Bright and vivacious

Energetic Moves

The just concluded three-day dance festival titled, Nitya Nritya, organised by Nupura School of Bharatanatyam, featured various classical dances by well-known artistes from across the country and brought together different art forms under one banner.

The event began with the students of Nupura performing a thematic dance ballet titled Nritya Karnataka. It nevertheless made for a vibrant start.

The beautiful compositions of this margham left the audience spellbound and did well in blending different aspects like Bharatanatyam, literature, stage craft, lighting and costume design. Choreographed by Lalitha Srinivasan, the composition meshed contemporary thoughts and with the traditional. 

Later Nupura presented another elegant performance Sundara Srikrishna in Ragamalika which effectively portrayed the birth of Lord Krishna, his Rasaleela with gopis and culminated in his Geethopadesha to Arjuna. The dance praising Krishna was illustrated with all glory and set an energetic tone for rest of the evening.

A Thillana with Shivam Nitya Krityam, set around the concept of Shri Chakra, represented the union of masculine and feminine divinity.

The main attraction, however, was a Kathak performance by the Sufiana Dance Ensemble by Rani Khanam. This repertoire of sacred dance had compositions on Islamic and Sufi verses. The first Muslim woman to perform choreography based on Islamic verses, dancer Rani Khanam showed her audience the grace of Islam and power of Kathak through her ferocious speed and sensitive focus and expression.

Later Rani Khanam took centre stage for a brilliant performance combined with innovative movements and aesthetic imagination.

Belonging to Lucknow gharana of Kathak style ,which developed in the courts of the Nawab of Oudh, Rani Khanam’s performance was characterised by fast rhythemic footworks matched to accompanying percussion instruments such as tabla and sitar.
Her abhinaya or expressions were elegant and graceful. The troupe tirelessly performed different compositions one after another which gave Bangaloreans an unusual experience. Their recital  highlighted how Hindu art forms fused with the Islamic art during the Mughal period in India.

In the name of Allah had slow minimal movements where the three girls with veils covering the head, moved gracefully and concluded the performance with slow dervish-like chakkar.

Their intricate musical dance items included Andaaz-E-Raqs, which was a prayer with lyrics Aaye hath uthaein hum bhi (Come, let us lift our hands), Niz-bat by Amir Khusrau who praises the Sufi saint Sheikh Nizammuddin Auliya Chisti, to whom he is devoted and some more musical qawwalis.