To mark the 25th year of the foundation of the Mamata Shankar Ballet Tro-upe, its members staged two of their debut productions at Rabindra Sadan on May 21. Tagore in Symphony was the inaugural presentation. The music, script and idea were by Partha Ghosh. He wanted to reach out to the audience and thus used the tunes of Tagore’s seasonal songs instead of their words.

The upcoming seven choreographers of the troupe tried their best to compose dances with those tunes. But they lacked the edge which could have given the production a new dimension. Sreeparna Chatterjee’s choreography to the tune of Amar nayono reminded one of some of the movements used by Ivan Liska of Bayerisches Staatsballet (Munich) in Swan Lake.

The second part of the day’s programme showcased an experimental choreography by Mamata Shankar. The theme dealt with creation of the soul from five natural elements and its journey on this earth. Of all the emotional aspects love is the first one to take shape inside a man’s heart. The bountiful and unconditional love of his mother, friends and fiancee is gradually taken over by vices. Finally, the sinful mind of man seeks enlightenment and travels in search of eternal peace.

The idea was somewhat identical to that of Uddharan, choreographed by Tanushree Shankar. The ghost dance was perhaps unnecessary as clear distinction between evil and good was always marked by the colours of the costumes.