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 World Dance Day celebrations in Ahmedabad - Vijay Shanker e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com May 21, 2024 JG College of Performing Arts (first performing arts college affiliated to the University of Gujarat) and Asia South India Association (ASIA) jointly organised a two day festival to commemorate the International Dance Day celebrations with classical and folk dance performances on 27 and 28 April at JG auditorium in Ahmedabad. It was amazing to watch the students and the professional dancers sharing the same platform for two days, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi and folk dances being presented with lot of enthusiasm and confidence, attracting generous appreciation from the select audience. It was charming to watch young students appearing on the stage with lighted lamps to announce the beginning of the dance festival. JG College of Performing Arts is one of its kind, fruitfully functioning for more than two decades. Bijoy Shivram, vice principal of JG College of Performing Arts and asst director, Operations, JG group of 17 colleges says, "We started in a small way; most students are not rich, hence the fees is also quite nominal and it is not a profitable venture but due to the support from the management, we are moving ahead and am glad that the students are doing very well." Bijoy is one of the foremost male classical dancers from Ahmedabad and mentor too with several performances both in India and abroad and recipient of several honours on the national and international level. He is the disciple of great masters like Guru Bhaskar Menon and was one of the leading dancers of Darpana Academy of Performing Arts. In the inaugural address Bijoy said, "Great dancers are known not for their technique but their passion and great teachers are difficult to part with and impossible to forget."  Avishkar Academy The festival commenced with exciting folk dance of Raas and Garba by the Avishkar Academy of Performing Arts, performed with lot of excitement and enthusiasm by male and female dancers, directed by Kalpesh Dalal. Aruna Rekha Varanasy is an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer, noteworthy for her tremendous control over abhinaya and stylized movements. She performed "Kshira sagara sayana" in praise of Lord Padmanabha and concluded with Shankaracharya's Shiva Ashtakam in Mohana ragam in praise of Lord Shiva. Aruna's large expressive eyes and the vivacious quality of her performance left the audience spellbound.  Aruna Rekha Varanasy  Vihang Rukshan and Nandini Jani It was a pleasure to watch the sparkling Kathak performance by the dynamic duo Vihang Rukshan and Nandini Jani. They made a fine duo while revealing their expertise in the rhythmic complexity and footwork. They commenced their performance in praise of Lord Shiva "Shankara ati prachand, Nachate damaru baje". The duo performed Taal Dhamaar precisely. They received fine musical support from Rohit Parihar on tabla, Ramu Sastri, and Vaibhav Dave on vocal. Vihang could pay more attention to his costume next time. Pune based Gautam Marathe, disciple of Guru Vaibhav Arekaar, rendered a vivacious Bharatanatyam performance with fine control of varied movements. After the invocatory composition "Shri Vignarajam baje" he performed a beautiful composition of Swati Thirunal "Anjaneya Raghuramam" in praise of Lord Rama and his devotee Hanuman. Gautam danced with flawless quality and complete involvement, creating a fine spectacle.  Gautam Marathe Dr Prachi Jariwala's Odissi performance was noteworthy for saatvik abhinaya pertaining to Sundara khandam and the encounter of Hanuman with Sita. Her performance was based mainly on expressional dancing with some musical interludes, exhibiting the technical beauty of the Odissi dance style pertaining to grace and rhythmic precision. JG College imparts training in Bharatanatyam, Kathak, music and drama. Bharatanatyam faculty students thrilled the audience with their lively and vibrant performance with the display of Alarippu, Varnam and Ashtapadi. The dancers were Siddhi, Samrat, Krishna, Jagruti, Snehal, Namita, Bhavi and Vaishali.  Sanjeet Gangani Brilliant dancer Sanjeet Gangani, disciple of Guru Rajendra Gangani, was the last performer of the festival. Sanjeet danced with professional ease and precision, revealing his command over both layakari and teyyari. After the invocation to Lord Shiva, Sanjeet danced various pure dance complex patterns in teen taal and concluded with a fine jugalbandi with tabla maestro Rohit Parihar who is also a fine Kathak dancer.  Joraver Sinh being felicitated  Guru Bhaskar Menon being felicitated Joraver Sinh, vice chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi, veteran Bharatanatyam gurus Bhaskar Menon and Radha Bhaskar, Kathak mentor Pt Jagdish Gangani, Guru Naresh Kumar of Kalalaya Foundation were felicitated by Dr MP Chandran, chairman, Harishankar Pillai and KLN Sastry of Ahmedabad South India Association for their outstanding and invaluable contribution towards the promotion and propagation of classical arts. Bijoy was also the compere for the festival. DANCING FOR SENIOR CITIZENS Nartan School of Classical Dances (Ahmedabad), on the occasion of International Dance Day, presented Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dances for the inmates of Hiramani Sandhya Jeevan Sankul at the Hiramani School auditorium in Ahmedabad. It indeed was a noble gesture as the elders were excited and happy to watch four talented disciples of Guru Smita Shastri dancing with lot of enthusiasm, professional ease and precision, winning the appreciation of the audience. Smita Shastri is a renowned exponent of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi for the last fifty three years and among the senior most exponents in Ahmedabad. She is the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Award that was presented to outstanding and veteran artistes who have completed seventy five years, for their invaluable and enriching contribution in the field of performing arts. After her initial training in Bharatanatyam at Darpana Academy of Performing Arts founded by the celebrated and pioneer dancer Mrinialini Sarabhai, with the guidance of Guru Chatunni Panicker, she further learnt from another veteran mentor, Guru Kittappa Pillai. Smita was the disciple of Guru CR Acharyalu in the Kuchipudi dance style, who was a great mentor, particularly known for his contribution of traditional dances like Mayura and Simhanandini Nrityam in which the dancer portrays the portrait of the peacock or the lion while dancing on a canvas. Smita Shastri is among the few mentors imparting training in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. The dancers who performed were Prashita Surana, Anushka Iyer, Jhanvi Ambalia and Tashvi Sharma. They commenced the performance with "Eka dantaya Vignaraje" in praise of Lord Ganesha which was presented by all the four dancers. Meera Bhajan was performed by Prashita Surana. Two ardent devotees Radha and Meera were described in the number "Radha chup gayi, Laaj ki maari, Aawat kunj gali mey Giridari" (Radha hides herself, feeling bashful as Krishna makes an appearance). This was interesting as it revealed the twin aspects of love of Radha and Meera for Krishna. The next number was in praise of Lord Rama and his magnificence. 
The piece-de resistance of the evening was the presentation of the popular Kuchipudi number, Balagopala Tarangam, an extract from Narayana Teertha's Krishna Leela Tarangini with focus on the naughty little Krishna and his pranks. Besides dancing on the rim of the brass plates, a brass pot was placed on the head with water on it. After the performance the dancers sprinkled drops of water on the audience as they were thrilled to watch the dancers, dancing with professional ease and rhythmic perfection. The dancers concluded with a number in Hindi "Dim dim damaru baje" in praise of Lord Shiva and another number in praise of both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva in "Om Hari, Om Hari Hara Om." The musical compositions were in Hindi and Gujarati besides other compositions, hence different from traditional Margam presentations. After the performance, the elders came forward to bless all the dancers, a touching and emotional gesture indeed.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
