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 Enthralling Odissi performance by Sanchita Bhattacharya - Vinu Vasudevan e-mail: vinuvasu73@gmail.com April 26, 2024 It's heartening to see Kerala's northern city of Kozhikode regaining its past glory in the arts. The city used to be famous for arts and literature under the patronage of former rulers known as Zamorins. Festivals such as Revathi Pattathanam held in the city's Tali Siva temple was renowned for scholarly debates in Sanskrit. This artistic heritage is being revived today by young enthusiasts and organisations. The city now hosts several festivals and monthly programmes in dance, music and Kathakali. Among them the Annual Tali Temple Festival that concluded recently stood out from the rest for its rich content and the choice of artistes featured. The week-long festival had a beautiful setting on the banks of a big pond near the temple.  Sanchita Bhattacharya The inaugural programme on April 12 was an Odissi dance recital by Sanchita Bhattacharya which certainly was the highlight of the festival. Sanchita is a senior artiste with a good standing in dance circles. She began her training at the tender age of five under her mother. Later she trained under Guru Mayadhar Raut, a highly respected guru, and the legendary Odissi dancer Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Sanchita presented only three pieces but their variation was impressive. One was her own choreography with flashes of innovation while the second was a traditional composition that laid equal stress on dance and abhinaya. The final item was a pure dance piece. The first item, Ardhanareeswara choreographed by Sanchita, tried to depict a different view of Lord Shiva and Parvathi. Instead of Sutradhar describing the beauty of Parvathi and the grandeur of Shiva when they are in duality, Sanchita presented Ardhanareeswara by showing Parvathi's adulation and love for Shiva, and Shiva describing the grace and beauty of Parvathi. This item was performed in Sabda Nritya format where the lyrics are recited in a rhythmic pattern. The segment where Parvathi applies sandalwood paste on Shiva's body and Shiva appreciating it with a smile was a delight to watch. It was interesting to note that Sanchita had cleverly woven in some elements from Kalidasa to show the romance between Shiva and Parvathi. Parvathi makes Mangal Mala and brings it to Shiva, who decks her with floral garlands. Sanchita's 24-minute Ardhanareeswara was not merely lasya all the way as she had interpolated a short scene to depict Shiva's anger in Prachanda Tandava. Sanchita chose to present the ever popular Draupadi from Mahabharata for her second item. It was performed in the traditional bani, choreographed by Adi Guru Pankaj Charan Das long ago. This was a pure composition with traditional Odissi structures and ragas. The theme was Pandavas being cheated by Kouravas in a game of dice, Draupadi being disrobed and Lord Krishna coming to her rescue. In this abhinaya oriented item, Sanchita enthralled the audience with her fast changing acting skills and sharp facial expressions. Though this was an ekaharya or solo piece, Sanchita acted as multiple characters as well as Draupadi in very quick and impressive transformations. This item also had a good balance between nritta and nrithya. The third and final piece Sanchita presented was a pure dance item named Moksha or Salvation. The universal message this relatively short piece conveyed is that the divine peace everyone is searching for everywhere is inside all of us. This included slokas from Chandi praying to Mother Goddess as eternal mother. Here the dancer transforms from an artiste to a philosopher and a visionary. What stood out in Sanchita's performance was the clarity and sharpness of the hasthas and the clean lines of her nritta movements. Her angashudhi or body posture was excellent, with some of her poses looking sculpturesque. Sanchita, a Kolkata born dancer who considers it her mission to promote authentic Odissi, gave the local dance aficionados of Kozhikode an enjoyable and instructive evening.  Vinu Vasudevan is a freelance journalist, art critic and a documentary maker. He has worked in a number of television channels between 1996 to 2013. Presently he is working as the Faculty of Journalism in Kerala Kalamandalam Deemed University for Art and Culture for their Post Graduate programs. He is also a regular writer in 'The Hindu', 'The India Art Review' and leading Malayalam publications. |
