World Heritage Series by Ganesha Natyalaya presented an interesting blend of folk, classical and contemporary dances to reach out to the young audience. By Utpal K Banerjee
It was a mix-and-match of its own kind at World Heritage Series. Presented by Ganesha Natyalaya, the evening of folk, classical and contemporary dance and music had its accent on youth and focussed unmistakably on eco-consciousness.
In a tastefully arranged collage, it began with a Gangastuti, recapitulating the ninth century Saint Shankaracharya’s ode to Ganga and Shiva: Devi Sureshwari Bhagavati Gange… with a Bharatanatyam duo: a lissome Kazakhstan girl executing picture-perfect Shiva tandava and her petite Indian partner as Ganga nurturing the upper Indian plains.
There was a Ukraine song by a Natyalaya alumnus from that land about the apparently universal hiatus between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, turning the latter into a tree. The next was Dravya Kaya (object-body connect) drawing such imageries from Ramayana as Rama’s fiery bow-and-arrow and lakshmana Rekha of soil and sand.
Presented as homage to Rukmini Devi and Chandralekha, the bare-bodied Sikh dancer Navtej Singh Johar and his Keralan disciple combined Bharatanatyam, yoga and the martial art of Kalaripayattu in a unique floor-and-space geometry and body balances-and-extensions that the two departed doyens of dance would have loved to see.
Endorsed Navtej, “My choreographic exercises are much akin to Chandralekha’s abstract excursions on stage.” Divided into several spell-binding segments, it was a major event of the evening.
Rains came then, as culled from Kalidasa’s Ritu Samharam abounding in picturesque metaphors of matta kunjara (intoxicated elephant), peacock and other fauna.
Executed in Mohiniyattam style, the veteran dancer Jayaprabha Menon introduced neat facial expressions not usually seen in her genre. Three students of hers followed up, with interpretation of the famous angika sloka from Abhinav Gupta’s Abhinaya Darpana. Says Jayaprabha, “We’ve used the chant’s Malayalam version as rendered by who else but Kavalam Narayana Panikar!” The Mohiniyatttam interlude ended with all four joining to perform a mythical Pandattam (ball-playing dance) in a boisterous manner with no-holds barred.
The final section brought rains again, this time with an innovative blend of Kathak and Mayurbhanj Chhau.
Under the baton of Maitreyi Pahari, the thumri: Bijuri Chamke Barshe Megh Garba… came alive in powerful male pirouettes of Chhau and rhythmic jingles of Kathak by female danseuses.
“This is part of a longer programme on Maharaas when heroines wait to get united with their heroes after the rains cease, as visualised by Birju Maharaj ji,” she explained, following it up with Yodhha, a traditional Chhau item in vigorous martial steps. Her last piece was Ecstasy, a Chhau-Kathak blending again as a celebration of life. “My emphasis here was on joie de vivre, so endemic in all our dances,” she added.
Saroja Vaidyanathan, who heads the Natyalaya, said, “I sought to present small vignettes of our heritage to our youth, presented by not only professionals but also innovators. We propose to do it every month, having begun last month. We have already chalked out our programme till February!”
