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 Sunday morning dance sessions receive fine response - Vijay Shanker e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com January 6, 2024 National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, presented two brilliant classical dancers on a Sunday morning and surprisingly the response was positive with a packed audience at the Experimental Theatre on Sunday 26th November. The dancers were Dheerendra Tiwari in the Kathak style and Chitra Dalvi in the Bharatanatyam style; both the dancers created a lasting spell with their commanding performances.  Dheerendra Tiwari Dheerendra Tiwari danced comfortably revealing his command over the technique of Kathak. Elegantly attired, Dheerendra commenced his performance with Gajendra Vandana in praise of Lord Ganapati, followed with taal Dhamar and teen taal in drut laya. It was a pleasure to watch the young dancer's complete control over footwork with rhythmic precision and dancing with effortless ease in fine harmony with the rhythmic beats. In between the performance, Dheerendra remarked that "spontaneity mey bhi nuksaan hota hai," meaning in a spontaneous performance, you are likely to make mistakes, especially if the tabla maestro starts reciting some rhythmic syllables which you may not be prepared to execute, being extempore. Nevertheless Dheerendra did complete justice to his performance, without any flaws whatsoever, which indeed reflects on his expertise and his professional calibre as a performer. The highlight of the performance was the 'trigalbandi' (three combinations) inclusion of dance to the rhythmic accuracy of the tabla and the pakhawaj, which indeed was the delight of the percussion instruments. Dancing with fine harmony with rhythmic excellence was the hallmark of Dheerendra's performance. He received fine orchestral support from Vivek Mishra on tabla, Ashish Gangani on pakhawaj, vocal by Srirang Tambe, sitar by Pratik Pandit and the rhythmic recitation (padant) by Anagha Warrier.  Chitra Dalvi Chitra Dalvi, disciple of Dr Sandhya Purecha, commenced her Bharatanatyam performance with Mallari and the interpretation of the Sarva Mangala Stotram paying salutations and tributes to the panchabhutas, Surya, Chandra and the Devas, followed with a beautiful composition in praise of the three goddesses Saraswati, Mahalakshmi and Parvathi, incorporating their facets, attributes and the power of the feminine force. To watch her clarity of movements, meticulous approach and a natural command over abhinaya makes Chitra's performance outstanding. In the Marathi varnam in Ananda Bhairavi "Hari ha kapati", the heroine complains about her Lord, that he is cunning with his devious ways, as she feels neglected and ignored. She is sweeda nayika and kalahantarita too. Chitra was pleasing in the sancharis and in the complete interpretation of the item, describing the mental state of the heroine. The Abhang on Lord Vitthala and the Dhanasri Thillana formed the finale of the performance, which was performed with spontaneous ease and expertise. Chitra received fine orchestral support from Dr Sandhya Purecha for nattuvangam, Keerthana Krishnamurhty for vocal, Satish Krishnamurthy for mridangam. On the whole, it was quite thrilling to watch two wonderful performers on a Sunday morning.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
