1481014734P5M26TEXT.Pdf

PAPER 5 DANCE, POETS AND POETRY, RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE MODULE 26 POETRY USED IN KATHAK AFTER INDEPENDENCE The classical dance traditions of India have always drawn their insight and inspiration from the very rich and varied musical heritage that has been bequeathed to us. These musical gems span generations and genres, and continue to inform and enrich the aural and visual firmament of dance. As the nation came into being and unity was being celebrated rather than diversity, an interesting development happened in the arts. Although each dance form was typical of a region and had grown and flowered under the creative impulses it received from the arts of the region, as a result of which we can see the links between, say, cited here only as an example, the musical form of tarana / तयाना and the dance item tarana, which in turn for its poses borrows extensively from the miniature Paintings of the Mughals and Pahari schools of painting. But after the nation came into being there was a daring that was encountered- a different trend that started to catch up across India. This was the trend of taking thematic, poetic and ideational inspiration from different parts of India, in the faith and belief that now each part of India could be justly claimed by all. It began with seeking poetry form anywhere in India. Probably one of the earliest examples of this was Maya Rao, going beyond the traditional poetry of Kathak and persuading Shambhu Maharaj to work with her on Jayadev’s “Geet Govind”. Although at that time, for 1 we are talking of the decade of the 50s, Odissi was not really known, nor its close connect with Geet Govind, this interest may have been stirred by a keenness to explore the richness of Sanskrit poetry, which went well with the classical status of Kathak. The linking of classical Sanskrit poetry, with a classical style could not evoke any castigation or rebuke, even in those uncertain times. The Geet Govind actually already had a sort of pan Indian presence, being performed in Kerela and Manipur as well. This preference for Sanskrit may well be true, for among the very first Ballets produced in Kathak by Sriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra were “Malati Madhav / भारती भाधव” based on Bhavabhuti’s classic work in Sanskrit in 1958, choreographed by Lacchhu Maharaj and Birju Maharaj, and “Kumar Sambhavam / कु भाय स륍ब वं” based on Kalida’s Sanskrit play, once again choreographed by Birju Maharaj, that was also presented in 1958 itself. 1958 saw the national seminar of Dance organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and these works were showcased there. The arranging of the many styles of dance on the same stage became a regular concern for cultural bureaucrats, as it reflected the rich diversity of India, and had the power of the spectacular. Earlier there had been some attempts by pioneers like Madam Meneka to create dance dramas of “Nritya Natikas / न配ृ म नाटिका ” as they were called, that successfully brought Kathak, Manipuri and Kathakali, the three styles that she had learnt, on the same stage. At that time she had written the poetry, selected the appropriate ragas and tuned them to go with her vision of a smart international level 2 presentation. Among them were “Dev Vijay / देव ववजम”, “Krishna Lila / कृ ष्ण रीरा ”, “Meneka Lasyam / भेनका रास्मभ’” and “Malavikagnimitra / भारववकाग्ननमभत्र”- all themes drawn from classical Sanskrit literature. It was in an attempt to find the common poetic base that could carry many dance forms, that Swati Thirunal was discovered by non Kerela based styles. Maharja Swati Thirunal of Travancore wrote in five languages- Sanskrit, Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada although he was fluent in many more. He wrote about traditional lores, ‘itihas / इततहास’ and ‘puranic / ऩुयाणणक’ stories, and did so in the spirit of Bhakti. For these reasons he was a good choice for dance poetry across styles. Why only styles, of the even between ‘banis / फानी’ within the styles. Many still remember the use of Swati Thirunal poetry by Prerana Shimali and Veronique Azan, representative of the Jaipur gharana and Lucknow gharana respectively, in a programme they did at the urging of the then Director of the Kathak Kendra, Keshav Kothari. But it is important to remember that there were some poets for the traditional flag bearers of the form who were writing for the first time in independent India. They knew their dance like the back of their hands and so the poetic works that they came up with were truly suited to dance. Among such poet dancers were Pt. Birju Maharaj, Pandita Rohini Bhate and even on the rare occasion, Pt. 3 Durga Lal, whose thumri on the Khandita nayika, his senior disciple Uma Dogra often dances. Rohini Bhate was fluent in English, Hindi Marathi and Sanskrit. She was not just interested in poetry from around the world but was quite adept at wielding the pen herself. She would often write herself to be able to get the right poetic expression that she was seeking. One of herself written works was “Prahlad Katyha / प्रह्राद क配म्” which was for solo enactment, and was a very popular piece in her repertoire. She worked on three haikus of Japanese poet Basho as ensemble choreography. She also worked on a composition based on R.N. Tagore’s work “Maun / भौन” around which she worked an ensemble choreography. Two poems of Bhagwati Prasad Mishra- “Kathputli / कठऩुतरी” and “Suraj ke Khilaaf / सूयज के णिराप ”, both were choreographies for a group. Rohini Bhatte’s principal disciple Roshan Datye was as daring as her mentor in using unusual poetry and unusual themes. In a two-and-a- half-hour long production called “Shrishti / सग्ृ ष्ि” done in 2006, which looked at the Indian ideas on the environment, starting from Panchmahabhootas / ऩंचभहाबूत to the issue of Renewable energy, she wove in the writing of traditional poets like Tulsidas, and modern poets, like poet Dharampal Sahil’s work “Prakriti ka Prem Patra / प्रकृ तत का प्रेभ ऩत्र” and poet Vijay Bajaj’s work- “Dharti ke Kagaz par 4 / धयती के कागज ऩय”. In the same production, she also used Anjali Soman’s poem “Dahakta Aasamaan / दहकता आसभान” that started with the lines- “Kisi dahakti bhatti jaise, sir par soona aasmaan jale… / ककसी दहकती बट्टी जैसे, सय ऩय सूना आसभान जरे…”. Saturated in Veer rasa is poet Vasant Bapat’s poem written in the pawada style- “Mard Marathayancha Powada / भदद भयाठमांचा ऩोवाडा”. This was written on Shivaji Maharaja it was sung in the pavada style, like the Shahirs or bhats sing it. This formed the base for a group treatment. The poet Bahinabai Chaudhury was low literate woman. Yet she wrote powerfully “Mann Vadhai tho Vavdhai / भन वाढई थो वा핍धई ” referring to the pull of the mother’s home. She also worked on the poet Shanta Shelke’s poem – “Vikal Mann aaj surat asahaye / ववकर भन आज सूयत असाह्मे ”, depicting the Virahini Virhotkanthita nayika. She also worked on “Adi-nukul” which was written by Gaynpith awardee Kusumaagraj. Among Rohini ji’s other disciples, mention must be made of Neelima Adhyeye who worked on the poetry of Gyanpith awardee the poet Kusumaagraj. She worked on “Kaun / कौन”, on which she set a duet choreography. Her Guru behen Smt. Prajakta Raj has worked on Marathi poems like Bapat’s “Maharashtra Geet / भहायाष्र गीत ”, reinforcing Maratha pride, and Indira Sant’s poem in Marathi- “Ekti / एकिी” or Alone, both for group choreographies. She has also used Harivansh Rai Bachhan’s “Prateeksha / प्रतीऺा”. 5 The post-independence period has established the fact that as new icons are celebrated, replacing the old, anniversaries often serve as markers and milestones of new India. Even though Ghazals and Urdu poetry are part of the repertoire of Kathak, it was to mark the centenary of Ghalib’s death in 1969, that the ballet “Hota Hai Shabe Roz Tamasha Mere Aage / होता है शफे योज़ तभाशा भेये आगे ”, based on the works of Mirza Ghalib, was produced. Senior Kathak dancer Uma Sharma, has a special relationship with Ghalib, as she celebrates his anniversary each year by leading a people’s movement and procession to his house in Ballimaran in Shahjahanabad or Old Delhi. She has been dancing the poets work since many years, out of the love of urdu poetry. One of the poets best known works of Ghalib that she is famous for is “Aah ko chahiye kya, ik umra asar hone tak / आह को चाटहमे क्मा , इक उम्र असय होने तक”. The sancharis she goes into while enacting just poem, are memorable. When she does the line “Shama har rang mein jalti hai seher hone tak / शभा हय यंग भᴂ जरती है सेहय होने तक ”, she abandons any pretense of a shabdarthak / श녍दाथदक or even padarthak abhinaya and after depicting the flame of the shama / शभा, takes a creative leap, and starts on a showing of the navarasa. This is because the light of the fire is made up of all colors and each color is indicated by a rasa / यस! 6 Passionate about poetry in any language and from any period, Uma Sharma admits that she has articulated a lot of concerns, by following the route of saying it through poetry. Very fond of good poetry herself, she has adopted her voice from the best of modern poetry- be it Gopal Das Neeraj's “Karwan guzar gaya gubaar dekhte rahe / कायवांगुज़य गमा गुफाय देित े यहे ”, Harivansh Rai Bachchan's “Madhushala / भधुशारा” or Kaifi Azmi's “Saanp / सांऩ”.

Load more