Setika Singh performs in Patna. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Sept. 5: A flawless dance performance by eighteen-year-old Setika Singh left the audience spell-bound at the Bhratiya Nritya Kala Mandir today.

Setika, a Kathak dancer, gave her first solo performance in Patna. After the programme she said: “Kathak is one of the most natural dance forms. Mental practice is a must for this kind of dance.”

Sitting among the audience were Padma Vibhushan Pandit Birju Maharaj, who came especially to bless the young talented dancer.

Justice Samrendra Pratap Singh and cardiologist Dr Ajit Pradhan also came to watch the performance.

Setika started her Kathak performance with Ardhanaresh-war. With impressive eye movement and body postures, she portrayed one half of Shiva and another half of Parvati.

Next came Dhamaar, which consisted taal of 14 matras.

Saswati Sen, Setika’s guru, was delighted by her student’s performance. She said: “Setika is a dancer who learns and performs Kathak to satisfy her soul. People like her are true to their heart. Her parents too never let her perform to achieve any material benefits. They are only interested in the dance form.”

Talking about her dance experience, Saswati said that during her time there were little opportunities to perform. The main purpose of learning dance in her days was to gain maximum knowledge of the art.

Saswati feels that an artist is the first admirer of his/her performance. She said: “It is a self-assessment. An artist is really surprised when a not up-to-the mark performance is highly applauded.”

Setika next performed on a thumri, based on the relationship of Krishna and Radha, which showed their strong bond.

Setika has just completed her schooling from DPS, RK Puram, in New Delhi. She also performed on Tarana, a form of music which became popular in the Mughal period. The last performance of the evening was that of Krishna janmahotsava, based on Pandit Birju Maharaj’s poetry. She performed on the piece in a story-form. This difficult performance was a new composition and showed how Vasudev handed over Krishna to Nand.

The auditorium was also decorated in a different way, as if to celebrate the birth of Krishna. With deft footwork, hand movements and facial expressions, Setika explained various taal and bhaav of Kathak.

Setika started learning Kathak at the age of seven fromKalashram in New Delhi. Her first performance was Manch Pravesh on the stage of Triveni Kala Sangam in New Delhi.

She has also learnt the art under the guidance of one of the disciples of Pandit Birju Maharaj.