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Music Season
SRI KRISHNA GANA SABHA
Graceful and impressive
RUPA SRIKANTH
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There was so much beauty in Prerana’s recital, whose style is honest and without frills.
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Photo: R.Shivaji Rao
Prerana Shrimali.
Interestingly, Kathak dancer Prerana Shrimali’s costume was a personification of her dance. She wore a lehenga-choli in rich peacock blue with a bandini odni in similar colours and pearl jewellery. It was traditional, beautiful, understated and impressive, much like her dance.
Prerana’s style is also honest and without frills. She allows her artistry to do the talking. From the first beat of her ghunghroos (125 bells on each foot, by her own admission), one could make out that ‘here was a master.’
She has been trained under Guru Kundanlal Gangani of the Jaipur Gharana, and hence there is a discernible emphasis on laya. This was Prerana’s first performance in Chennai. She performed with good grace and once she was on stage, nothing seemed to matter anymore.
She chose Teen taal (16 beats) for ‘layakari.’ A hauntingly beautiful, repetitive lehra in Mand on the sarangi (Ustaad Kamaal Ahmed) provided a counterpoint to the percussion. The lehra is also supposed to guide the dancer through the time cycles. Soft footwork in the warm up Thaat led to upaj or improvisations with the taal. The dramatic finish on the sam or the first beat of the next cycle was exhilarating and drew repeated applause.
Short nritta passages with pakhawaj bols, the Ganesh paran (salutation to Ganesha) and the Jhula paran (with ascending and descending order of bols), were followed by a Jaipur Gharana specialty, a ‘Chaturni Nayika’ gat where a nritta segment acquires meaning with just one look or stance. In this instance, a young girl beckons her man with a small but eloquent eye movement. Raigad-durbar chakkars with unusual arm movements wound up the delightful nritta patterns.
The subtlety of Prerana’s bhava blossomed in a tumri in raag Des based on contemporary poet Padmakar’s verses. Krishna’s beauty and His music have inspired many an artist to visualise how the gopis and Radha must have reacted to Him and this time was no different. A Meera bhajan, ‘Thane Kaayin Kaayin’ in Mand raag, Keherwa taal, spoke of the Rajasthani princess’ longing for Krishna.
The personable vocalist (Imran Khan) and the accompanying percussionist (Pandit Fatehsingh Gangani) were the other stars of this formidable team.
There was so much beauty in Prerana’s recital that it rose above the unaesthetic backdrop, but the uneven parquet flooring was of concern to the dancer who almost tripped on stage. There is one lingering memory from the colourful pool — that of Prerana in a gat featuring a peacock in the rain. The visual was drenched in poetry.
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Music Season
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