Spectacular Dance Jathre in Bangalore
- Vijay Shanker
e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com
November 26, 2015
Shambhavi School of Dance supported by Sangeet Natak Akademi, Ministry
of Culture, Government of India and South Zone Cultural Centre and
Department of Kannada & Culture, Karnataka, organized the two day
festival on 21st and 22nd November at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in
Bangalore. The fiesta presented workshops, performances, competitions
and stalls, creating the typical festive atmosphere, and an ambience
where the performing arts merged with nature.
Slide show
Photos: Arvind Shenoy and Ashik Gownder
The evening session commenced with the Desi Nritya wherein young boys
and girls danced while playing the drums and sang “jathre namma jathre”,
headed by Prabhakar and his troupe of talented performers, a fine
musical start to the journey of music and dance. The traditional lamp
was lit by MLA Somashekar and the performances started with the Tandava
Group of male dancers from Bangalore. The dancers Srinivasa Rajendran,
Somashekar, Anantha Narayan and Kartik Datar danced the invocatory
Mallari followed by “Shakti Devata” in Gambheernatai. The performance
was lively with rhythmic precision revealing their command over the
technique of Bharatanatyam.
With her disciples, Kuchipudi dancer Vyjayanti Kashi, who heads the
Shambhavi School of Dance enacted the episode of Kanyakumari in
Kuchipudi style with commendable abhinaya and graceful movements.
Kanyakumari is the secret weapon of Lord Vishnu in order to destroy
demon Banasura but she is not aware of her purpose in life and grows on
to become a beautiful maiden. Lord Shiva is smitten by her beauty and
they decide to get married but on the day of the wedding, Narada plays a
trick and the rooster cries and Shiva fails to arrive.
Kanyakumari is shattered and in her agony splashes the mountains with
haldi and kumkum turning them yellow and red and grains become sand at
her feet. At this point she hears a divine voice that tells about her
purpose in life and she ultimately destroys Banasura and her love for
Shiva remains eternal. The dancers concluded with a scintillating
Thillana.
Pune based Kathak exponent Shama Bhate presented her disciples in a
graceful and precise Kathak recital. Besides the Shiva Vandana, the
dancers performed the Kaliya Mardana wherein Krishna kills the serpent
Kaliya and concluded with the divine Bhajan “Baje Muraliya Baje” sung by
the veteran Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
The second day of the festival inaugurated by Soorya Krishnamurthy, the
chairman of Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi, featured performances by
Kutiyattam Kendra (Thrissur), Vaibhav Arekar’s Shankya Dance Company
from Mumbai and Manipuri performance by Jagoi Marup group from
Imphal. Vaibhav and his team created a lasting impression with
their immaculate and vibrant performance. The varnam incorporated Lord
Shiva as Omkara Swarupa and the seven chakras from Yoga abhyasa. The
number on Devi known as “Amba Ananda Dayani,” a composition of Dr.
Balamurali Krishna portrayed the virile and benevolent facets of the
goddess and also as the killer of the demon Mahishasura. Besides the
dramatic display of destruction of the demon, the performance was
noteworthy for the fine choreography and presentation.
The Kutiyattam performance by Charu Agar and his team portrayed the
story of Surpanakha as she tries to woo Rama and Krishna but fails with
her nose being cut. The actors rendered a brilliant performance with
“netra abhinaya” pertaining to the powerful display of emotions.
Kutiyattam is the oldest theatrical form of Kerala wherein vachika
abhinaya is also used and is considered the mother of Kathakali.
The workshops were held by Shama Bhate in Kathak style, Mohiniattam by
senior exponent Usha Datar, dance fitness by Lokesh Naik, Konnakkol by
Somashekar Jois, Beyond Tradition by Ramya Ramnarayan, contemporary
dance by Madhu Nataraj, dance and theatre by Vidhya Subramanian,
Kutiyattam by Charu Agar, Bharatanatyam by Vaibha Arekar, Dance Make-up
by Ramakrishna, Manipuri by Jagoi Marup and Zumba fitness by Rohit Saud.
The students were thrilled and learnt a lot from these personalities
pertaining to the varied aspects of performing arts. Usha Datar,
disciple of Late Chinnammuama, who conducted the Mohiniattam workshop
pointed out how the feet movements have changed and taught the students
some basic movements. Shama Bhate in the Kathak style taught the basic
movements and the usage of gestures pertaining to Ganapati, Krishna and
Shiva. The Kutiyattam workshop demonstrated the basic warming up
exercise, eye movements and an episode of Sugreeva was enacted. Vidhya
Subramanian vividly demonstrated as to how “angika abhinaya” changes
according to the character and emotions. The students participated and
showed their interpretations which were quite interesting and
encouraging for them. She also demonstrated the expressions and
emotional change when the nayika realizes that she has been deceived, as
she sees the telltale marks on the Lord.
The exhibition featured Shivakumar’s rare collection of newspaper
clippings of established and young dancers. On the dancer’s wall,
brochures of young local talent were displayed. The prize winners from
the competitions were given trophies, certificates and cash prizes too.
Vyjayanthi Kashi who organized the entire festival said, “I am an
artist, hence I expect perfection in all levels which is difficult to
achieve with a team from different fields. People think I am responsible
for all mistakes, which makes me feel enough is enough, but when I see
splendid performances and the rasikas enjoying it, that drives me to
organize the next dancejathre.” Hats off to Vyjayanti Kashi and her
entire team of Shambhavi School of Dance.
Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor.
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