Debadhara's guru shishya format a unique blend of art

Following a series of mixed festivals with highs and lows, Debadhara Delhi, initiated in 2003 by Vinayak Pande, in memory of late Guru Debaprasad Das, hit the right button this year for its annual celebration mounted at the IIC C.D. Deshmukh auditorium. The thematic format of Guru/Shishya Sanman, covering different dance traditions, proved a great draw on both days with varied fare, featuring senior performer/teachers with their students.

The introduction through Odissi presented Kolkata’s Suvra Maity and Paulomi Chakraborty , disciples of Aloka Kanungo taking the stage with Taal Madhuri conceived by their teacher. Actually for a nritta item in the manner of Sthai based on the musical refrain with the beauty of the tala patterns woven  (contributed by Kalindi Parida)  into the avartans (metrical cycle),  the live   recitation of ukkutas and mardal play  would have increased the impact. The tribhanga was more evident in the movement designing than the chauka (minimally present), the dancers evenly matched, graceful and rhythm correct. The next item, based on Aloka’s own Oriya poetry, with music composer Ramahari’s evocative blend of melody and words recited in an incantatory style, with Dhaneswar Swain’s tala setting in Ektali and Khemta , was by far the best part of the recital. The Krishna/Gopis banter begins with the gopis gracefully entering wanting to know from Krishna where ‘Nandara sukha’ (joy of Nanda) is off to. While trickster Krishna as the eternal teaser is ever plotting to tease the Gopis, the milkmaids here turn the tables on him by hiding his clothes and tying him to a tree trunk. Performing as Krishna, Aloka looked and enacted the role persuasively. The choreography of chase and dodge, with the mildly flirtatious hasya rasa in sringar, was effectively evoked. The finale with Shabda Nritya presented by the disciples, woven round the theme of the Dashamahavidya seemed tame in composition and rendition.  These ten manifestations of the Devi- Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneswari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhoomavati, Bagala, Matangi and Kamala covering the gamut of polarities of life and death, of beauty and bloody images, called for a sthayi or dominant state-of-being , which communicates inner  power, rather than soft lissom grace the disciples conveyed.    

Combining in delectable grace Kuchipudi dancers T.Reddi Lakshmi, Aditi Gupta and Abhirami Ajith, groomed under Kuchipudi Guru Jaya Rama Rao,  a product of Siddhendra Kalakshetra, gave a sparkling start to their recital, with the Vinayaka Kavutvam followed by “Tandava Nritya Hare Gajanana” in raga Mohanam -  the recorded music with a fine team of musicians  led by Jaya Rama Rao’s Nattuvangam with Venkateswaran for  vocal accompaniment, Tanjavur Keshavan ( mridangam) and Raghavendra Prasad (violin), providing an inspirational take- off point.

Age may have thickened the waist but not Guru Jaya Rama Rao’s dancing zest or vigour, as evident from his presentation of Hiranyakashipu’s Patrapravesh (stage entry of the character) Daru - taken from the old traditional Kuchipudi Yakshagana. The music, starting with the heralding belligerent tone of raga Athana  switches on to Saveri in this Daru - taught to the Guru during his training at Siddhendra Kalakshetra by Gurus P.V.G. Krishna Sharma and Chinta Krishnamurthy. Radiating arrogant might and power, the King enters boasting of his effulgence like the lustre of a million Suns, with the likes of celestial Rambha and Urvashi performing in his court. Suitably turned out, twirling his moustache and imitating the Kingly swagger of Hiranyakashipu who with one look of his eye could quell an entire court gathering, Rama Rao’s was a powerful performance. The concluding item based on a Swati Tirunal composition in Shuddha Sarang “Aaj aye Shyam Mohana Rasmandal Khelane” by T.Reddi Lakshmi, showed her sensitive abhinaya abilities. The first part is all soft sringar while welcoming Krishna to the rasmandal. One hand as Krishna in gesture with the other as the Gopi - was very suggestive. This was followed by the Game of Dice showing the Pandavas  gamble away their prosperity, followed by the humiliation to Draupadi, till Krishna’s final rescue – the dancer’s nuanced interpretative ability bringing out each character with finesse.

Kathak was represented by the students of Saswati Sen, Elisha Deep Garg and Sunny Sisodia taking the floor with an invocation in raga Shankara, to Shiva as Ardhaang, the sahitya playing on the word ardha. On the sheesh he carries Ganga,  Griva or neck is blue throated with the swallowed poison formed by Vasuki’s breath, saving the Gods and demons (using the serpent as a rope round Mount Meru the rod) from stopping the churning of the Ocean for ambrosia. And half his Anga is Parvati. Dressed in matching blue and green outfits, the two dancers combined well, the clarity of rhythm in dhamar tala along with an awareness of stage spacing making for an efficient beginning. Constantly dancing in Aditi Mangaldas’ productions too, Sisodia, a polished performer with his partner made a spirited beginning culminating in the male/female freezing one behind the other signifying a unified identity.  Kathak alone had the benefit of a live orchestra comprising Utpal Ghosh on tabla, Anirbaan Bhattacharya providing vocal support, Rajat Prasanna on flute , Ghulam Mohammad on Sarangi with parhant by Ipsita Misra.

Saswati Sen the Guru made the occasion a thanksgiving to her Guru Birju Maharaj who was present, with Gurupranam expressed through a series of epithets like “nityam, shuddham, Niraakaaram, Chidanandam”. Saswati presented the maestro’s bandishes in Vakra Vasant – tala of 9 ½ matras. Preserving the swing and harmony in accented and unaccented bol placings, making the aural poetry of mnemonics into visual artistry, through the nritta creations conceived by the Guru, Saswati demonstrated how the fractional (½ matra) arithmetic is so tantalising placed in a bandish so as to preserve the tonal musicality.  Given all the  spirited nritta of 9 ½ matras, the Kathak dancer’s nritta comfort remains incomplete without some inevitable teental work- that perfectly balanced tala, which can reflect the rhythmic pattern and tone involved in any type of activity - like the play of different games for instance.  Saswati’s presentation visualised Hockey with a stroke, dribble or a goal, and ball playing - the time taken by the ball thrown in the air descending, synchronising with the dancer’s breath.

Interpretative dance, always the best part of Saswati Sen’s Kathak, saw her present a Thumri — an Ajai Chakravarti composition Aaj more kalai murak gayi. The plaint of a nayika  that her bangles have been broken (thanks to teaser Krishna) was interpreted through three different perspectives – of the mugdha yet unawakened in love,  the more mature  Madhya and finally the praudha well versed with the ways of flirtation and love – each responding to the same situation.  The vexed confusion of the mugdha was obviously very different from the praudha for whom this becomes a means of furthering a flirtatious encounter- which Saswati’s  abhinaya subtly brought out.        

The light on Madhavi Mudgal with her back to the audience in a half-seated chauka posture (getting to be less and less prominent in the Odissi of today) ,  with only the torso moving gracefully sideways to create the tribhangi  (three bend posture)was a fine illustration of the central motif of her guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s technique, where moving the hip was not allowed. The opening number was based on late Mayadhar Mansingh’s poem, Nataraja , set to music in Natabhairavi by Maheswar Rao, wherein the dancer implores Nataraja to bestow on her the grace and gift of catching the tones of the ankle bells of the Lord’s feet as he dances.  Like the Lotus which gracefully blooms under the canopy of the sky, in the brilliance of the Sun, like the peacock dancing in joy at the approach of the Monsoon, the dancer wishes that she also be blessed with this gift of dance. Madhavi’s movement visualisation is a delicate blend of the bhav element with nritta and she rendered this with aplomb.

Madhavi’s impeccable technique and strong nritta rest on an enviable foundation of musical knowledge. In abhinaya her subdued approach places trust in understatement.  The purely expressional item  based on Benudhar’s Oriya composition “Kohibaku lajja madoochi Sajani”, set to Gopalchandra Panda’s music in Rasamanjari, specially composed for her,  portrayed the nayika projecting a confused mix of shyness, elation, desire to confide in her friend while also bashful of revealing the encounter  with Krishna . “He slunk on me from the back and closed both my eyes. I thought it was you till I realised who it was...”  The three students of Madhavi,  Shalakha Rai, Shobha Bisht and Dipika Bisht were a credit to their guru in the rendition of the Ragamalika Pallavi based on the music composition by Madhup Mudgal in three ‘Kalyan thaat’ ragas Hameer, Kamod and Kedar very skilfully woven into one piece, the subtle raga differences in a smooth flow coming back to the refrain holding the entire musical composition together. Aesthetic elegance marked the presentation — making this one of the high points of the festival.

Bharati Shivaji the guru and her disciples Vani Bhalla Pahwa and Samrita Menon began the Mohiniattam session with Mukhachalam in three ragas Surutti, Kamboji and Samantamalahari  set to  indigenous Kerala talas . The more impressive part of the presentation was the abhinaya for the Jayadeva Ashtapadi “Dheera Sameere Yamuna teere” in raga Kedaragowla and Shree. Bharati as the persuasive sakhi, urging Radha, played by Vani Bhalla, to join Krishna, eagerly awaiting her arrival was well interpreted.  Convinced by the description of a lovelorn Krishna waiting eagerly for her, imagining every falling feather or leaf stir to be her delicate footsteps, the abhinaya in a gradual progression saw a finally upbeat Radha, seen off by the sakhi who removes  her  telltale ankle bells,  as she sets out to join Krishna.

One wonders how many more versions of the excellent Behag Varnam ‘’Vanajaksha nine nammiti”  Bharatanayam dancer and guru Geeta Chandran can pull off. Every time this critic has seen her, it has been a different version. This time, the choreography for a group presentation was composed with great skill, the entries, exits, the excellently rendered jati interludes and the sahitya part taking on varying dramatic situations, the formations constantly changing  with a single dancer or two in interaction or three or the entire group. The presentation led by Geeta Chandran had well trained students of Natya Vriksha -  Amritha Sruthi Radhakrishnan, Radhika Kathal and Madhura Bhrushundi. That notwithstanding the late hour not a person in the audience left the auditorium says a lot for the performance.

Debadhara’s involved protocol of stage formalities, while very flattering, use up a lot of time.