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Adrenalin and the audience
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The light and sound quality may have sucked, but some class acts and a livewire audience kept Confluence 2004 firmly on the road
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Photo: Murali Kumar K
Colours and action at the finale of Confluence 2004
AN AUDITORIUM packed with hysterical, screaming girls is the least friendly place for a boy to appear in a dhoti and announce he's about to dance. But Charles Ma was completely unfazed. A professional choreographer for two years before he joined Christ College, Ma directed the college dance piece for the C.B. Bhandari Jain College festival, fusing various classical dance forms in an explosive, rhythmic piece. The girls packed tightly into the Town Hall for the grand finale of Confluence 2004, just couldn't have enough of Ma and his dynamic team. Even as the troupe exited the stage, the audience took up the roar, "Once more, once more!"
Breaking stereotypes
"People think it's pansy for boys to dance, so I'm trying to break that," says Ma. "I also play football," he points out, adding that he learnt Kalaripayattu professionally, then moved into Attakalari, did a brief unfulfilling stint of filmi dance and then trained in Bharatanatyam, Odissi, and Kathak under gurus from Nrityagram. Ma's group from Christ College, Dhrishtikon was formed three months ago and comprises two guys and six girls who "just enjoy dance," he says.
Dhrishtikon's livewire performance was among the better acts from amongst 35 colleges that participated in the group dance contest held on the final day of Confluence at the Town Hall. They tied in the second place with NMKRV College while the first prize went to St. Joseph's.
Colleges had an open hand with theme, costume, and type of dance, opening the stage to an eclectic mix of performances; from a Rajasthani folk performance by the host college, to filmi fusion numbers, traditional folk art forms, classical fusion, and just plain indefinable items.
At the other end of the spectrum from Dhrishtikon's modernistic, exercise-like fusion performance in time to reverberating music was a performance by the boys of Surana College. Eight boys converged and dispersed in an alarmingly erect human tower, which moved energetically around the stage as the boys jumped on each other and dismounted with equal ease, moving all the while. Their dance was performed to a vocal recital and rhythm kept by two other collegians, also present on stage, singing live. At times it seemed as though the human tower would collapse, as a headband insistently covered one boy's eyes and another seemed hopelessly imbalanced. But there was no accident and seemingly, no mistakes. "There were of course some mistakes," admitted Arun Kumar M.J. later, "but I don't want to point the finger of blame and anyway in the end everything was OK."
This balancing dance act is traditionally performed in Karnataka and called the kamsale pada, explains Arun. The team learnt it from a dance troupe, which was visiting their college, who trained them for a month in the basics of the art form. Once they got the basics straight, they were able to devise their own routine and practise on their own. The secret to success is that "the base should be strong," say the boys, "and all it takes is practise to get used to it." They hope to now travel in North Karnataka with this item.
Audience spirit
This is the fourth year that C.B. Bhandari Jain College is hosting Confluence. Security has been tightened after mad crowds last year, and the fashion show scrapped after anti-social elements tried to sneak a peek at it the last time it was held. With popular events such as Antakshari, quizzes, personality, and performing arts contests being hotly contended by over 50 colleges who registered in all, Confluence was a great opportunity for colleges, especially smaller ones, to showcase their talent.
Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College won the rolling cup and Adarsh College won the rolling shield. Despite grumbles about the poor infrastructure in terms of light and sound quality, it was the tirelessly upbeat audience, quick with their impromptu cheer leading routines, which kept the adrenalin pumped right through the long hours of the finale events.
HEMANGINI GUPTA
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