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 Nrityahuti and Nritya Tarangini Festivals - Vijay Shanker e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com April 27, 2025 NRITYAHUTI Ambali P Praharaj Dance Academy organised the 1st Nrityahuti, an evening of Indian classical dance festival featuring four distinct classical dance styles - theatrical dance production 'Gopis - Transit on Moksha' with ekaharya abhinaya by Ambali Praharaj, Bharatanatyam by Avijit Kundu, Kathak by Vishavdeep Sharma and Manipuri by Dr Somabha Bandhopadhay. The programme was held at the Deshmukh auditorium of India International Centre in New Delhi on 9th March. It was a wonderful experience to witness the spectacle of varied classical dances in the same platform.  Ambali Praharaj 'Gopis - Transit on Moksha' is a theatrical dance presentation with a different perspective of Krishna consciousness (Krishnamaya). Go means senses, our 'indriyas', Pi refers to drink, pivati, hence those who drink the essence of Paramatma with all their senses, are Gopis. Here again, the gender is not important, whether male or female, their existence, everything is surrounded by lord Krishna. When they hear the magical flute, they are mesmerised to the extent that they forget their household chores, are drawn towards the enchanting music. If they are eating, it is Krishna prasadam, the aroma is divine and the perception is only Krishna. It is only the Gopis who can listen and enjoy the divine music and not everyone else. In the narrative process, Ambali took the audience to varied experiences in the life of little Krishna, his naughtiness and the vatsalya of Yashoda, which is evocative and the Gopis are in a trance when ultimately Lord Krishna appears on the night of Sharad Chandrika and they dance in joy and happiness. Ambali as one of the Gopis says, 'Prana bhaya Kanha may, Kanha bhaya prana maya, Hiye the na jani pare, Prana hi ki Kanha hai' (metaphorical synthesis pertaining to both life and Krishna, Whether Krishna is Life, Or Life is Krishna) that forms the ultimate path to Moksham. Ambali Praharaj received thunderous applause for this soul stirring presentation.  Avijit Kundu Avijit Kundu is a disciple of Guru Ambali Praharaj who has now settled in Bangalore and has established his own dance academy known as Nrityadhee where he teaches young dance aspirants Bharatanatyam. His performance was noteworthy for its different concept and structural quality of the performance. Avijit performed Shiva Astakam written by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who was known as a follower of the Vishnu Sampradaya. This composition is based on the interpretation given by Murari Gupta, who was a disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The first part of the presentation describes the beauty and the glory of the lord and the second half interprets the experience of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when he visits Lingaraja Temple in Orissa. Furthermore, Narada is confused when he sees Rama worshipping Shiva in Rameshwaram and Shiva worshipping Rama in Kailash. He questions Shiva and the Lord says both Hari and Hara are the same. Meanwhile Parvati comments that the Vishnu Sahasranama is too lengthy for which the Lord says, it is sufficient if you chant Rama nama. Music was rendered by Mitul Arvind in raag Ahir Bhairav and Talamalika and the choreography was by Avijit Kundu.  Vishavdeep Sharma Another impressive male dancer was the Kathak artiste Vishavdeep Sharma. He commenced his performance with 'Chaturang' that forms a fine synthesis of music, melody, rhythm and expressions. The highlight of his performance was the interpretation of "Nandanar", the outcaste who was a devotee of Lord Shiva, whose devotion ultimately pays off when the bull Nandi moves away so that he could get a proper darshan of the Lord. I was surprised to see this theme depicted by a Kathak dancer. The choreography was by Guru Shama Bhate. Vishavdeep is the disciple of Gurus Narain Prasad, Nandini Singh and Prerana Shrimali and is already acknowledged as a bright dancer with performances in India and overseas.  Somaba Bandhopadhay Dr Somaba Bandhopadhay presented Swara Prabandha in Taal Khulji of 16 beats and Balaram Nartan in Manipuri style with elegance and sincerity. Varied swaras are woven together to form a prabandha, executed with intricate footwork and varied movements, composition of Guru Bipin Singh in the lasya style. On the contrary, Balaram Nartan features Balaram and this dance is in the tandava style with lot of leaps and jumps and not easy to perform. Somaba is the disciple of Prof Sruti Bandhopadhay and has also learnt from Gurus Jatindra Singh, Darshana Jhaveri and Priti Patel. On the whole, it was a colourful festival. NRITYA TARANGINI FESTIVAL The two-day Nritya Tarangini festival of music and dance unfolded like a vibrant tapestry on Sunday 30th March and Monday 31st March at the beautiful Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar Natyagriha, near Thakur Mall in Mira Road, Mumbai. The festival was organised by Guru Subitha Murali's Saraswathi Kala Kendra and Research Centre, with the support from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Nritya Tarangini Festival is one of its kind organised annually mainly with the intention to encourage young talent and also to promote and propagate Indian classical arts for a wider audience. Subitha Murali said, "This festival is mainly organised in order to encourage young talent, as there hardly are any platforms and they are desperate to perform. Moreover, if you do not perform nobody will be aware of your calibre as an artiste, so the exposure is important for further growth, development and better platforms. Nritya Tarangini also invites established artistes to perform, hence it is a festival for both young and established performers, making it a confluence where the river of youth meets the ocean of experience. I am extremely grateful to the Ministry of Culture for their support and also to BPCL and Life Insurance". The festival was a garden full of bloom, showcasing various classical dance styles like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, Odissi, Manipuri, Kathak, Sattriya and folk dances. Solo performances were rendered by Dr Vinila Rao Vuddusetty in the Kuchipudi style, Sakshi Damani in the Kathak style, Shruti Varier and Taneesha Nair performed Bharatanatyam. Guru Lekshmi Sashidharan from Amsterdam performed along with her disciples Ira and Diya in the Bharatanatyam style, Guru Manjula Manoj and disciples performed Bharatanatyam. Soniya Saini and her group from Vrindavan performed the spectacular Mayur Nritya. Guru Garima Sharma and her disciples performed Kathak. Riya Shetty and Jani Lambani performed Kathak duet, Sufiya Shaikh performed solo Kathak, Dr Sharda Kulkarni performed Bharatanatyam and the other performers were Yukta Myekar, Samhita K.R, Nandan Nair and Aashi Joshi.  Dr Vinila Rao Vuddisetty  Shruti Varier Seasoned performer Dr Vinila Rao Vuddisetty performed Kuchipudi with effortless ease and vivacious quality, covering the stage with her precise and rhythmic movements in the Tarangam in which she danced on the rim of the brass plate and executed rhythmic patterns with accuracy, winning the applause from the audience. Shruti Varier created a lasting impression when she performed a beautiful number in praise of the Goddess in Bharatanatyam style with complete control over varied bodily movements, inclusive of the akash charis, commendable abhinaya portraying the benevolent aspect of the goddess and as the destroyer of the evil demon Mahishasur. In fact, this is the first time I am witnessing Shruti perform, and she could create a great impact in the global cultural scenario.  Mayur Nritya One of the most spectacular group performances was the group from Vrindavan who performed Mayur Nritya, in which the tail of the peacock fans and spreads in complete splendour with typical characteristic movements of the gait and dance of the peacock, at the onset of the monsoon. This was performed by Soniya Saini and her group. One of the male dancers demonstrated a special act as he balanced the spinning plate with just one finger, symbolic of the sudarshan chakra of Lord Krishna, and the audience was mesmerised. The second day of the festival was dominated by India's fastest keyboard musician, Stephen Devassy, who arrived all the way from Ottapalam (Kerala) as a distinguished guest. He regaled the audience with some popular Hindi movie songs. He said, "I hail from a middle class family and was quite passionate about music. If you are mentally determined to work hard, then success will knock at your door definitely, so do work hard".  Saraswati Kala Kendra  Pritilekha Chowdhary  Deepa Saju The performances commenced with a group presentation by the disciples of Guru Subitha Murali of Saraswati Kala Kendra, led by Venkatesh in praise of Lord Ganesha. The accomplished dancers who performed solo were Guru Deepa Saju in Bharatanatyam, Pravalika in Kuchipudi, Pritilekha Chowdhary in Sattriya dance. Deepa Saju impressed the audience with her subtle expressions and clarity of movements. Pritilekha presented a short but impressive presentation of Ramayana in which all the characters came alive with her fine abhinaya. Other pleasing solo numbers were presented by Arya Anil from Kerala in Bharatanatyam, Odissi by Mokshada Tripathy from Bhubaneshwar, Bindu Salian in Mohiniattam and Srushti Jena and Sakshi Shetty in Bharatanatyam. Group presentations were by Guru Garima Sharma and disciples in the Kathak style and Guru Uma Devi and disciples in Bharatanatyam. Solo numbers were also rendered by Durga Oak, Swara Swapnil, Kavya Salvi, Bhairavi Sarode and Swastika Padhi. Distinguished guests of the festival included Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, Dilip Shinde (IAS), MLA Sanjay Upadhya, social worker and BJP Mumbai secretary Simi Nair, Commissioner of Police Meghana Burande, veteran announcer Anand Singh and fastest keyboard musician Stephen Devassy.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
