Birla Academy of Art & Culture and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations jointly organised a Kathak recital by Sreemoyee Khasnabish at the Academy auditorium last Friday. Trained by Bachchanlal Mishra, Bandana Sen and Suchandra Banerjee, Sreemoyee has a pleasant stage presence. Starting with Govinda jaya jaya, and followed by Thaat, tora, tukra in teental, Sreemoyee blossomed in the abhinaya, based on Meera Bhajan, with her sparkling expression. She concluded her recital with tarana, a rhythmic, joy- ous climactic rendition of Kathak. Taped music, however, marred the spontaneity of the performance. Also, it was disheartening to have only 20 people in the audience. A performer can hardly feel inspired in such a gathering. Who’s to blame for this?
Sharmila Basu Thakur
The enthusiasm of Catalyst was as evident as it was infectious in their exhibition of installations and paintings at the Academy of Fine Arts. ‘Antarmahal’ laid bare the inner world of an individual though the group of artists did not focus on any specific issue. The landscape in their mind was daily life, but what was conspicuous in their vision was the middle and the lower middle class. You had a broken life-size mirror, a stack of newspapers and magazines along with a stove, a pile of well-worn shoes before a canvas of footprints going upwards, or a sculpture of an agonised man screaming out against the control of our lives through various computer mouses. The most telling exhibit was a wax sculpture of a foetus with various ‘attachments’, telling the story of our quest for identity.
Anil Grover
Tagore’s dance-drama Tasher Desh describes a country full of youthful fervour and ready to accept new visions. This allegorical work was staged at Madhusudan Mancha on August 14 by the students of Sanskritik Shreyaskar. Directed by Rani Karna, the presentation once again proved that this was the age of mediocrity. Though the choreography was thought-provoking, the dancers in the lead roles failed to establish their characters. Debashree Bhattacharya is a good dancer, but her portrayal of the prince (Rajputra) failed to create a poignant image. Equally mundane was Sreyashi Chakravarty as Saudagar. Perhaps male dancers would be appropriate in these characters.
Sulagna Mukhopadhyay
