<p>In a season steeped in traditional hues already, three artistes of Indian classical dances recently added some more merriment to Delhi’s celebrations. Under the banner of Yuva Kala Parva, a Kuchipudi exponent Chandralekha, Odissi recitalist Abhayalakshmi MB and Kathak dancer Varsha Dasgupta performed at the India Habitat Centre, winning over the hearts of the city’s traditional arts lovers.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Yuva Kala Parva is an initiative of Navaneetham Cultural Trust, a non-profit organisation based in Trichur, Kerala. Navaneetham was founded by the famous Kalaripayattu artiste Balraj Soni in 1995. Since then it has held several training workshops for classical dancers and events for them to showcase their talent, but Yuva Kala Parva is their first travelling festival visiting four different cities – Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and lastly Cochin.<br /><br />In Delhi, the one-day event was heralded by Kuchipudi exponent Chandralekha. She started with a traditional Rangapuja – an invocatory piece to lord Nataraj and Goddess Saraswati. Then came Jagadudharna – a composition by legendary poet Purandara Dasa – in which she depicted Yashoda’s love for Krishna, and an Annamacharya Kirtana where the narrator is requesting the palanquin-carriers of Goddess Padmavati to walk modestly, lest she’s harmed.<br /><br />She ended her recital with a tarana by Pt Ravi Shankar themed on spring. Here Chandralekha beautifully depicted the oncoming of the season – flowers blooming, animals rejoicing and also Brajwasi playing Holi, ably finished with the traditional Kuchipudi brass plate dance. <br /><br />“Tarana is not a part of Kuchipudi normally but I performed it keeping in my mind the Delhi audience,” the Doordarshan graded artiste informed us.<br /><br />Then came Abhayalakshmi MB with a flavour of Jagannathpuri, Odisha. The Odissi recitalist rendered three pieces – all compositions of her guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Firstly, Kaveri Pallavi, set to raag Kaveri, showed the beauty of a danseuse as she adorns her ornaments; then ashtapadi Lalita Lavangalati by poet Jayadev lamented Radha and Krishna’s separation, and lastly, Moksha extolled the love of Shiva-Parvati through the dancer’s performance.<br /><br />At the end, Varsha Dasgupta brought Kathak’s magic to the stage. She began with a prayer to Goddess Durga, moved on to shuddh nritya – the technical but interesting aspects of Kathak like thaat, aamad, uthaan etc., progressed to tarana in raag Chandrakauns reflecting fine footwork and chakkars, and finished her piece with a thumri – aiso hathilo chhail maag rokat hai – on the teenage escapades of lord Krishna.<br /><br />Varsha is a student of Kathak gurus Geetanjali Lal, Abhimanyu Lal and Vidha Lal and thanked them for grooming her in this ancient dance form. “I feel blessed to have learnt this craft from the masters themselves and to be able to perform at a stage like the Yuva Kala Parva. I feel honoured and hope to return every year, like my maiden attempt today,” expressed the 22-year-old.<br /></p>
<p>In a season steeped in traditional hues already, three artistes of Indian classical dances recently added some more merriment to Delhi’s celebrations. Under the banner of Yuva Kala Parva, a Kuchipudi exponent Chandralekha, Odissi recitalist Abhayalakshmi MB and Kathak dancer Varsha Dasgupta performed at the India Habitat Centre, winning over the hearts of the city’s traditional arts lovers.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Yuva Kala Parva is an initiative of Navaneetham Cultural Trust, a non-profit organisation based in Trichur, Kerala. Navaneetham was founded by the famous Kalaripayattu artiste Balraj Soni in 1995. Since then it has held several training workshops for classical dancers and events for them to showcase their talent, but Yuva Kala Parva is their first travelling festival visiting four different cities – Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and lastly Cochin.<br /><br />In Delhi, the one-day event was heralded by Kuchipudi exponent Chandralekha. She started with a traditional Rangapuja – an invocatory piece to lord Nataraj and Goddess Saraswati. Then came Jagadudharna – a composition by legendary poet Purandara Dasa – in which she depicted Yashoda’s love for Krishna, and an Annamacharya Kirtana where the narrator is requesting the palanquin-carriers of Goddess Padmavati to walk modestly, lest she’s harmed.<br /><br />She ended her recital with a tarana by Pt Ravi Shankar themed on spring. Here Chandralekha beautifully depicted the oncoming of the season – flowers blooming, animals rejoicing and also Brajwasi playing Holi, ably finished with the traditional Kuchipudi brass plate dance. <br /><br />“Tarana is not a part of Kuchipudi normally but I performed it keeping in my mind the Delhi audience,” the Doordarshan graded artiste informed us.<br /><br />Then came Abhayalakshmi MB with a flavour of Jagannathpuri, Odisha. The Odissi recitalist rendered three pieces – all compositions of her guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Firstly, Kaveri Pallavi, set to raag Kaveri, showed the beauty of a danseuse as she adorns her ornaments; then ashtapadi Lalita Lavangalati by poet Jayadev lamented Radha and Krishna’s separation, and lastly, Moksha extolled the love of Shiva-Parvati through the dancer’s performance.<br /><br />At the end, Varsha Dasgupta brought Kathak’s magic to the stage. She began with a prayer to Goddess Durga, moved on to shuddh nritya – the technical but interesting aspects of Kathak like thaat, aamad, uthaan etc., progressed to tarana in raag Chandrakauns reflecting fine footwork and chakkars, and finished her piece with a thumri – aiso hathilo chhail maag rokat hai – on the teenage escapades of lord Krishna.<br /><br />Varsha is a student of Kathak gurus Geetanjali Lal, Abhimanyu Lal and Vidha Lal and thanked them for grooming her in this ancient dance form. “I feel blessed to have learnt this craft from the masters themselves and to be able to perform at a stage like the Yuva Kala Parva. I feel honoured and hope to return every year, like my maiden attempt today,” expressed the 22-year-old.<br /></p>
