ST. LOUIS: It was the fifth year in a row that classical Indian dance enthusiasts staged one more Indian Dance Festival in St Louis during the week end of April 19-21.
The three-day festival had more than 150 artists from across USA and abroad, performing seven major Indian classical dance forms in both the morning and evening sessions. It may be one of the few dance festivals presented outside of the Indian subcontinent that can brag about such a feat of bringing all these styles under one roof, on one stage to an audience that has kept coming back for more each year.
The St. Louis Indian Dance Festival had artists spanning various levels of expertise from highly sought after veterans to youngsters, just about stepping into the world of dance. The masters of the art performed on the same stage as did the younger generation and took pride in the fact that the art was being kept alive for generations to come.
The festival began with a lamp-lighting ceremony performed by some of the senior citizens from the Indian community. This was followed by an invocatory group singing by the students of Guru Seema Murthy Kasthuri. Students of Guru Prasanna Kasthuri performed a short inaugural dance to the music of Late Chittibabu, renowned Veena player. Sailaja Pullela, a senior disciple of veteran maestro Vempati Chinna Sathyam, presented a graceful Kuchipudi dance. She performed the Tarangam with ease.
This was followed by Bharatanatyam by young artist Shalini Subbarao, a senior disciple of Guru Prasanna Kasthuri. She presented Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar’s Sapthapadi “Geluvu Geluvu”, followed by a Kannada Pada varnam “Shringara Chaturane” in which she skillfully portrayed the playful nature of the heroine, who wishes to be united with Lord Krishna. This was followed by an energetic presentation of Yakshagana and Bharatanatyam by Mangala and Rajendra Kedlaya. Both of them wonderfully explored the beauty of Bharatanatyam for Lasya and Yakshagana for more masculine characters through the presentation of scenes from Mahabharatha – (Draupadi Vastrapaharana) and Mohini Bhasmasura.
The finale for the inaugural evening was an Odissi performance by Guru Aruna Mohanty and her dance troupe. The elegance, grace and lively dance performance was flawless and wonderful. The male dancers of the troupe with their energy and female dancers, with their matching grace, complemented each other. The traditional style seemed to have got a modernized touch once they explored the folk and modern dancing steps. Their moves seemed to have become repetitive by then and may have lost people’s attention.
The lighting and music support was awesome. Guru Yudhishtira Nayak performed with an intensity that rubbed off on the audience.
The second day of the festival began with youngster Neha Kidambi presenting an amazing Kuchipudi repertoire. She executed the Nritta with flair and abhinaya was erudite.
Smriti Bharadwaj presented a calmer version of the Reethigowla Varnam – “Sri Krishna Kamalanatha”. She was pleasant on the stage. Joshua Cherian, a junior in high school, impressed the audience with his broad rechakas and utplavanas, and elaborate expressions. He had great stage presence.
Anisha Gururaj, another of Guru Prasanna’s senior students, presented a beautiful dhruva tala alaripu followed by varnam. She showed keen alertness in her abhinaya and presented a beautiful rendition of jathis.
The evening began with an elegant presentation of Sattriya dance by Madhusmitha Bora and her group. They began their performance with Guru Bandhona and followed by Karatala Kamala both compositions of legendary poet Sankara Deva. They presented Chali, followed by Jayo Jayo Ram, where they narrated the story of Lord Rama very effectively. The dancers Madhusmita Bora, Prerona Bhuyan and Willow Swidler Notte brought the valuable art of Sattriya for the first time to St. Louis.
This performance was followed by another ‘first-timer’ for St. Louis – a presentation of Manipuri dance by Krishnakali Das Gupta. They presented Pontha Jagoi, Anangkshep, Kaliya Dhaman, Dashavathar. Some of these dances were choreographed by the great maestro, Bipin Singh. It was an eye catching performance. Prakruthi Hoskere balanced her performance with smaller dance numbers which were split across Nritta and Abhinaya. She came out very well with the execution of Shiva Stuti, and rendered a wonderful abhinaya for Kanjadalayatakshi. The expressions of Vasaka Sajjika Nayika, who waits for her beloved, was presented very well.
The presentation of Jaipur style Kathak broke the flow of non-stop rhythmical phrases when Dhamar taal was presented after her initial presentation of Ardhanaarishwaram. She later presented Ahalya Uddhar and Tarana, both were impeccable. Guru Prasanna Kasthuri presented a collaboration of Kathak and Bharatanatyam with live music. It was a novel idea and portrayed the nuances of dance very well. He was ably assisted by Sushma Mohan on Nattuvangam and Seema Kasthuri on vocals.
The morning session on the third and final day of the festival, began with a beautiful presentation of Bharatanatyam by Annuja Mathivanan. She performed the popular pieces such as Idatthu Padam, Thaaye Yashoda with ease and elegance. She was followed by Sowmya Kumaran, who inspired the young St. Louis dancers with her perfect sense of Nritta and calm abhinaya. Manasvini Avvari is the one who stole the morning with her full scale embellishment of Kuchipudi with an advanced level of maturity. She presented her Tarangam with ease and was applauded by the audience many a time. Ma Bavya presented a nice Bharatanatyam presentation to end the morning session.
The evening session had a powerful presentation of Kathak by Sunaina Rao. She presented her ability of Nritta in Dhamaar. Later she took a Bharatanatyam piece and rendered it in the Kathak style with great ease. She also presented a special production whose theme was “injustice to women”.
She stole the hearts of people with her briskness and sharp moves. Kripa Baskaran and her troupe who performed next showcased Bharatanatyam and did a wonderful job with the choreography of Varnam – which portrayed the life story of Lord Sri Krishna.
Sahasra Sambha Moorthy presented some unique creations with slow, yet steady movements using the Bharatanatyam style to portray different aspects of choreography. Her portrayal of female/male peacocks intrigued the audience. Prashanth Shah was as majestic as he always has been. He presented one solo with more of his playful footwork, and later a duet with Sunaina.
Although he did not perform to the caliber that was expected by the audience of such a great artiste, the crowds seemed to have enjoyed and kept up the “best audience” title once again this year! The last part of the show was a Mohiniattam performance by veteran dancer Guru Smitha Rajan of St.Louis. She presented an amazing abhinaya of Jagadodharana with an intense spell bound abhinaya. The festival concluded on a high note of the mangalam by the Mohiniattam group.
The 2013 festival once again brought the best in the performing arts to the St. Louis art patrons. It is here to stay and grow in St. Louis and will be a torch bearer for the Indian classical dances in the coming future. The person behind the festival – Guru Prasanna Kasthuri of Soorya Dance Company – thanked hundreds of volunteers and the Missouri Arts Council, Regional Arts Commission for their support and encouragement of the festival.
Shubha Baskar & Anitha Nagendra
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