The beat of rhythm
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The lecture-demonstration by Prakriti Bhaskar gave an insight into the vital role of rhythm in dance. The week also saw an elegant Kathak recital by Kakoli Misra. LEELA VENKATARAMAN
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Pure grace Kakoli Misra
Rhythm as time measurement set to cycles (talas), is a prescribed disciplining force in both music and dance, binding a composition into a cohesive whole. In its application, however, there is much more involved than just the tame lapse of time, for
within the neat divisions of beats in a tala, are fractional intervals actively regulated by the performing artiste to create a mathematical and aesthetic effect.
This is what is referred to as laya, a subtle aspect of rhythm. In Bharatanatyam (as in other dance forms), an entire vocabulary of phonetic sounds, meaningless in themselves, become the tool for articulating and measuring the flow of meaningful rhythm. Nattuvangam in Bharatanatyam (conducting a recital by playing the rhythm on the cymbals and reciting the ‘sollu-s’ or rhythmic syllables) is a whole discipline in itself.
Mumbai-based Prakriti Bhaskar, a disciple of the late Talavidwan Kalaimamani Guru T.S. Kadirvelu Pillai, gave a lecture-demonstration on Suddha Nritta (pure rhythmic dance) at the India International Centre, the evening unlike the usual fare offering information and insight into rhythm, its intricacies and harnessing the same for the purposes of dance.
A practitioner of Bharatanatyam and Mohiniattam, Prakriti’s training under Adyar Lakshmanan followed by years of interaction with the rhythm wizard Kadirvelu has given her an understanding of how to creatively engage with rhythm, playing with spaces in between beats of matras, to produce an impact of throbbing alertness and unpredictability, giving the dance a heightened sense of immediacy. Shuddh Nritta is movement set to rhythm, uncomplicated by the word or sahitya of a lyric. The coming together of time and sound in rhythm offers immense possibilities to the creative artiste.
A subtle play of sound and silence with deliberately unarticulated time intervals and cross-rhythm patterns where the nattuvangam recitation and the footwork do not work in unison but cohere at the end of a rhythmic composition, make for exciting rhythm designs. Punctuating time to form clusters of rhythmic phrases, can become quite challenging, when the recitation pattern in the nattuvangam and the dancer’s rhythm seem to flow in different patterns, but come together in an unpredictable finish.
Prakriti’s students Vaishali Kallianpur and Tania Das showed the impact of good training in their clean lines. Trikala jatis with nadai changes (change in rhythmic gait), nattuvangam in one rhythmic combination with dance set to another, sankeerna-jaati jati-s at three speeds, a “takadhimi takajhanu” sequence with shifting accents on the syllables, and various other rhythmic challenges were all demonstrated. Alaripu in 11 matras (conventionally 3,4,5,7 and 9 — the last rare), one of Kadirvelu’s specialties, was also neatly demonstrated.
Articulate Prakriti’s lec-dem should be taken to dance schools to spread a better understanding of rhythm. A great deal of what youngsters (and even adults) do in dance is mechanistic without an intrinsic understanding of how the mathematics of a jati works. More muscle to Prakriti, explaining also the meditative power of nritta!
Kakoli impresses
The annual homage to Gama Maharaj at the Stein auditorium earned plaudits for both organisation and choice of artistes. Based on Dharamvir Bharati’s Kanupriya, the Kathak group of Raksha Singh, Anjali and Arunima did a fine job in terms of both group understanding among excellently trained dancers and subtle interpretative highlighting of the vexing combination of relationships in which each of them views Krishna. A newly trim Kakoli Misra showed herself to be an elegant and mature dancer. The Vighneswara invocation was followed by the Bindadin thumri “Mohe Chedo Na” and two compositions of Varsha Ritu, performed with élan, expressional sensitivity and fine dance lines.
Abhay Misra’s programme conceptualisation, by skilfully weaving all the rich nritta aspects of Kathak into a main grid of interpretative items, provided an excellent base. Mere interpolation of nritta sequences into an abhinaya frame is not the challenge as incorporating them in a way sustaining the main abhinaya motifs keeping the sahitya thread intact.
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