The flowing sounds of music and dance

To kickstart the 17-day long Bengaluru International Arts Festival (BIAF 2012), a Carnatic music performance by saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath and an odissi dance drama by Ranjana Gauhar and her troupe recently took place at Chowdiah Memorial Hall. This is the fifth edition of the festival, which is the brainchild of veena maestro Suma Sudhindra and kuchipudi exponent Veena Murthy Vijay.

“Every year, we look around and keep our eyes and ears open in the rangabhoomi to find artistes who celebrate tradition and have a passion for the arts. These are the people who take their music, dance, theatre and overall culture across borders and genres to have their voices heard,” says Suma Sudhindra, co-founder, BIAF.

The inaugural concert by Padma Shri Kadri Gopalnath was like an extraordinary Carnatic orchestra of sorts. Kadri was accompanied by A Kanyakumari on violin, Manjunath on ghatam, Rajendra Nakode on tabla and Vidwan B Harikumar on the mridangam.

The clearly defined lines on his forehead were prominent every time he hit a high note or got too absorbed in the music.

While the saxophone maestro played the western instrument with mastery over the Carnatic technique, each musician played exceptionally on his or her own instrument as well.

It was a delight to watch them exchange smiles during the entire performance. Compositions like raghuvamsa sudha or their rendition of krishna nee begane had a classical but contemporary sound to it, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience.

“I have seen Kadriji perform earlier, but tonight was phenomenal. With him, you can always feel his experience and knowledge about the music oozing out. It was very nice to see him and the violinist during the jugalbandis as well,” says Naina, who attended the concert.

This performance was followed by an odissi dance recital by Ranjana Gauhar and her troupe, who paid homage to Rabindranath Tagore through her presentation of his timeless dance-drama, Chitrangada.

 The hour-long performance saw the embodiment of Tagore’s vision of the ‘complete woman’ as one who personifies love, beauty, courage and substance.

Through her dance production, Ranjana recounts the tale of Chitrangada, a Manipuri princess, who through her passion for Arjuna, the great warrior from the epic Mahabharata, came to realise that her true power and potential as a woman lay in her duty towards society.

“It isn’t often that we get to see plays written by Tagore essayed in the City, especially in the form of a theatrical dance performance. This was a very good visual experience and I hope I get to see more such shows in the future,” says Mridula, a member of the audience.