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 Nrityagram ensemble at Saranagati festival - Tapati Chowdhurie e-mail: tapatichow@yahoo.co.in April 10, 2024 From Santiniketan, Avijit Das went all the way to Chennai to graduate in Bharatanatayam from Kalakshetra founded by Rukmini Devi Arundale, but fell in love with Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam style of Kuchipudi on visiting Kuchipudi Art Academy and seeing their students perform. He decided that Kuchipudi was his first love and he burnt his midnight oil to master it. Today he is a Kuchipudi performer cum teacher of no mean repute, and the Artistic Director of KimAham. Ever since, he has been taking long strides in his chosen field. He was adjudged as an outstanding dancer in Madras Music Academy's Mid Year Dance Festival held in July 2023, and received the M.N. Subramanian Award on the inauguration day of Madras Music Academy's Dance Festival on 3rd January 2024.  Avijit Das Based in Bangalore, Avijit Das annually organizes 'Saranagati', a festival of dance, where he invites a dancer from a genre of dance other than Kuchipudi to expose his disciples to the beauties of other classical dance forms too. In the 4th edition of Saranagati 2024, it was Nrityagram dancers from Kodihalli village in the outskirts of Bangalore, who were invited to perform. Nrityagram Dance Ensemble presented 'Khankana - the sound of dancing feet' for KimAham at Dwani Auditorium in Bangalore on 26th February. Khankana took the audience on a journey across three decades of its creative work, which has been the toil of its Artistic Director Surupa Sen's research, that has expanded the dance vocabulary of Odissi and developed an aesthetic style that Nrityagram can claim to be its very own. The three pieces performed showcased Surupa Sen's unique sensibility of thought and movement. Aakriti, the first piece, was a submission to the inherently lyrical form of Odissi, exploring the various dimensions of its abstract and geometric vocabulary. Pure nritta dances displaying the joy of energetic movement in ever changing designs and shapes performers broke into, had the freshness of a gurgling brook. Dancers Pavithra Reddy, Anoushka Rahman, Rohini Banerjee, Daquil Miriyala performed to a composition of Pt. Raghunath Panigrahi. The choreographic work and sound design of Aakriti was by Surupa Sen.  Nrityagram ensemble The next piece Sun Maiyya written by Sant Surdas, was the story of Krishna. The first of its three parts depicted a harried milk-maid who has been troubled incessantly by little Krishna, who claims he is a perfect example of innocence and Yashoda, a loving mother whose son can do no wrong. Pavithra Reddy performed it solo to the music composition of Pt. Jasraj. She handled the emotive parts with care. The piece was the choreographic work of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Vocal singing of Asit Desai, with Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra's chants and playing of the mardala accompanied by Pt Bhubaneswar Mishra on the violin, Ghanashyam Das on the flute, Roshan Bharti on the sitar and Ratikant Mohapatra on the manjira, was pure sangeeta transporting the audience to higher realms of aesthetic bliss. Sridevi sought the blessings and the divine presence of the Mother Goddess, to spread light needed to behold her, who lives within us all. Dancers Pavithra Reddy, Anoushka Rahman, Rohini Banerjee, Daquil Miriyala displayed the perfection that involve talent and round the clock practice under the strict vigil of their mentor. Music composition was by Pt. Raghunath Panigrahi, rendered by vocalist Rajendra Kumar Swain, chants and mardala by Budhanath Swain, flute by Srinibas Satpathy, violin by Sanjib Kundu, sitar by Navin Mishra with Surupa Sen on the manjira. Light designing by Lynne Fernandes made Khankana a complete whole.  Surupa Sen In the morning session next day, Avijit Das gathered his students of KimAham to listen to Surupa Sen about her journey in dance and the trials and tribulations she went through to reach the pinnacle of her glory. Yours truly was asked to speak on "Indian classical dance-then and now". The morning talk was a way to give the students a brief peep into a deeper understanding of the rich heritage of Indian classical dance in general and the path to taking up dance as their life goal though strewn with boulders is not an impossible prospect. In their North American premiere this year, Nrityagram Dance Ensemble included their new Odissi work Khankana at the Royal Theatre of Victoria in Southern Texas on the 8th and 9th of March 2024. Khankana offered to audiences at Victoria, a first look at the company's newest work, not seen outside of India. The program included a specially remounted solo performance by Surupa Sen. Following the performance, there was a post-show interaction with Surupa Sen, facilitated by Dance Victoria Executive Director Gillian Jones. During their visit to Victoria, the artistes also gave an educational performance at Tillicum Elementary School as part of Dance Victoria's Community Engagement programs.  Tapati Chowdhurie trained under Guru Gopinath in Madras and was briefly with International Centre for Kathakali in New Delhi. Presently, she is a freelance writer on the performing arts. |
