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 Nritya Yatra Festival in Aurangabad - Vijay Shanker e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com Photos courtesy: Nritya Yatra November 3, 2019 Nritya Yatra Kala Academy presented the Nritya Yatra Dance Festival at the Yeshwantrao Chavan Natyagriha in Aurangabad to promote young talent on September 14, 2019. The performers were Ajay Shendge, Subitha Murali, Archana Basu and Raakhi, Neha Muthiyan, Rishikesh Pohankar, Mayuri Haridas, Shaswati and Shilpa Deshmukh. This is an annual festival organized by accomplished Kathak and Odissi exponent Ajay Shendge who heads the Nritya Yatra Kala Academy. While Bharatanatyam and Kathak dominated the festival, other styles like Odissi and Kuchipudi attracted attention too. The festival was inaugurated by dignitaries including veteran vocalist Pt Nath Neralkar, veteran Kathak dancer Dr. Roshan Datye, Prof Jayant Shevtekar of Babasaheb Ambedkar University, Aurangabad, and folk dancer Bharat Jethwani. The dignitaries stressed the need to organize such festivals in order to encourage young talent and also to propagate and promote classical arts which is the need of the hour. With hardly any corporate support, it is not easy to organize a festival of this magnitude. The program commenced with the performance by young students of Nritya Yatra Kala Academy with invocatory numbers and also the interpretation of the shloka from Nandikesvara's Abhinaya Darpanam, "Angikam Bhuvanam Yasya" in praise of Nataraja, followed with a brief pure dance number in raag Malkauns performed by Ajay Shendge and his disciple Jasmine. The duo performed with rhythmic accuracy and elegance, winning applause. Ajay Shendge is the disciple of Guru Parwati Dutta and performs both Kathak and Odissi.  Ajay Shendge and Jasmine  Subitha Murali  Archana Basu and Raakhi  Mayuri Haridas and Shaswati Mumbai based Subitha Murali is an accomplished Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi exponent and teacher, and is the disciple of Dr. Rajyalakshmi Seth. Subitha performed the popular Balagopala Tarangam "Neelamegha shareera" that interprets the blue god Lord Krishna and his childhood pranks. An extract from Siddhendra Yogi's 'Krishna Leela Tarangini,' this item also displays the rhythmic dance on the brass plate. Blessed with large expressive eyes, one can definitely expect a better performance. Odissi duet was performed by Mumbai dancers Archana Basu and Raakhi. Besides the musical and the lyrical display of typical Odissi movements in the Pallavi, the piece-de-resistance of the evening was the Oriya composition "Ahe neela saila" that vividly describes some of the important episodes in the life of Lord Krishna, like Gajendra Moksham, the game of dice between Kauravas and Pandavas and the Draupadi vastraharanam, followed with the devotion of Prahlada for Narayana. Disciples of senior Odissi exponent Debi Basu, the duo impressed the audience with their dramatic ability. Mayuri Haridas and Shaswati are disciples of Dr. Roshan Datye who also conducted a workshop the next day based on the usage of karanas in the Kathak style. Both Mayuri and Shaswati are bright dancers dancing with a sparkling display of tivrat and tatkaar. Shilpa Deshmukh, talented disciple of Dr. Sucheta Chaphekar, performed "Tandava nrityakari," a composition of Rohidas Swami. Her interpretation of the childhood pranks of little Krishna in the Marathi G.D. Madgulkar number "Sangte" left a fine impression; she made good usage of her sparkling eyes. Nagpur based Bharatanatyam exponent Rishikesh Pohankar is the disciple of Parvati Janardhanan who heads Pratibha Nritya Mandir that completed 35 years of its fruitful existence. Rishikesh, an A grade Doordarshan artiste, dances with complete involvement and powerful movements which was evident in the number "Neelekanta Mahadeva" and in the item on Krishna that portrayed Kaliya Mardana, Kamsa and mother Yashoda.  Shilpa Deshmukh  Rishikesh Pohankar  Neha Muthiyan and group  Workshop by Dr. Roshan Datye The last performer of the festival was Neha Muthiyan from Pune. Neha danced with her disciples Nikita, Pallavi, Shweta and Bhumika. She commenced her performance with Ram bhajan "Bhagwe Ayodhyanath" that glorified the lord while interpreting episodes from Ramayana. However, the number that was catchy for its style of display and choreography pertaining to rhythmic accuracy was 'Rhythm 16' that incorporated the Tarana as well, performed with professional ease and vibrancy. Vijay Shanker is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
