Nupura’s 2020 annual festival-cum-conference – Nitya Nritya — was new in some ways this yr. By systematically holding all the pageant dwell over 4 days on its Fb web page, Nupura confirmed its dedication to proceed the three-decade-old custom even through the pandemic. The thirty second episode of Nitya Nritya gave emphasis on tillana choreographies, composition of adavus and approaches to abhinaya by internet hosting artistes from Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam and Koodiyattam dance varieties. Concurrently, it made it a degree to characteristic upcoming dancers comparable to Keremane Shridhar Hegde, Bhavajan Kumar, Sophia Salingros and others who’ve taken up dance as their career.
The pageant commenced, curiously, with discussions on the tillana which usually is carried out on the finish of the programme. By enumerating the arithmetic concerned in tillana teermanams, percussionist N. Narayanaswamy noticed: “Tillanas present a peek into the dancer’s rhythmic sense, power and reminiscence.” Tillana shows by younger dancers from Bengaluru adopted the discuss. If Shilpa Nanjappa, a disciple of Padmini Ramachandran, narrated how a Kadana Kutuhala tillana could possibly be choreographed as a continuum of a padam that depicted a khandita nayika, Janani Murali showcased how a tillana could possibly be included as a part of an even bigger manufacturing. Of their respective shows, the dancers showcased two various prospects of approaching the tillana by tapping into the undertone of its sahitya. This got here as a recent strategy as tillana is generally seen as a nritta-heavy piece.
The second day of the convention had two analysis shows on the ‘adavu artistry’. Uma Sathyanarayana and Lakshmi Parthasarathy Athreya’s paper mentioned and demonstrated the Sramavidhi (adavus) listed in Nritya Prakarana chapter of King Tulaja’s Sangeeta Saramrita. It dropped at gentle lots of the less-employed brahmaris and mandalas. It was attention-grabbing to watch that among the adavus and motion described by Tulaja are practiced even at this time. “What makes Sangeeta Saramrita enthralling is its open-ended nature of instruction. This fashion it leaves room for creativity,” felt Lakshmi Parthasarathy.
For dancer and researcher, Sreelatha Vinod, adavus could possibly be labeled based mostly on the place of the physique and whether or not they contain a flip, soar or leg motion. “For any adavu to be mastered, posture, breadth and stability are the core parts,” she added.
Within the periods devoted to ashtapadi variations in several dance varieties on the third and fourth day of the pageant, Lalitha Srinivasan and Praveen Kumar, Sunanda Nair, Madhavi Mudgal, Prateeksha Kashi and Madhu Nataraj rendered their solo shows in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Odissi, Kuchupudi and Kathak varieties respectively.
Talking of her trainer’s choreography of Yahi Madhav, Mudgal defined Kelucharan Mohapatra’s extremely stylised and but reasonable therapy of dance. “Earlier than the sahitya would begin, he would set the context and put together the viewers for what was going to return subsequent – holding the lamp and overlaying it with the free finish of the sari instructed that it’s darkish and the nayika is outside trying to find her beloved. Gestures like wiping fingers whereas holding the lamp made his choreography extra relatable,” defined Mudgal.
Madhu Nataraj carried out Lalita Lavanga ashtapadi choreographed by her mom, guru Maya Rao. Though technically sound with stylised angika, aharya and natyadharmi abhinaya, it appeared to lack satvika abhinaya. The identical ashtapadi carried out by Prateeksha Kashi in Kuchipudi was a extra intense and vivacious rendition. By means of her portrayal of the brindavan backyard and the interior season of spring of Radha, Kashi appeared to have internalised each the bhava of Radha and the sensuous choreography of her mom, Vyjayanthi Kashi.
The final ashtapadi rendition by Praveen Kumar Kshana Madhuna Narayana concerned difficult portrayal of Krishna’s eager for Radha and the intimacy between the 2. Though the selection of the piece and the willingness to painting the vulnerability of the nayaka is commendable, one anticipated extra intense abhinaya from the dancer.
Madhavi Mudgal; Kapila Venu; Prateeksha Kashi
Photograph: Ok. Murali Kumar
| Photograph Credit score: K_Murali_Kumar
If the spotlight of the pageant was the Koodiyattam rendition by Kapila Venu who offered rasakreeda in Nangiar Koothu (the storytelling custom of Koodiyattam via abhinaya), the thought-provoking lecture of the convention was Vaibhav Arekar’s discuss on the social relevance of dance.
To search out solutions to the questions – what’s the goal of classical dance and in what route it ought to be taken? — Arekar posed one other query: “ought to or not it’s seen as a useful previous or a present entrusted to maintain it alive because it was?” Discussing each the situations, he noticed, “If the primary occasion meant, classical dance would simply be ‘historical past’, within the second case, it grew to become a ‘museum’. Each these views are detrimental to the evolution of any artwork type.”
In his seek for the reply, he carried out a Bhakti piece composed by saint Namadeva that showcased the overwhelming nature of bodily needs. He then added: “The identical could possibly be in comparison with the extremely materialistic way of life of the present occasions. There’s no level in retelling the story of Namadeva if such comparisons are usually not subtly introduced out within the choreography.” Equally, in certainly one of his productions on the seasons, he has tried depicting varied up to date human experiences comparable to love deceit, city compartmentalised residing and extra. “Classical dance finds its relevance if the portrayal connects to a standard human expertise of the present occasions,” he concluded.
General, the pageant had some recent themes to ponder upon and launched upcoming dancers to a bigger viewers via know-how.
