The elements of rasa, bhaava, and laya were integrated and depicted well during a dance concert titled, Syamantakam held at Kristu Jayanti College recently.
The dance performance was conceptualised by the Literary and Cultural Association of the college, as a part of the Natya Masa. This was staged before their annual inter-collegiate dance festival Nrityanjali.
The show was divided into two halves — the first half featured performances by well-known dancers from across the City such as Mithun Shyam and Minu Shyam, Yamini Menon, Vasanth Kiran , Sweekrut B P and Rekha Raju. They each performed the main Indian classical dance forms — bharatanatyam, mohiniattam, kuchipudi and kathak.
The second half took the audience through a colourful contemporary and fusion movements by merging dance with theatre under the banner of Idam tath, meaning ‘the this and that’ of dance. The performances were an eclectic mix of contemporary and fusion routines performed by the Kristu Jayanti College dance team Aham.
The performances began with an item depicting various forms of namaskar and the importance of hand gestures. The performance seamlessly flowed into other performances depicting the feel of rain on barren land, the welcoming of the monsoons, love, friendship and longing.
“The theme of the performance was about the shedding of inhibitions in order to free oneself of all bondings leading to a samarpana to the flow of dance and movement. Each item had a prelude with an act depicting the forthcoming performance,” explained Yamini Menon, one of the performers.
Up next, was Idam tath that featured over 35 dancers, including students and the teaching fraternity of the college. The performance was made interesting with live music, special lighting effects, and exemplary sound and production designing.
“The vibrant costumes and the tasteful stage settings added colour to the event,” added Yamini. The team that conceptualised the performances comprised Calistus Jude and Justin Nelson Michael. The direction of ‘Idam tath’ was by Yamini Menon and supported by Sharmin Thampi. Light and sound were by Bino Joseph.
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