A spring in their steps
LEELA VENKATARAMAN
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Kalashram's Vasantotsava showcased a range of Kathak dancers and pulled in eager crowds.
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PHOTO: DEEPAK MUDGAL
MAHARAJAS ALL Birju Maharaj (standing, centre), flanked by Krishna Mohan Mishra (left) and Ram Mohan Maharaj, with (seated) Jaikishan Maharaj and Deepak at the `Parivar Parampara'.
Kalashram's annual Vasantotsava mounted at the Kamani, heralding founder Birju Maharaj's 70th year, while featuring Kathak artistes from India and abroad, concluded on the third evening, showcasing the `Parivar Parampara' led by the maestro. Judging by the milling crowds each day, Kalashram, whether etymologically derived from Kala and Ashrama or Kala and shrama, does not lack for public support. Following Shankhadhwani and Vedic hymns, Kalashram's newly instituted Achhan Maharaj Kalajyoti Award was conferred on the Benaras gharana tabla legend Pandit Kishan Maharaj. Keeping in mind the primacy of associated disciplines of music and percussion, the festival also featured young talents, viz. vocalists Prabhakar Misra and Divakar Misra, now disciples of Pandits Rajan and Sajan Mishra (conferred the Padmabhushan this year) who gave a mature rendition of raga Jog, and a tabla talent Shubh Maharaj, grandson of Padmavibhushan Pandit Kishan Maharaj.
For those commuting from long distances, the late night programming with the senior-most artistes taking the stage well after 10.30 p.m. meant missing out on significant recitals like those of Rajendra Gangani and Birju Maharaj's abhinaya to Kishan Maharaj's poetry.
Memorable start
Kumudini Lakhia's disciple Prashant Shah provided a memorable start to the Kathak fare, his Dhamar tala nritta with Bapodhara on the tabla, distinguished by clarity and grace, its individual quality acquired without liberties taken with tradition. And the delightful jugalbandi with the Manganiyar singers and percussionists ushered in the joyous spirit of Savan. Malti Shyam's start with "Hori ho rahi hai Amad Jia ke dwar", in the nritta showed effortlessness and swinging grace in flow with freezes coming as punctuation points rather than abrupt halts, but her interpretative dance to "Mohe Chhodo Dagariya O Shyam" was disappointingly superficial.
Kajal Sharma's Teen tala with the Takita Takita Dhin ladi followed by Dhamar, after so many years based in the U.K. surprised with its clean lines and rhythmic exactitude, though abhinaya found no space. The cream among the female dancers was Prerana Shrimali who right from Guru Kundanlal Gangani's Shiva composition to a Rajasthani lyric "Rangila Shambho" to the thumri gave a recital of sublime refinement and aesthetic understatement. Turned out in highly becoming yellow and white costume, the joy of dance and of erotic shringar peaking in spiritual oneness with the beloved, with Imran's excellent vocal support and Fateh Singh Gangani on the tabla, were subtly communicated without exhibitionistic loudness. And this is where one regretfully voices disappointment at Durga Arya Kruger, who as a sparkling dancer hardly needed the exaggerated head and body shakes and mannerisms her recital projected (perhaps expressing overwhelming joy of performing on an Indian platform). One salutes however the reed-slender figure of a mother of three and the way her institution has created space for Kathak in an alien German environment.
MEMORABLE START Prashant Shah at Kalashram's Vasantotsava
Generations showcased
The `Parivar' showcased several generations. One could not avoid feeling that while Ragini Mishra's talent is beyond questioning, tiny two and five year olds, precociously gifted, need protective nurturing away from the glare of showbiz and its adulation, for which there is plenty of time. While Deepak Maharaj's talents need no highlighting, his lively padhant for this critic was the high point, the constant concern for the amplification of the floor mikes distracting. The upaj in tala Panchamsavari was too fleeting. Mamta Maharaj's "Bajat taal Dhamar Nirakat" with its 14-matra nritta bits and the mimetic naturalness of "Jara kehdo Savariyase" were pleasing, as was Krishna Mohan's brilliant nritta. Notwithstanding the waist bulge, Jaikishan Maharaj, dancing his own Chau tala composition followed by Dhamar, in the combined virtues of inborn grace and rhythmic punch, evoked regret at this dancer's premature retirement from the performance scene.
The other person who seemed to be losing grip on dance and life but whose trim body and return to full form are a matter of joy, was Ram Mohan. His upaj, uthan and udan compositions, and Bindadin's thumri "Chedo na Kanhai hato" were in the best traditions of lasya and tandav, minus the hyped talk. Pandit Birju Maharaj, with the customary accolades and bursts of thunderous applause from a doting audience, in the poetic imagination transforming the rhythms of creation and daily life into the rhythmic phrases of Kathak, and the brilliant upaj, carried the day.
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