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 Samagam marked by choreographic brilliance - Harish Bal e-mail: harishbal77@gmail.com Photos: Joseph S Kumar January 13, 2024 The Bharatanatyam-Odissi dance duet by Lakshmi Parthasarathy Athreya and Shashwati Garai Ghosh at Narada Gana Sabha for Margazhi December fest had a strong focus on theme and abhinaya oriented items. Amidst its busy Margazhi music schedule, Narada Gana Sabha has reserved the 1.45pm afternoon slot in its main hall only for dance. The two featured young dancers come with a formidable artistic legacy and they complemented each other's art and presented one and half hours of engaging dance moments. The dancers, both Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardees, presented 'Samagam' presenting their individual styles of dance, reciprocating each other's movements and contrasting with each other. The piece choreographed by Shashwati's guru Sharmila Biswas had a strong etch on rhythm and powerful dance movements. This saw varying traditions in conflict, leading further to a sense of admiration, later finding a common ground, both dancers ending with a sequence from 'thathodaka tham' pushpanjali.  Lakshmi's thematic presentation 'Ravana' opened dramatically with roars of pain from Ravana, his hands crushed with the might of mount Kailasa. A student of Chitra Visweswaran, Lakshmi explored the possibilities of physical acting with jumps and leaps, and many movements in lokadharmi, tracing the expanses of mountains and rivers and other elements of nature in describing Kailasa. Her abhinaya was vivid and imaginative, though the theme itself is much hackneyed. This was performed to captivating music by Rajkumar Bharati. The refrain "Kishora Chandrasekhare rati pratikshanam mama" of Shiva tandava stotra was interpreted with blissful tandava of the lord with his damru, with serpents coiling around him. A melodious Hamir Kalyani piece culminated in a sequence of Siva's nritta with Parvati. Another oft performed theme in dance was presented as 'Katha Surpanakha' by Shashwati. It was the demoness's story from her own perspective, that of a Rakshasi who is also a princess and a woman in love. Shashwati used hand held masks as she portrayed these various faces of Surpanakha. Her expression was dynamic as she shifted through the roles with ease from that of a fierce demoness to a transformed beauty who is smitten by the beauty of Rama. Cupid's arrows send her to a stupor and with incantations she transforms into the beauty intending to bewitch Rama. Her shock and lamentation at seeing her distorted form in the end was a dramatic highpoint. This piece too was choreographed by Sharmila Biswas giving apt weightage to drama, nritta and use of space.  A conversation between two friends who talk of their yearning in love was presented as an emotive piece that moved to "Sakhi he kesi mathanamudaram" ashtapadi. The dance presentation of Shaswati and Lakshmi Parthasarathy indeed was a coming together of two dancers of high caliber, whose elaborate thematic interpretations could have been balanced with some pure dance items or sequences. Yet the performance stood out for choreographic brilliance, technique and apt music.  Harish Bal has been an art writer for over 20 years. His reviews and features have appeared in The Hindu, Sruti and several magazines and portals. He conducts programs on art for Doordarshan and All India Radio. He is also a classical musician and corporate trainer. |
