|     |
|
| |
 Spectacular presentation of Draupadi - Vijay Shanker e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com August 5, 2024 Abhinava Dance Company (Bangalore) presented their latest dance drama 'Draupadi - Fire to Frost' on 7th July at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore, as part of a three day festival organised by Chowdiah Music Academy. Powerful dramatic presentation, spectacular scenes, enchanting and vibrant music, intense dialogues by the protagonist, aesthetic performance and execution with beautiful costumes and settings, made the hallmark of this dance drama that vividly narrated the story of how Draupadi emerged from the fire and lastly submerged herself in the Himalayas. 'Draupadi - Fire to Frost' commences with the beautiful usage of orange and red drapes of clothes, blending well with lighting that signifies the powerful flames and the emergence of the beautiful Draupadi. The production captures the life of Draupadi, the heroine of the great epic Mahabharata. She was born out of the fire of her father's rage and breathed her last in the Himalayan peaks, when her husbands turned cold towards her. Lord Krishna, the sublime hero of the epic was her sole refuge. The production draws its spiritual vision from the Mahabharata and strings together verses penned by the celebrated Kannada poet Kumaravyasa as well as those of Shatavadhani Dr R Ganesh. The music directed by the renowned musician Praveen D Rao is emotionally rich, intense and melodious. 
Some of the highlight scenes were when Arjuna strikes the moving "matsya" with his bow and arrow, powerful display of the matsya by Chethan Raj in the Yantra aerial act, the rendering of deep and intense dialogues in Kannada by the protagonist Draupadi, powerfully enacted by Nirupama. The game of dice when the Pancha Pandavas lose everything and Draupadi is forcefully dragged and disrobed, here again the scene of streams of clothes flowing through the lights, created a fine spectacle, quite a thoughtful and artistic way of displaying the miracle of Lord Krishna, as he protects and blesses Draupadi. While the dances were classical, folk and creative too, what was most striking was the fine coordination, team spirit and wonderful lively performance by all the artistes.   The artistic directors Nirupama and Rajendra have aesthetically choreographed the varied dance sequences, with the elements of the marga of Natyasastra. The beautiful costumes and stagecraft transported the audience to era of the epics. The production also provides a profound vision provided by the seer poet Vyasa and brings together the best aspects as elucidated by Sage Bharata. The role of Draupadi was by Nirupama, Krishna by TD Rajendra, Rupesh Kumar as Yudhistra and Drupada, Anil as Bheema, Aditya as Nakula, Somashekar as Arjuna, Darsh as Sahadeva, Ashwin as Duryodhana and Keechaka, Abhilash as Shakuni, Suvin and Rathan as Drona and Shalya, Gopal as Drustadumna, Chetan Raj as Matsya. Female artistes were Rohini Prabhath as Sathyabama and Uttara, Apoorva as Sudeshve, Adita as Rukmini, Mudavini as Subadra. Group dancers were Spurthi, Rohini, Bhava, Maanvi and Pooja. Lights were by Ajay Vijendra, sets by Rajendra TD and costumes by Satish N and Nupur Sood. Arjun Bharadwaj made a fine compere.   Veteran Bharatanatyam dancer of the Mysore school, Guru Lalita Srinivasan said, "The complete production that includes the performance, the music, the sets, acting everything was superb. Specially, I would like to mention the act of disrobing which was displayed with dignity, unlike the usual physical presentations". The presentation created such a great impact that people were standing and watching as the hall was over full. Extraordinaire indeed.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
