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Rhythmic compositions
together with ‘bhava’ or expressional pieces
comprise the repertoire of Kathak, which originated in
the ancient temples of north India. It later found its
way into the royal courts of Awadh and Jaipur. With the
onset of the Mughal period, it became a court dance for
royal entertainment. So we have devotional temple Kathak
on the one hand and, on the other, the dazzling court
Kathak with its exotic costumes and Persian influence.
As a story-telling form, Kathak is born of the narrative
tradition of the village minstrel – the story-teller,
who is also called kathak, or kathakar. The kathakar sang
of heroic tales and legends, dramatising lyrics with subtle
gestures and expressions. The tradition gradually blossomed
into a highly developed classical style. This graceful
and spontaneous dance form encapsulates the poetry, mythology
and spiritual ethos of its roots, and most importantly,
India’s rich Hindu-Muslim heritage.
A leading Kathak exponent,
Dr Malabika Mitra combines the virtuosity of the Jaipur
Gharana with the grace of the Lucknow Gharana in her
work. She was trained in the Jaipur style by the late
Pt Ramgopal Mishra for several years and has also studied
the nuances of the Lucknow style and the Old Traditional
Temple Art of Story-telling Style of Ayodhya under the
late Pt Om Prakash Maharaj. Rhythmic compositions or
bhava pieces, Malabika’s intensive training and
dedication gives her a fine appreciation of the idiom
of Kathak. Sound technique, scintillating footwork,
confident bols and impressive padhant combined with
a pleasant personality mark her performances. Dr Mitra
has successfully revived a refined and modified version
of the ancient Kathavachan Temple Art with its value-oriented
education system in present-day Kathak repertoire. She
is a top-grade artiste of Doordarshan and has choreographed
the Kathak ballet for the national broadcaster. She
has performed both in India and at several prestigious
festivals abroad. Selected a Senior Fellow by the Indian
government for her research work in the Kathavachan
style, Dr Mitra teaches at her Shibpur ONKAR Dances
and Music Centre some of whose senior students are established
performers.
Presentation -
Exploring both the tandava and lasya aspects of Kathak
through traditional compositions, the presentation commences
with Vedasara Shivastotra – an invocation to Lord
Shiva as the Cosmic Dancer – the creator, the
protector and the destroyer of the universe. Talanga
is next in Tala Dhamar, a 14-beat time cycle explored
through traditional thaats or musical frameworks, bols
and footwork. This is followed by Chhand Parikrama in
which the dancers play the different rhythmic patterns
through footwork and traditional bols like Tora, Primalu
and Parans set to different chhand or rhythmic patterns.
Next is Gopi Biraha which explores the agony of Vrindavan-vasis
after Krishna goes away to Mathura. The gopis recall
the magic of his sweet flute and, in their anguish,
ask the Kadamb tree if it knows his whereabouts. Overwhelmed
by separation, they cry out that the once bountiful
nature in Vrindavan has now become hostile to life.
The performance closes with Tarana – a rendition
of joy in speed, beauty, grace and rhythm – in
Raga Malkauns set to Teentala.
Artistes’ Credits
Dancers: Sourav Roy, Sreeparne
Chakraborty, Tabasmi Pal Majumder, Lopamudra Roy Choudhury,
Esha Mitra, Anushree Mitra & Tanushree Mitra
Musicians:
Tabla – Pt Dinanath Mishra
Vocal – Pt Anand Gupta; Pratip Banerjee
Sarod – Jayanta Bhattacharya
Sitar – Sandeep Neogi
Sarangi – Umesh Mishra
Synthesiser – Indranil Roy
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