This Kathak Mahotsav the connoisseurs of culture will witness the pirouetting charm of Kathak duo Nalini and Kamalini, who have made numerous remarkable performances at International concerts. Coming from Varanasi gharana of Kathak, they embodied the tenets of the genre to the tee. As a rule they perform for two hours at any concert, but they made an exception here as it is in honour of Pandit Ravi Shankar.
In 2009 the duo had gone to Oakland in California to perform on Independence Day and unfortunately, Panditji was not well at that time, so he couldn’t attend their show. later, he called their guruji saying “I heard about your disciples, they were good,” Nalini reminisces. There were meetings with him, albeit the brief ones. “We couldn’t talk much as he always had to rehearse for hours before delivering any performance,” she said.
The audience was under the spell of their performance as they took the stage with Shiv Stutifollowed by Tal Kriya. Before the show the duo had shared, “We don’t have much time but no compromises with delivering the best. Our show will end with Holi on the songs like Mat maaro pichkari and Holi khele nand lal brij mein. It is going to be a semi-classical dance that was one of Panditji’s favourite,” said Nalini, who learned Kathak from Guru Jitendra Maharaj.
Their talent has taken them to different platforms in the world — USA, UK etc. Not once they thought of combining it any international art form. “We have our own style of dancing. Regardless of learning dance forms since years, we never got bored and always prefer to learn more. A real dancer is one who evolves with time, and we have done that.” Nalini believes the lack of concentration in today’s generation is leading to extinct of many great art forms. “Students are not keen enough to practice for hours, like we used to. You tube is their teacher and think they-know-it-all! Wearing good clothes on stage doesn’t grab the attention, but your dance style does. In dance you have to practice till your feet start paining,” said she. Giving an advice to newer dancers, Nalini said, “Human nature always wants to change. Go out and be witness to change and learn new things, never forget your roots. Appreciate everything but don’t forget what is your own.”
A perfect dancer is the one who has, “Deep and pure emotions towards dance form, artistry of immaculate footwork, a complete understanding of language and strong stage presence are the key points that keep the audience alive throughout the performance. Otherwise, it is impossible to connect to foreign audience, where people don’t know your culture and traditions,” Nalini signed off.