ITI | Narratives in dance
OCTOBER 27, 2017
RANJANA DAVE
OCTOBER 27, 2017
RANJANA DAVE
THE HINDU
This edition of Nakshatra Dance Festival features a versatile range of group choreographies that draw on traditional performance practices
Ritusamhara, Kalidasa’s ode to the seasons. Life in Odisha. The saint poet Meerabai’s spiritual trajectory. The shared histories of music and dance in ancient and medieval north India. Assertive interpretations of modernity in classical storytelling. All these experiences, and then some more, are on offer at the 2017 edition of NCPA’s Nakshatra Dance Festival this weekend. Five renowned choreographers – Aruna Mohanty, Chitra Visweswaran, Daksha Mashruwala, Kumudini Lakhia and Parwati Dutta – will present new and old group choreographic work at the festival.
Excerpts:
Back in Maharashtra, dancers at the Mahagami Gurukul in Aurangabad are turning their attention to the past. Parwati Dutta, the gurukul’s director, corrals her research on older traditions of Hindustani music and her knowledge of kathak to make Iti. She particularly focuses on dhrupad, a genre of vocal music that is the predecessor of modern-day khyal singing in Hindustani music, and the pakhawaj, a percussion instrument used in the performance of both dhrupad and Kathak. Dutta has chosen dhrupad bandishes based on the poetry of Tulsidas and compositions ascribed to the Mughal emperor Akbar’s court musician Tansen.
Dialogues in dance
In Iti, Kathak as a language is placed in dialogue with dhrupad and pakhawaj. This allows the dance to unfold at the same pace as music, going beyond time-bound movement to focus on fluidity and lyricism as key qualities of movement. “Most of our vocabulary in Kathak comes from the sound of the pakhawaj. It has nourished the form and built a symbiotic relationship with it. Also, poetry gives us a vivid image of what was being danced in ancient and medieval times. Dhrupad is not just a manner of singing or composition; it is a philosophy of music that begins to define how you can start dwelling in the space. It would have been such a meditative experience for the artist to dance to the alaap (the improvised section of a raga) for a longer time instead of merely focusing on rhythm,” Dutta explained.
This edition of Nakshatra Dance Festival features a versatile range of group choreographies that draw on traditional performance practices
Ritusamhara, Kalidasa’s ode to the seasons. Life in Odisha. The saint poet Meerabai’s spiritual trajectory. The shared histories of music and dance in ancient and medieval north India. Assertive interpretations of modernity in classical storytelling. All these experiences, and then some more, are on offer at the 2017 edition of NCPA’s Nakshatra Dance Festival this weekend. Five renowned choreographers – Aruna Mohanty, Chitra Visweswaran, Daksha Mashruwala, Kumudini Lakhia and Parwati Dutta – will present new and old group choreographic work at the festival.
Excerpts:
Back in Maharashtra, dancers at the Mahagami Gurukul in Aurangabad are turning their attention to the past. Parwati Dutta, the gurukul’s director, corrals her research on older traditions of Hindustani music and her knowledge of kathak to make Iti. She particularly focuses on dhrupad, a genre of vocal music that is the predecessor of modern-day khyal singing in Hindustani music, and the pakhawaj, a percussion instrument used in the performance of both dhrupad and Kathak. Dutta has chosen dhrupad bandishes based on the poetry of Tulsidas and compositions ascribed to the Mughal emperor Akbar’s court musician Tansen.
Dialogues in dance
In Iti, Kathak as a language is placed in dialogue with dhrupad and pakhawaj. This allows the dance to unfold at the same pace as music, going beyond time-bound movement to focus on fluidity and lyricism as key qualities of movement. “Most of our vocabulary in Kathak comes from the sound of the pakhawaj. It has nourished the form and built a symbiotic relationship with it. Also, poetry gives us a vivid image of what was being danced in ancient and medieval times. Dhrupad is not just a manner of singing or composition; it is a philosophy of music that begins to define how you can start dwelling in the space. It would have been such a meditative experience for the artist to dance to the alaap (the improvised section of a raga) for a longer time instead of merely focusing on rhythm,” Dutta explained.
No comments:
Post a Comment