Old forms, new patterns
LEELA VENKATARAMAN
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Padatik brought to Delhi Kathak with an experimental touch.
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INTEGRATING MEDIUMS Scenes from "Sufi dance".
Celebration '06 mounted at the Kamani auditorium courtesy Kolkata's Padatik Dance Centre, by Artistic Director Chetna Jalan's own admission, proclaimed her emancipation as dancer/choreographer. Riding an art chariot drawn by twin horses, one of vintage Kathak breeding and the other from theatre, Chetna's artistic sensibility has acquired additional layers from yoga, Pillates, basic Western dance exercises and Contemporary Dance idioms.
Swa Chhand, at least in dance technique, heralded a traditional group curtain-raiser, the 3,5,7 and 4 abstract rhythmic arrangements based on a musical refrain, executed by competent dancers at ease in both structured and improvised (upaj) segments.
The Jazz and "Blues" melodies interwoven with the Kathak nagma produced mixed vibes, the alien sounds not fully integrated. Sufi music interpretation with its spiritual/romantic interlacing used technical savvy, mirrors reflecting images and shadowed contours appearing on hanging screens. In the happenstance encounters and near misses with dancer/actors weaving in and out, the first lyric "Tere Ishq" had a cleverness, as had the last showing one never is but always about to meet with divinity. But the so-called Punjabi intonation failed, with modern dance movements by black-clad males looking out of place. Similarly, the intended "passion" of the familiar Kathak/Flamenco fusion was tame.
Where Chetna's traditional/Modern blend hit the right equation was in interpreting the poetry of Shakti Chatopadhyaya, "Rakho Tomar Uddato Paav" showing man's passion — now tender, now violent.
However, the poetic demands of suspension-in-air, translating into rope acrobatics, by the sheer physicality, blurred the emotional contours of the theme. Really evocative was "Abani Bari Aacho" wherein the Padatik/Srijan presentation of eternally imprisoned woman in domesticity or as a plaything for man, coming home like a "wet crow" to closed doors, touched a deep audience chord. Powerful group images, Shantanu Bose-designed speaking visuals, and strong choreography and involvement added a memorable concluding note.
HCL Concert
Sulakshana Jayaram, dancing under the HCL Concert Series at the Habitat, impressed in her confident stage presence, faultless laya sense and ability for inner involvement. Outstanding was the wing support, particularly the evocative singer Gomati Nayakan. Notwithstanding articulated leg stretches, her Bharatanatyam prefers the abhang posture with the hip deflection on one side, with insufficient moments in the half-seated plie, weight equally balanced on two feet. This aspect with the Kathak-like foot-tapping of fast dhi dhi tai-s or other rhythmic phrases gives the dance a flavour different from the Pandanallur school she hails from as a disciple of Sreenivasa Pillai.
She began on a serene "Kripasamudram" Siva invocation with Swati Tirunal's Hamsanandi "Shankara Sri Giri" bringing out the "Nadaprabha" image well, notwithstanding the very grounded Siva with few one-legged stances. In the varnam in Chakravakam, "Enneramum avarai ninaittenadi" the sparkling teermanams with Pandanallur Sreenivasan's excellent nattuvangam, despite the spirited dance, missed out on articulated Bharatanatyam geometry. Sulakshana has fine capacity for feeling but tends to become pose-driven.
"Oscar Lopez" by Padatik at Kamani auditorium.
Her presentation of the Kshetrayya padam "Mogadochi pilachedu" was convincing. "Krishna nee begane baro" needed to accentuate the adbhutam of foster mother seeing the Universe in the child's mouth.
And there was overemphasis on phrases not translatable into varied visual imagery like "Beralalli ungura" (ring on the finger).
Young promise
Unlike dancing dolls parroting guru-taught items, Arunima Kumar's Kuchipudi recital
at Pragati Maidan's Shakuntalam theatre reflected the vivacity of a dancer with personality. The expressional flair seen right from the scene of how Ganesh acquired the elephant head, spun into the opening Arabhi invocation "Pranavakara Siddhi Vinayaka" was further reinforced in the involved interpretation of the Meera bhajan "Mein Sawar Ki Ranga Rahi"(notwithstanding overlong narrative spin-offs from the main song), and the javali portraying the love-crossed khandita "Vanipondu chaluvadane".
Away from the cliché-ridden tarangini episodes was Siva Tarangam, Guru Jaya Rama Rao's unique choreography extending to the brass plate-dancing interludes. With internalised discipline and articulation of rhythmic punctuation and accented syllables, Arunima should go far.
The complementing musical support led by Jaya Rama Rao's nattuvangam, had Tanjavur Kesavan (mridangam) and Vinaykumar (flute).
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