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Ode unto the guru
- Vijay Shankar
e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com
Photos courtesy: Madhusudan Menon

December 30, 2024

With the collaboration of the National Centre of Performing Arts and the Mysore Association, Bharatanatyam exponent Dr Lata Surendra, curated two programmes - on 8th November at the Experimental Theatre of NCPA and on 15th November at the auditorium of Mysore Association in Matunga, featuring 30 dance groups. It was a congregation of several performers, established and youngsters, celebrating the golden jubilee celebrations of Anjali Bharata Natyam Research Trust, headed by Lata Surendra and she was the curator for both the programmes that exposed varied facets of classical dances by several dancers, creating a lasting impression on the spectators.

Aavahan

It was a stirring 'Ode Unto the Guru' through the spoken and delineated word. Artistes of various styles who had imbibed their dance as "diksha", on a one to one basis from their respective Gurus, shared their transformative and sacred moments through the words and performance with the sensitive and appreciative audience at the NCPA. The veteran performers were Sunayana Hazarilal of the Jankiprasad Gharana of Kathak, Smita Shastri for Kuchipudi, Sucheta Chapekar and Uma Rele for Bharatanatyam, Rajashree Shirke for Kathak, Mandakini Trivedi for Mohiniattam, Shubhada Varadkar for Odissi, Jayashree Rajagopalan for Bharata Nrityam and Lata Surendra for Bharatanatyam. It was interesting to observe as to how each one of them related to their Gurus and how they have been successful in taking the legacy forward with the same amount of dedication.

Sunayana Hazarilal
Sunayana Hazarilal

One of the senior most Kathak exponents of the country, Sunayana revealed as to how she was fascinated by the magnetic performance of Guru Hazarilal that she had decided that she must learn from him and not anybody else and later married him too. Sunayana revealed that the bookish knowledge could be kept inside the cupboard and what's more important is how you implement the technical qualities in the dance performance. She frankly said most Kathak performances are involved with fast footwork and the conclusion with only five minutes for any "abhinaya" number. In the seated posture, Sunayana demonstrated the popular poetic number "Sab din hota na ek samaan" (All days are not the same) with powerful and subtle netra abhinaya and nazakhat revealing every day is not the same, as the seasons and the emotions of the persons change too but how important it is to maintain the harmony of life with divine intervention.

One of the foremost disciples of Guru C.R.Acharyalu, Smita Shastri revealed as to how she started with Bharatanatyam and was not fascinated by Kuchipudi but after witnessing the performance by Yamini Krishnamurti, she learnt Kuchipudi and some rare traditional items like Simhanandini Nrityam, Mayura Kauvtvam, Sandhya Tandavam etc. The speciality was in how the dancer could portray the portrait of the lion or the peacock on the canvas with rhythmic movements of the feet. The Simhanandini Nrityam was demonstrated by one of the senior disciples, Prashita Surana.

Dr Uma Rele, director of Nalanda Dance Research Centre and principal of Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya, narrated as to how she came to Nalanda as a student and how her life changed after meeting the founder of Nalanda, Dr Kanak Rele. Uma Rele portrayed the Marathi abhang in which the devotee reveals his devotion for Lord Panduranga with satvika abhinaya.

Sucheta Chapekar
Sucheta Chapekar

Sucheta Bhide-Chapekar (76) is the seniormost Bharatanatyam dancer from Maharashtra. Her sterling talk and performance received a standing ovation. In her talk she emphasized the two most important learnings that she received from her two Gurus, which she has tried to imbibe to the core. And it was more than evident in her fine performance. According to her adya Guru Acharya Parvati Kumar, "Whatever you learn, digest it, make it your own before you dance it and it becomes creative." And her jyeshtha Guru K P Kittappa Pillai gave her the mantra, "Dance is visual music. Don't dance to the music. Dance the music."

She presented two unique Marathi compositions. One of King Serfoji (researched and choreographed by Acharya Parvati Kumar) and of King Shahaji of Thanjavur, set to music by Guru K P Kittappa, researched and choreographed by Chapekar herself. First composition visualised Lord Shiva's heroic act of killing the mighty demon Tripurasura. The other candid piece was on Krishna bringing forth his various aspects as a mischievous child, eternal lover and the preacher of Bhagavad Gita.

Manipuri exponent Latasana Devi is the disciple of Guru Bipin Singh, Kalavati Devi and Darshana Jhaveri. Latasana briefly performed an ashtapadi that establishes the inter relationship between Radha and Krishna and Radha's immortal love for Krishna.

Odissi exponent Shubhada Varadkar revealed how she was completely mesmerised watching Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra interpreting the varied ashtapadis with expressional excellence and subtlety and wondered if she was able to accomplish at least a fraction of that intensity and quality. Shubhada revealed the coy maiden Swadhinapatika in the ashtapadi "Kuru Yadu Nandana" that reveals the intimacy with Krishna as he applies sandalwood paste on her body and decorates her with flowers and jewellery.

One of the seniormost disciples of Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, Dr Jayashree Rajagopalan and her daughter Aishwarya interpreted how they studied the Nritta Karanas as codified in the sculptures in the Chola temples of South India. They performed Bhairavam from Ahamargam, an episode from Chirutondayarar's life that involves the offering of a child as a meal for Bhairavam and its resurrection. Jayashree performed Marathi daru of Shahaji Maharaj and Aishwarya performed Sangamam, Tamil padam of Guru Mahalingam Pillai which was an expressional and technical delight.
One of the foremost disciples of Dr Kanak Rele, Mandakini Trivedi performed the popular lullaby, a composition of poet Irayimman Thampi, "Omana thingal kidavo" in which the poet reveals how the mother is carried away by vatsalya bhava and compares the child to the lotus flower, the dance of the peacock and considers the child as a gift of providence. Mandakini with her complete control over expressions created a lasting impression with her subtlety and intensity.

Lata Surendra
Lata Surendra

Dr Lata Surendra, disciple of Guru TS Kadhirvelu, revealed, "He awakened me to the stillness in movements and movements in stillness, to the silence pregnant with sound and sound pregnant with silence. Off beats cannot be taught, they have to be caught. Off beats defy the percussionist, the vocalist, the dancer alike especially in the challenge placed by the intriguing calculations of my great Guru. In the Khandajathi ata thalam or Misrajathi tripura thalam Alarippus that he was the first to create, he detested unwanted fill ups by the mridangam artist. He desired a silence that opened out the equation within the cycle set and complimented by the dancer, the mridangam, the nattuvangam alike. The twilight zone that the beat awaits all and caught by all in unison is a heady moment. I have always marvelled at the genius that conceived such mathematics. Such a visionary comes by once in several lifetimes! As the critic Pitamaha Subuddu would say, my Guru's nattuvangam was like 'sting of a scorpion.' We needed to be alert all the time." Lata endorsed the jathis and swara korvais in the varnam composed by Guru KN Dandayudapani Pillai, with nattuvangam by Guru S.P. Sreenivasan, vocal by Shivaprasad, mridangam by Chandran and violin by Satish Seshadri.

The last performer of the evening, Rajashree Shirke, acknowledged her association with mentors like Dr Kanak Rele and Madhurita Sarang for Kathak, Chetan Datar and Satyadev Tripathi for theatre. Rajashree Shirke particularly emphasised the Kathakaar tradition, story telling aspect of Kathak and vividly demonstrated extracts from her dance theatrical production 'Kanhopatra' - the story of an ordinary girl who becomes the devotee of Lord Panduranga and ultimately merges with the divine Lord.


Vijay Shankar
Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor.



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