A Shibaranjani production

There were only a handful of spectators when Shibaranjani, an organisation run by dancer-choreographer Dipanwita Roy along with her disciples, portrayed Durga ? the goddess of power and prosperity and the destroyer of all evil at Swabhumi on October 13. The presentation, titled Mokshadayini, was staged at the Open Air Theatre of the heritage park while eminent painter Wasim Kapoor took up his brushes to create an image of Durga on the canvas simultaneously.

The show started off with a piece called mangalacharan. Here Hindu mythology grapples with the dilemma of protection and destruction and Ganapati is the symbol of both.The elephant-headed god was eulogised in this item with the dancers? smiling countenance, excellent execution of rhythmic permutations of the steps and admirable gait.

Lord Shiva is the purush of the Vedas and Durga is the divine shakti, the primordial energy. In the tastefully costumed ardhanariswar segment, Roy gave a solo presentation and held the audience attention right through.

The next item, Durgastuti, praised the power and strength of the 10-armed goddess. She is a representative of today?s woman. The performance ended with a slokam to bring world peace. Wasim Kapoor was by then done with his job. With subtle touches and expressive colours, the painting of Durga looked almost human. The production was impeccable in every aspect, but it would have been better if Roy dealt with a single item to establish the theme.

As the invocational song of the programme Samar-pranam (The Homage) ended at Gyan Manch on October 14, Bharatnatyam dancer Nirajana Barua took centrestage in a homage to guru-shishya parampara. The gangakavuthwam elaborated the beauty and power of the mighty river Ganges. Barua?s intricate footwork was the high point of this item.

This was followed by a vachaspati varnam set in talam Adi and ragam Vachaspati. Based on bhakti shringara rasa, this presentation explored the undying love of the nayika (heroine) for the Lord. The danseuse seemed to be more inclined to abhinaya (expression) than footwork. Guru Anusuya Banerjee choreographed the items.