Indian classical dance involves proper training and vigorous practice. At the same time, it is of utmost importance to know how to present a programme in a serious and planned way. Kalamandalam, under the direction of Thankamani Kutty, presented an evening of Bharatnatyam at the Satyajit Ray Auditorium in the ICCR. The confused and unorganized manner in which the guests were felicitated was not a desirable way to begin the evening. However, the compere, Biplab Ganguly, tried to handle the embarrassing moments on stage intelligently.
There was first an arangetram, or the first manchapravesh, of Malini Basu [picture, left], a disciple of Thankamani Kutty. Basu had an attractive stage presence; she began her recital with a Ganesh keertanam in the Raga Hansadhwani, followed by a performance of natarajanjali. The dancer tried to present whatever she had learnt in an earnest way. Her hand gestures were neat and she was expressive in her presentation of " Dashavatharam". However, her movements should have been more chiselled, her postures firmer and more precise.
Basu's performance of Jaya Mahesha was enjoyable. She finished her whole performance with a tillana based on the Raga Brindavani Sarang. It was a wonderful composition by M. Balamuralikrishna. The dancer was accompanied by Sukumar G. Kutty (vocals), N. Shankar (mridangam), Satya Vishal (violin), A.S. John (flute) and Sukhamay Bhattacharya (sitar).
The ICCR, as a part of its Horizon series, presented Shraddhanjali, a heartfelt homage to Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and Sanjukta Panigrahi at the Satyajit Ray Auditorium recently. The artists of Srijan, Bhubaneswar, the Odissi Dancers' Forum, Calcutta, and Srijan Chhanda presented various Odissi performances in group as well as solo presentations. This reviewer attended the first evening of the two-day programme. The inaugural artist was Ranjabali Dey, who gave a neat presentation of " Guru Brahma Guru Bishnu", a mangalacharan. Rajiv Bhattacharya chose " Ardhanarishwar", a brilliant choreography by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, and the marvellous music was done by Raghunath Panigrahi. Rajiv danced with grammatical clarity, but the depth of the 'ardhanarishwar' concept was missing in his presentation.
" Ki shobha go kunje", an abhinaya choreographed by Rina Jana, was a good attempt. The most striking performance came from Srijan, Bhubaneswar, under the guidance of Ratikant Mohapatra. They presented three items, Vishnu vandana, tarana and kubja. When the dancers took the stage, the ambience was filled with energy and exuberance. Rhythmic, precise and graceful movements were the high point of their presentations. The kubja was a bit long. Maya Bhattacharya, a senior dancer, should remember that simple choreography sometimes works better than overly-ambitious ones. The programme ended with an abhinaya by Kakoli Bose.
