Being a Bharatanatyam dancer, I have been very involved in the field of Bharatanatyam, and lately Kathak, which results in giving the rest of the classical dance scenes amiss! Although I have particularly not given much of a thought about Odissi, the recent performance by the artistes of Nrityagram was a delight to watch! The artistes were all well trained (considering that this is a very serious dance school, one can expect that) and had practically every quality a good dancer should possess (speed, steadiness, forms/postures, eye movements, expressions, tirelessness, devotion...).
The choreography by Guru Surupa Sen was mind blowing. It was not one of these contemporary classical performances, but a traditional classical dance mixed with some western ideas of choreography. Dancers alternated, joined in during the middle of the dance creating a sense of dynamism. While there was continuous movement on stage, too much was not happening at the same time that one finds it difficult to concentrate on any part. There was perfect balance and harmony that one never even thought about taking one's eyes off the stage for even a moment. The rhythm in the "Jatis" changed from time to time giving it that extra flavor, especially providing an aural treat when it changed drastically from the four count beat to the three count beat, making you sit up. I am not even a novice in Odissi, but I have never witnessed violin being used extensively in the orchestra, which gave it a somewhat carnatic flavor at times.
Most of all, what really impressed me was that there were 5 dancers. One of them was the guru and head of the institution, one was another guru, and the rest three were students. This would have meant that, usually the 3 dancers would have side roles compared to the gurus. But there was so much equivocality in this performance, I was awestruck! The workshop after the show about Odissi was excellent as well. This was one performance I simply could not point out if anything was wrong. Maybe I dont know much about the dance, maybe the positives overshadowed the negatives (if there were any), but this is one such time I am happy to say, "IGNORANCE IS BLISS"!
So, if the Nrityagram company is traveling near your city, please make it a point to see their show. You might not know anything about the dance form, but it is still worth a watch!
The choreography by Guru Surupa Sen was mind blowing. It was not one of these contemporary classical performances, but a traditional classical dance mixed with some western ideas of choreography. Dancers alternated, joined in during the middle of the dance creating a sense of dynamism. While there was continuous movement on stage, too much was not happening at the same time that one finds it difficult to concentrate on any part. There was perfect balance and harmony that one never even thought about taking one's eyes off the stage for even a moment. The rhythm in the "Jatis" changed from time to time giving it that extra flavor, especially providing an aural treat when it changed drastically from the four count beat to the three count beat, making you sit up. I am not even a novice in Odissi, but I have never witnessed violin being used extensively in the orchestra, which gave it a somewhat carnatic flavor at times.
Most of all, what really impressed me was that there were 5 dancers. One of them was the guru and head of the institution, one was another guru, and the rest three were students. This would have meant that, usually the 3 dancers would have side roles compared to the gurus. But there was so much equivocality in this performance, I was awestruck! The workshop after the show about Odissi was excellent as well. This was one performance I simply could not point out if anything was wrong. Maybe I dont know much about the dance, maybe the positives overshadowed the negatives (if there were any), but this is one such time I am happy to say, "IGNORANCE IS BLISS"!
So, if the Nrityagram company is traveling near your city, please make it a point to see their show. You might not know anything about the dance form, but it is still worth a watch!
