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 Male dancers dominate Nalanda Nrityotsav - Vijay Shanker e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com Photos courtesy: Nalanda March 5, 2024 Nalanda Dance Research Centre and Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya presented the Nalanda Nrityotsava for four consecutive days at Kanaka Sabha in Juhu, Mumbai, from 12th to 15th January. The highlight of the festival was the declaration of Nalanda Bharata Muni Samman for lifetime achievement in the field of performing arts and literature and the Nalanda Nartana Puraskar for outstanding classical dancers and mentors. Twenty young classical dancers in different styles participated in the eagerly awaited young dancers festival. Surprisingly, ten male dancers participated to prove the point that a lot of male classical dancers are taking their career seriously and they definitely dominated the festival with most of them being amazing performers. Disciple of Odissi exponent Rahul Acharya, Sourav Mohanty's performance was marked with a fine balance of both vibrancy and elegance and he scored well in expressions too. Disciple of Bharatanatyam exponent Parshwanath Upadhye, Shobhit Ramesh's performance was marked for its masculine spirit, distinct movements and natural command over expressions. Vinay Tiwari, disciple of Dr Saroja Vaidyanathan and Rama Vaidyanathan, created a fine impact with his sincere interpretation and immaculate performance. Avijit Kundu from Bangalore created a lasting impression in the depiction of Poothana Moksham in the number on little Krishna. Although Rito Pratim Choudhary was pleasing in his Kathak performance, he was unable to do justice to the interpretation of the ashtapadi "Priye Charusheele" in which Krishna suffers the pangs of separation and tries to convince Radha. Srinivisan in the female attire looked quite charming and presented his performance in the dramatic style of Yakshagana with inclusion of vachika abhinaya. The pangs of separation and excitement at the appearance of the Lord was vividly interpreted and created a dramatic impact.  Sourav Mohanty  Gayatri Sathe Rajini Kallur made a fine start to the festival with her immaculate performance, followed by another bright dancer from Bangalore, Nikita S. Gayatri Sathe and Teresa Chettiar from Nalanda rendered a sparkling performance with vivacious quality accompanied by the live music ensemble. Medha Tendulkar from Nalanda performed Kathak with confidence and command over footwork. Aishwarya Ramakrishnan was the only Kuchipudi performer who impressed the spectators with her stylized movements and command over rhythm in the Tarangam, balancing on the rim of the brass plate.  Tejashree R. Muley The other dancers who participated in the festival were Santanu Roy, Sanjeev Kumar Jena, Subhadip Sarkar, Aparna Shastry Bhat, Anusha Girish, Tejashree R. Muley, Avijit Kundu, Aiswarya Ramakrishnan, Shubham Kumar Ojha, and Vaidehi Gawande. The Nritya Nipuna winners are Rajini Kallur, Nikita S, Sourav Mohanty, Teresa Chettiar, Gayatri Sathe, Shobhit Ramesh, Medha Tendulkar, Aparna Shastry Bhat, Tejashree Muley, Avijit Kundu, Aishwarya Ramesh, Vinay Tiwari and Vaidehi Gawande. Nritya Nipuna title is given to dancers who excel in their performances and they are selected by a team of experts.  Santavani An Ode to Dr Kanak Rele, 'Santavani' pertaining to Varkari Sampradaya and presented in the traditional Keerthana musical format is a favourite, especially among Maharashtrians as they are based on the popular abhangs of Sant Gyaneshwar, Namdeo, Eknath and Tukaram portraying the ardent devotion to Vitthoba (Vitthala) with his consort Rukmini at Pandharpur. Vitthala is considered an avatara of Vishnu. The childhood pranks of little Krishna and varied other episodes were interpreted by the faculty of Nalanda, featuring Dr Uma Rele, Guru Deepak Mazumdar, Dr Madhuri Deshmukh, Dr Meenakshi Gangopadhyaya, Radhika Nair, Megha Mohad, Dr Dimple Nair, Madhvi Gangal, Madhuri Pratap and Saji Menon.  Nalanda Bharata Muni Samman awardees and student winners  Nalanda Nartana Puraskar awardees Nalanda Bharata Muni Samman was given to actress and dancer Hema Malini, Darshana Jhaveri, actor Paresh Rawal, music composer and singer Pt Ashit Desai and Kathak mentor Padma Sharma. The Nalanda Kanaka Nartana Puraskar was given to Dr Jayashree Rajagopalan, Keka Sinha, Prakriti Bhaskar, Sandip Soparrkar and Vikram Kumar of Dance India magazine. Outstanding students of Nalanda were also felicitated for their educational achievements. On the whole, it was a grand festival encouraging art and artistes.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
