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 Smaran 2016: a tribute to Kathak Queen Sitara Devi - Jayanti Chakraborty e-mail: jayanti2507@gmail.com January 5, 2017 Kalindi Darpan Socio-Cultural Organization organized SMARAN 2016 an evening to pay tribute to Kathak Queen Sitara Devi on her second death anniversary, on 24th December 2016 at Rabindra Bhawan, Kolkata. The evening was studded with eminent artistes and other guests to pay tribute to the legend. Sitara Devi’s contribution to Kathak dance was hailed by the speakers. Trained in the Banaras gharana, Vishal Krishna, an eminent Kathak dancer and his brother Kushal Krishna, an eminent tabla player, grand nephews of Sitara Devi, were the main attractions of the event. They mesmerized the audience with their performance.
The function started with screening of a visual biography of Sitara Devi. A trio of Kathak, Odissi and Bharatanatyam performed by Anasua Majumdar, Saswati Garai and Rudrani Konar from Kolkata and duet Kathak performance by Amit Khinchi and Shubhi Johari from Delhi was appreciated by all. The angelic faced Vishal Krishna has made a name on national and global level. His performance included brief footwork full of rhythmic clarity with uthan on the tabla played by Kushal Krishna. Another presentation that added beauty was the jugalbandi of tabla by Kushal and the rhythmic play on the brass plate by Vishal where he stands on the rim and performs. The prominent and distinct sound of the bells tapers down to the faintest sound of only one bell which was quite phenomenal. Due to limited time he tried to bring the overall beautiful creations of Banaras Gharana with his performance by explaining and then performing the patterns. He ended his performance by showing ‘Jatayu Moksha’ from Ramayana were Ravana kidnaps Sita and how Jatayu tries to rescue her. It was an expressive presentation which touched the heart of the audience. |
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