE Artistes paying a dance tribute to the Mahatma.
Kathak Kendra, a principal constituent unit of Sarvodaya International Trust, Andhra Pradesh Chapter, presented `Homage to Mahatma' on October 2 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
Having studied under the great legendary gurus such as Birju Maharaj and Reba Vidhyarthi, Malti Shyam brought out the beauty and the best in terms of emotions embodied in the Lucknow School of Kathak Dance — with emphasis on the nuanced expression of feelings and the sparkling rhythmical intricacies and fluency of dance.
This choreographic ballet was an imaginative mélange of sophisticated, elegant movements that projected the vision of the all-encompassing, ineffable power of Gandhiji. In the signature dance production, virtually every reverential gesture, crisp pose, and movement was emotionally, artistically, sensitively and spiritually created.
Malti Shyam embellished the three remarkable recitals with variegated gestures, surges and emotive expressions. She presented the first fervent musical piece Vaishnavo Jana To, a highly inspiring hymn written by Narsinh Mehta. This solo showcased her sensuous royal etiquette characteristic of the dance tradition as she added spiritually submissive innocence and ethereality. In most classical dance forms, effortlessness is an illusion, but in Kathak it's a force of will, and Malti proved it with powerful eloquence. Mastery over layakari (complicated rhythmic patterns and improvisations) and perceptive abhinaya (expressional sequences) were two facets of her prodigious endowment.
In the second selection that was close to Gandhiji's innate belief in the power of goodness and truth, she and her disciples enacted a sloka from Dhammapada metaphorically. A good man perfumes the four quarters of the earth and there is no ceiling to the power and glory of virtue.
The guru displayed her mastery over rhythm and the stylised mime supported by Kim, Shailja Bisht, Shilpa Verma and Sonia Gupta with sustained rhythmic footwork set to complex time cycles.
The performers were versatile in the formal discipline as evidenced by dance movements that included breathtaking pirouettes, body sweeps executed at lightning speed and then slowing down to swinging grace, and ending in statuesque poses.
As a fitting finale, the third bhajan was Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram closely associated with the Mahatma. This piece-de-resistance was enacted with full-throttle conviction to depict Gandhiji's endearing teaching that God is one, no matter what name we give him. The ankle-bells of the dancers and percussionists indulged in a virtuoso display of rhythmic wizardry. The auditorium reverberated with the soul-stirring rendition of bhajans by Amjad Ali and the pulsating, exuberant percussive support on the tabla by Ambika P.D. Mishra, Mohamad Zafar on the Sarangi, Siddarth Das on the Sarod and Mahavir on the Pakhawaj.
One could find this mesmerising and compelling production in its utterly uncompromising stance. On the whole, it was an idyllic evening of Kathak that unfolded the homage gradually establishing an enigmatic tempo, surreal expressions of bhava, divine and intense cadence and dynamic moods.
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