Nartanam 135 PERFORMANCE REVIEWS Mahagami’s Eighth Sarngadeva Festival LEELA VENKATARAMAN Unlike the usual run of institutions, Aurangabad’s Mahagami Gurukul established in a sylvan setup by the Mahatma Gandhi Mission with Odissi / Kathak dancer Parwati Dutta as director, has annually held a three day festival dedicated to the Sarngadeva award conferred on Ratan Thiyam (2nd from left) by Mahagami Gurukul great 13th century genius who hailed from this region – Sarngadeva, whose work Sangita Ratnakara represents, in many ways the central moment of Indian musical history, with its summary of sastra from earlier and contemporaneous periods, but also a paradigm for the organization of sangita sastra from subsequent centuries. And in the inter-disciplinary approach of Sarngadeva, the term Sangita included dance, to which separate status was given for the first time, unlike the Natya Sastra, where dance was a part of total theatre. Marking the landmark of twenty years spent in being informed and inspired by the sastras of our music and dance, and understanding their relevance through prayoga in the present 136 Some Significant Dance Events in the CapitalNartanam scenario, Mahagami gurukul, far away from the madding crowd, has worked quietly. The morning sessions during the festival are dedicated to lec/dems on techniques of art forms regarded as classical and also desi forms to which pre-eminent space is given in Sangita Ratnakara in the form of popular traditions, separated from what is identified as marga (which we have, perhaps inadequately identified with classical). Darshana Jhaveri’s talk with demonstration on Manipuri dealt with her late guru Bipin Singh’s artistic journey in taking Manipuri from temple to proscenium, ‘without polluting classical identity’. Emotionally, recollecting history when four sisters (she is the only surviving one to-day) Nayana, Ranjana, Suvarna and Darshana formed the group, she spoke of the period from 1949-1956 when the senior sisters went to Manipur to get a first hand idea of this tradition built round Gaudiya Vaishnavism, with its Raslila and Nata Sankirtan traditions, woven into the life style of a people – along with Lai Haraoba inspired by the ancient indigenous Meitei practices. She mentioned how Vaishnava texts were collected, and how her guru worked at trying to co-relate oral traditions with the sastras like Sangita Ratnakara, Natya Sastra, Sangita Parijata and so on. The body technique with the torso sway running from navel to neck, with a shifting of body weight creating the gentle up and down wave like movement, is very controlled, with hand movements contained and held close to the body, not allowed to rise beyond a certain height or go below a certain body level. Referring to the nritta bols, Darshana spoke of how gurus were taught to play the versatile percussion instruments according to the Mrdanga Sangraha, Nartana Nirnaya and several other tala oriented texts. The Mridanga raga, nibadha and anibadha played on the Pung, is believed to be sacred – evoking an idol of God with certain specific bols impregnating these with life. Not bound by any tala system but by metrical patterns or chhand, so much a part of the tradition that Darshana mentioned how any number of Pung players performing simultaneously would play the same way. The explanation of Manipuri tala system, quite unlike other traditions, was one of the most lucid, one has heard – for with the communication gap, one rarely comes across a Manipuri guru who is able to paint a proper picture to non-Manipuris. Referring to stresses or accented beats in a metrical cycle (avarthana), Darshana mentioned unaccented beats like ‘nishabda anga’ bringing out patterns of rhythm. But in Manipuri two or more talas can form one avarthana in Tala-Prabandhas, which are of two types – one in which the tala composition is complete in itself and the other one in which incomplete compositions of talas are grouped. Shalaga or Phertal is a combination of two talas and Sankirna, which has more than two NartanamYashoda Thakore 137 talas grouped together, can be a 54 matra cycle with 22 stresses or with 16 stresses. Prabandhas, mentioned in Sangita Ratnakara are used in plenty in Manipuri. Darshana mentioned her guru’s special compositions like Tanum (like Thillana), Kirti Prabandha in praise of Krishna, Cymbal dance and various nayikas like Vipralabdha, Utkanthita, Khandita, expressed through lyrics – which she presented in excerpts with her student the very pleasing dancer who acquitted herself superbly, Vinita Singha. One saw that the face was involved in abhinaya though very subtle. This was Guru Bipin Singh’s way of looking at the dance, different from the other Manipuri gurus, who allowed nothing beyond a peaceful and serene countenance, with all emotion shown through the entire body movements. The performance part too was very well organized. Pandit Arun Kashalkar in recital Hindustani vocalist Pandit Arun Kashalkar's insight into the Agra gharana highlighted some interesting points of how each gharana develops an individuality and specialty, like the Bol Baant of Agra gharana and Gwalior gharana’s Kedar raga which is considered the signature of this school. Bol Baant demands a perfect sense of laya, with the starting point on different matras, and when word in the sahitya gets displaced in the singing, finishing on the sama accurately, requires years of practice. The singer’s evening concert gave plenty of proof of this in the bandish in Khayal. The discussion on what inspires the musician more 138 Some Significant Dance Events in the CapitalNartanam – word or music, had the musician remark that ultimately it is not word by itself but the music to which it is set that gives it life. A bandish is created through words urging a musicality or musicality having to be given a body dressed in words. He gave his own example of the words “too hi daata…” which kept ringing in his ears and how he could not rest till he wove it into a score in raga Bairagi. Parwati Dutta with her disciples Parwati Dutta referring to Mahagami’s work based on the Sangita Ratnakara mentioned shushkaakshar and how abstract bols and sounds are used to represent Devas and Devatas and how the Natya Sastra’s poorvaranga vidhi also evoked deities through abstract sounds (perhaps as a means of pacifying the demons who were displeased about being painted in a poor light in the first play staged for the entertainment of heavenly beings). Nirgeet with just Veena sounds can evoke different types of energy. Working in close association with Dhrupad tradition and the Pakhawaj bols which were a part of old Kathak, Parwati Dutta in the course of her research had wondered about the absence of Vadya Pallavis in a form like Odissi, which delights in Swara pallavis. Wisely, she enlisted the help of Odisha’s Banamali Maharana, the Mardal expert (who has contributed to the training of a whole line of Mardal artists in the state) to work with her on a Vadya Pallavi (he composed a 14 matra Jati tala Pallavi). The inspiration of using fractional talas with half matra came from Sangita Ratnakara's desi talas and Parwati discovered certain similarities in Gyaneswari’s Ovi (from the same region NartanamYashoda Thakore 139 and coeval with Sarngadeva) which is traditionally sung in 3 ½ matras. The maatric chhand of Gyaneswari's Ovi inspired Parwati to work on other combinations for Kathak of 10 ½ matras, the arithmetic in the theka being 3+3+3+1 ½. In Odissi too, she tried 5 ½ matras and 3 ½ matras. This is all work based on abstract syllables and can be used to represent something too. She and the students presented the Vadya Pallavi. Kathak dancer Prerana Shrimali’s evening concert shone with her confident grasp over the Jaipur Kathak form starting with the “Rangila Shambho Padharo” invocation. Thaat was a delight of how the dancer gets into the performing mood allowing the lehra or musical refrain to seep into the body and mind, expressing it in very minimal gestures to start with and then slowly expanding into more complicated movement. This coming into being of the complete dancer is one of the most subtle and difficult parts of a Kathak recital – unfortunately given very elementary performance space by most dancers of the day. Uthan with the unexpected arrival on the sama in the style of her guru Kundanlal Gangani was again very different from the run of the mill type of presentations. The short recital ended with the piece de resistance of the Kabir verses as base for abhinaya – with a non-Kabir prelude, setting the tone, with the imagery full of contradictions “ram bin tanki taapu na jaye, jal me agni uthi dhikayi” says the protagonist Prerana Shrimali with her disciples about that burning desire for ‘Ram’ which never leaves one which is like flames which exist in water without being doused. Like the fish in the waters of the Lord, inevitably the devotee cannot live if separated. “You are the cage and I the golden parrot in it,” says the devotee and while entreating the guru to listen to his chela and give the person darshan, the final realization sinks in that in this journey 140 Some Significant Dance Events in the CapitalNartanam searching for the ultimate, even as part of the cosmic whole, one is alone. Sringar or desire just takes on the tone of desperate search for the other, the whole. The two disciples of Prerana, Arthi Srivastav and Nishtha Budhlakoti, in a rendition of 10 matras and 11 matras were clean, absolutely confident dancers, whose parhant was as good as the nritta display. Definitely youngsters who if they continue thus, have a good future! Prerana’s talk the next morning on her guru Kundanlal Gangani’s teaching methods dwelt on how he would insist on disciples humming the nagma or lehra tune and dancing and this method of practicing from 7-30 to 10 a.m.