Dancing to nature's colours
RANEE KUMAR
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Deepika Reddy breathes life into the abstract theme of natural dyes.
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Photo: Mohammed Y0usuf
AESTHETIC BEST Danseuse Deepika performing with her group.
It was a brief, beautiful joy ride into the world of aesthetics - a thematic presentation for UNESCO and The Crafts Council of India's international symposium on natural dyes. Deepika Reddy and ensemble's titled `Rang' was kaleidoscopic - balancing the traditional Kuchipudi to a contemporary quest with the right ahaarya (costume), sourced out of naturally dyed material in keeping with the symposium and the principal audience. This was Deepika's `first' in contemporary theme and undoubtedly the best too! Few can pull off such abstract subjects like natural dyes with such ιlan.
Right from the word go, the salutation to Deepanjali (artistes' dance school) there was this beautiful flow, which looked as natural as the depiction. They were able to take up the massive stage with grace without a slip and glide out of focus like the wave of a magic wand. However, at this juncture, vocalist Lakshminarasamma was too high-pitched that it dented the clarity of the song.
The frame shifted to the richness of our State handlooms and handicrafts and this part of the series made the adage `a thing of beauty is a joy forever' true. The two pairs of dancers who tripped in and out heralding the sequel, dressed in a handloom workers' attire blended well with the background. The music at this point of time scored with melodic rustic notes to which the classical folk footwork gave the right mix and match. The captivating picture in this series was that of a tender foursome in creamy white again, gyrating their way to the stage holding huge replicas of `Kondapalli' handmade toys - one being a palanquin held by two little dance-bearers on either side who gave a short display of the fundamental adavus with precision. As the scene moved seamlessly to textiles, two dancers holding a ravishing Pochampalli silk dupatta entered to the beat of the mridangam, executed a brisk jati using the single-hand hasthabhinaya technique (common to Kuchipudi ballet) and were out giving place to another set who trounced in with huge cloth portraits of Kalamkari.
A change in backdrop to drapes of all colors of natural dyes with motifs etched on the centrespread and its flanks brings in the loss of indigo in the world of colours. Deepika in naturally dyed indigo ahaarya offset with cream and silver breathed life into an otherwise intangible ideal. She took up the archetypal Kuchipudi `paatra pravesha daruvu' wherein the dancer identifies herself with the subject and in the process introduces the audience to it. The customary entry of the principal character behind a mobile (held by two dancers) cloth screen (tera) completed the image. An adept at abhinaya, Deepika was every bit indigo personified lamenting her extinction in the conglomeration of colours. The emotive appeal was offset by compelling footwork patterns that was executed with stylish vim and vigour.
It must be admitted that she did a wonderful job without taking recourse to the so-called `free style' on and off.
It required tremendous imagination to etch out the onslaught of artificial chemical dyes in the present market scenario on stage with dance as the medium to express such a state of affairs. Here too, Deepika and her choreographer Kishore Mosalikanti (also the commanding nattuvanaar) did an excellent job. The chemical brigade in the form of three male dancers with flashy angavastram thrown across their shoulders cross on to the front stage while the bewildered natural dyes get relegated to the background in utter awe. The song `rasayana rasabhasam... ' was suffused with compelling lyrical beauty whose message could not be missed. That also suitably got adapted to the traditional mangalam (finale). The entire recital took care to run within the Kuchipudi format with a live orchestra-veena (Sudhakar), violin (Sai Kumar), flute (Murali) and of course the inevitable mridangam (Rajagopala Chary) in tow. Ramesh Jetty's music was catchy and in keeping with the changing moods so to say. Script/lyrics by
Pappu Venugopal Rao had embellishments like alliteration that served to enrich the theme. Conceptualised by Deepika Reddy, Rang catered to the foreign audience with its thoughtful English prefaced interludes, which is always welcome.
The other male and female dancers gave the required impetus to the presentation, which was held at Shilpa Kala Vedika.
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