Sonal Mansingh is as much a firebrand as she is a renowned Odissi, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Chhau dancer. But like some of her famous predecessors,this erudite dancer decided to present geet-katha. This would require her to sing while sitting on the dais accompanied by other musicians and act out the verses she recited. The text, titled Krishna Rang Rachee, included Oriya and her mother tongue, Gujarati. The performance was presented by Parampara at the Rabindranath Tagore Centre of ICCR on February 2. Mansingh is a robust and lusty singer, and she made up for the lack of foot movement by the fluent use of her arms and her fiery eyes. One of the most interesting episodes in her narrative was the encounter of Krishna with his beloved friend, Sudama, in Dwarka, and she conjured up the golden city Krishna had created with a few telling strokes of her hands. Mansingh’s text depicted the blue god as a prankster, lover, king and friend who never let one down when one surrendered oneself to him. Mansingh had excellent accompanists. Mention must be made of the vocalist, Bankim Sethi, who excelled in a wide variety of styles.

Soumitra Das

Neatly done

It is not often that a 70-year-old dancer and choreographer has her collaborators and pupils coming together to celebrate her life’s work in a festival. But then, it is not often that one comes across someone like Rani Karnaa. Piroye Moti, a retrospective of Rani Karnaa’s works, was spread over three evenings at G.D. Birla Sabhagar and Madhusudan Mancha recently. It featured her Kathak choreographies that were presented by senior members of her institution. One was struck afresh by the neatness of Rani Karnaa’s oeuvre, her commitment to quality in her productions where scholarship, technique and style are as important as lighting and costume, and the novel perspectives she has brought into her work. The event also brought to light the variety of her material, which includes poetry, lyrics, music and philosophy, as much as pure dance and abhinaya. She treads into new areas in Parvati Pujan, even though Parvati remains a somewhat elusive figure in this genre. The mischievous little Krishna, who grows up into a romantic lover, continues to be the focus of dancers much more than the formidable Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. She brings the latter effortlessly into her repertoire. Of Karnaa’s many achievements, her greatest is perhaps her tutelage of her students. Vikram Iyengar, Debashree Bhattacharya, Aditi Bhattacharya and Sohini Debnath make a mark once more in this impressive production.

Kathakali Jana