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 Shiva and Shakti - a duet - Kasturika Mishra e-mail: kasturikafeministpoetry@gmail.com May 9, 2022 There isn't a day in the life of a devotee, when we don't worship our aradhya devta. Worshipping Shiva is a religious phenomenon in any Hindu pantheon. Therefore it plays an important role in our dance and musical tradition. The myth and legends associated with Shiva are plenty and have been interpreted in many solo and group presentations.  Priya Srinivasan and group In making a collaborative attempt two young dancers Rakesh Sai Babu and Priya Srinivasan, founder of Trikayaa Dance Company, Delhi, performed a brave production 'Maheswara' at the Stein Auditorium, Habitat Centre, Delhi on May 4, 2022. Both of them are extremely competent in their individual dance form, Bharatanatyam and Chhau and the training and exposure to Kalakshetra curriculum and Mayurbhanj Chhau by Guru Janmejaya Sai Babu was evident in the performance. Priya Srinivasan displayed her total command over her dancers Radhika Sengupta, Paromita Dolui, Khushi Gole, Anwesha Basak and Eklavya Upadhyay in depicting the feminine aspects. The invocation piece "Bho Shambho" in raag Revati, taal adi is a traditional Sanskrit hymn by Dayanand Saraswati and the young dancers were excellent in the paired patterns they made on the hymn all the while describing the images associated with Shiva. The English narration also helped in understanding the medium of expression. Mainly the serpents and their playfulness around their lord, the opening of third eye and its consequences, the trishul dance patterns were an electrifying sight to behold in the masterful light design by Sandeep Dutta.  Rakesh Sai Babu The subtle Bharatanatyam was a graceful interlude to the robust Chhau in cyclical jumps pattern enhancing the richness of the central theme. The damru dance and three lines of Shiva from tantric idioms on body of dancers, blowing of conch shell and the chirpiness of spring in the cyclical patterns by the Chhau dancers was spectacular. On many occasions and in the other Sanskrit hymns, Rakesh Sai Babu also did the total leg split posture to include the basic tenets of Mayurbhanj Chhau. The sky pirouette also was effortlessly performed by the young dancers and students of the company. Govind Godiyal, Pradeep Kumar, Rahul Ray, Sunil Mehra and Vinod Mehra were excellent in the raw buffalo (nandi) movements, the Nandi deity associated with Shiva.  Chhau dance "Shankara sri giri" in raag Hamsanandi by Swati Thirunal and "Tungatarange Gange" in Hamsadhwani were all very difficult raag based compositions which the dancers gave all their dramatic prowess in full vigour. The coordination amongst the Chhau dancers and their stylistic movements specially by Govind Godiyal was impressive. Essentially on opening of artiste's avenues after Covid, this production will go a long way.  Kasturika Mishra hails from Puri, Odisha and is a trained classical singer. She has also trained in Odissi and gazal style of singing. She has worked as a senior cataloging Librarian at the US Embassy, New Delhi, for twenty years. She writes and recites her poetry in English, Oriya, Hindi and Urdu mostly on social media. She is empanelled as book reviewer for The Book Review. She also writes on dance, music and theater. Since she adopted a girl child 15 years back, she has been advocating adoption as an unmarried single mother. |
