JOIN USThe magic of fusion
Who could ever imagine that a fusion of two totally different Indian dance forms--Kuchipudi and Kathak--could come out so beautifully on stage?
It took the genius of the Lok Kala Manch to come up with this innovative idea and the passion and dedication of two extremely talented dancers to make this miracle happen. Over a 100 viewers at the Lok Kala Manch were in for a visual treat recently as they saw this classical magic, aptly titled Nrithya Sangamam, come alive.
Kuchipudi, as is commonly known, is a dance form from Andhra Pradesh. It follows a strong nritta (dance), natya (drama) and nritya (dance and drama) tradition and is commonly accompanied by Carnatic music. On the other hand Kathak, which traces its origins to Uttar Pradesh, has a free flowing style and is performed on Hindustani classical music. It had to take artistes of a high calibre like Kuchipudi dancer Sarvani Yadavalli Vemuri and Kathak exponent Moumala Nayak to bring the two together so seamlessly and yet retain the individuality of both the dance forms.
In fact, to bring out the uniqueness of both the dances, the two artistes performed a few solo pieces before the fusion finale. Sarvani began with a traditional Ganesh stuti, before moving on to present Vaikuntha Vaibhavam – a collection of three dance pieces describing Lord Vishnu. These included Okapari Kokapari Koyyaramai and Koluvaithiva Ranga Sai – both religious compositions in Telugu finished with a beautiful Tillana. The highlight was Sarvani’s dance on a brass plate, called Sakatavadana in Kuchipudi. She displayed a natural stage presence, immense grace and perfection with rhythm and expressions throughout the performance.
Hereafter, Moumala took over with an Ardha-Narishwar stuti – an ode to Lord Shiva and Parvati, followed by Shuddh Nritta – emphasising on the difficult but impressive footwork in Kathak, and lastly Utkanthit Vipralabdha – an expressional composition depicting a woman’s agony in waiting for her hero before meeting him finally. Her performance exuded royal elegance, as associated with the dance Kathak, and a finesse which comes only from years of practice.
Finally the two came together to give a brilliant performance of Kuchpudi and Kathak side by side.
They started with a Guru Vandana, followed by a Keerthana by famous Telugu saint Annamacharya, describing the antics of little Balgopal, concluding with an ode to Saraswati--the Goddess of art, culture and learning. Most impressively, even while performing their own distinct dances, the two dancers never appeared disjointed during the fusion on stage. An excellent music selection, choreography and coordination ensured that they always came together to form sculpturesque poses and mesmerise the audience. Never before would have one seen two dance forms as different as Kathak and Kuchipudi complimenting each other so beautifully.
As Moumala, a disciple of the legendary Pandit Birju Maharaj and a Sangeet Kala Ratna awardee explained, “We have eight different forms of classical dances in India. Their grammar might have evolved to be different, but they originated from the same natyashastra. The basic moves remain the same. So merging them is not very difficult.”
Her friend Sarvani, a Nrithya Shiromani awardee and also a chemical engineer with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), added, “We got the idea of a fusion while performing at the Commonwealth Games ceremony last year. We thought that if eight different dance forms could be performed on stage at the same time, we could certainly bring together two of them. After all, the aim of all classical dances is the same--to merge with God and become one.”