Odissi group - Rudrakshya's presentation

manvantara · Post by **manvantara** » 10 Jun 2008, 02:04

A group of 9 Odissi dancers "Rudrakshya" presented a lovely recital at St.Louis on 7th June.
The choreography (mostly by Bichitrananda Swain) was really beautiful. The dancers did not go out of the classical boundary at any time and it was lovely to see clean Odissi (no gimmicks). Kudos to the choreographer and the dancers for reaching out to everyone - the dance-lover as well as the layperson.

I was glad to note that the group did not resort to high speed items (or unnecessarily and unnaturally increase the tempo) just to attract more people. Somehow, over the years, I have found many Bharatanatyam artistes revel at presenting adavus at high speed, somehow having got into the false notion that speed-->enjoyable. It has its place and time. In the Odissi that I saw on Saturday, the adavus were performed neatly and in an unhurried way (I won't use the word "slow" as it seems to have a negative connotation), wherein one could clearly see each mudra, each posture and then, at the end of the adavu, once could see what the final posture was like and in most cases it was like a sculpture!

Did anyone else see this group perform in their city?

Umesh · Post by **Umesh** » 10 Jun 2008, 05:38

That's great, manvantara. Narthaki tells me they will be in NYC (my area) this weekend!

The very nature of Odissi is that it is slow paced in comparison to Bharatanatyam or Kuchipudi. It does pick up speed from time to time but the style places emphasis on the sculturesque beauty you mentioned, and this is most effective in the slow speed. I do agree, though, that there is too much "jigajiga" dancing going on in BN these days. The audience goes oo and ahh, forgetting the dancer didn't sit in araimandi or complete a single adavu!

manvantara · Post by **manvantara** » 10 Jun 2008, 20:58

Well, it is true that Bharatanatyam adavus are done slightly faster compared to Odissi - but I feel that there is beauty in unhurried presentation. Maybe I am just getting old! :rolleyes:
I happened to see the program by Srekala Bharath and troupe at the Chicago Thyagaraja Uthsavam last month and ALL the adavus that were performed were in high-tempo third speed, so much that all I could see was a whirl of colour at most times. If the adavus had been performed in all three speeds, then I think it would have been more enjoyable for the viewer. Otherwise, Umesh, as you say, the dancer does not seem to complete a single adavu and there is no time for araimandi!

Perhaps it is the influence of movies - the song and dance sequences in movies that influences some artistes to speed up their adavus? Is this what they feel the layperson likes? Don't know, but I sure like the unhurried, flowing moves.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 10 Jun 2008, 21:26

Another thing that happens with jatis in the third speed is that unless the dancer is technically 100% perfect (back straight, chest out, and maintains the araimanDi, or atleast some semblence of it), the movements appear frenzied ('tEL koTTinAr pOl' - 'as if stung by a scorpion' to borrow my grandfather's description!), and the dancer usually has a frantic, and open mouthed look! The most common problem I see with movements in the third speed is that the dancer leans forward at the waist, and the knees point forward rather than to the sides, and the chest is not thrown out. Just fixing these seemingly inconsequential flaws in body position makes a HUGE difference in the execution of the aDavu in third speed - somehow, it allows for the completion of the movement, and it retains the aestheics.

I for one like the format of varNams for jatis - start with first speed and move across the speeds - there is nothing like a well executed tIrmAnam at the end of such a gradually escalating (speed-wise) jati. And particularly if there is a play on the underlying tALa cycle with intervowen kArvais (like tiSram in an Adi tAla cycle). For such technicalities to be appreciated, the first speed is essential for lay-rasikas like us to catch on to the pause/kArvai, and then with the subsequent speeds as the kArvais become smaller and smaller, one can still 'see' them.

I think a bharatanATyam performance all in the first speed would be boring (rather like an old lady dancing), just like one with lightning fast jatis uniformly would also fail to keep one engaged - a good choreographer would mix and match judiciously. It was one of the reasons that I loved watching kalAkSEtra productions - they were always very beautifully and appropriately choreographed (pAngAga/kaccidamAi).

On a related note, in an interview on DD many rains ago, I remember Smt. Shanta Dhananjayan saying that when she was a student at kalAkSEtra, they were constantly challenged to dance (with proper technique, of course) in the first, second, third AND fourth speeds!

manvantara · Post by **manvantara** » 10 Jun 2008, 21:33

You have said it nicely, rshankar: "start with first speed and move across the speeds" - this way, the beauty of the jatis can be discerned. Otherwise, I agree with you that it would be as if stung by a scorpion! (nice comparison there!). Seems to me that very few dancers can manage long stretches of adavus at high speed and that it would be wise to refrain from them until they are able to do so properly.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 10 Jun 2008, 21:37

manvantara wrote:Don't know, but I sure like the unhurried, flowing moves.

Flowing moves, and limpid, fluid gestures etc, are the very essence of oDissi. Most of the bharatanATyam styles are angular, and symmetric, with movements in straight lines (very much like a good figure skater), rather than in softer arcs. The differences were beautifully brought out (of course in addition to the tribhangi) by the legendary Smt. Samjukta Panigrahi in a lec-dem at the Punjab University in Chandigarh eons ago - she had learnt bharatanATyam, and was able to demonstrate the differences by dancing in both forms to the same jatis - she did demo them in first speed!

Now, some of the bharatanATyam styles are less angular than others - vazhuvUr for instance I think is more rounded, while the kalAkSEtra is the most angular (and to me, the most visually appealing, becuase of my love for geometric shapes).

Umesh/rasikapriya/avnipriya/Kala/Ambika and other bharatanATyam, please feel to correct and educate me.

manvantara · Post by **manvantara** » 10 Jun 2008, 22:39

Perhaps the fact that I am a Mohiniattam student has something to do with my liking unhurried, flowing moves.

Kalakshetra is very angular, agreed, and I find their posture seems slightly stiff on occasion, but what stands out is that they usually complete the adavus, whatever speed they are performing and this is very important. So even though at times the advaus are fast, when done well, with each adavu being completed, it looks good. My complaints are about the ones performed in a hurry, as if trying to rush out of the stage! Also, my complaint is about unnecessarily increasing the pace and keeping it that way throughout the item/performance, which tends to get boring after some time.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 10 Jun 2008, 23:46

manvantara wrote:Perhaps the fact that I am a Mohiniattam student has something to do with my liking unhurried, flowing moves.

That certainly explains it! mOhiniATTam is like the ultimate lAsya - langurous, sinuous, and fluid!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Jun 2008, 01:16

Ravi,
'tEL koTTuvadu pOl' was a good one from Grampa and the grandson has inherited his verbal expressiveness. When it comes to dance (for someone like me who does not attend many dance performances), you educate and more than that, write these delicious pieces which, who knows, may steer me to a few dance performances in the future...

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 11 Jun 2008, 02:15

Well, with every single ocnvert.....(like the tiny drops of water that make up the ocean mighty).

Thank you Arasi, I am flattered.

manvantara · Post by **manvantara** » 15 Jun 2008, 09:21

Umesh, I heard that the NYC program has been postponed to late July (July 28th, I think).
A local dance teacher had arranged for one more program by the group yesterday, so I had the nice opportunity of watching some more wonderful Odissi! This was at someone's residence - a palatial home in one of the poshest neighbourhoods in the city - their basement, where the program was held, even had a small stage (though the musicians took up the stage, giving the dancers more space on the floor in front of it). There were only around 20 people, so it was a rather close gathering. Just the perfect place to take my 2.5 year old son, who seemed to enjoy the whole program - he kept trying the mudras with his hands each time he noticed his favourite dancer (yes, he already picked two out of the 6 dancers).

I am looking forward to a program by Birju Maharaj tomorrow.

Umesh · Post by **Umesh** » 15 Jun 2008, 09:28

Thanks for the info, manvantara. Perhaps in a couple years it'll be time to put your son in dance class (my parents did this after they noticed me, as a toddler, mimicking a dancer at her arangetram).

And it goes without saying that Birju Maharajji is AWESOME. Jealous!

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 01 Jul 2008, 00:09

Manvantara,

This is for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9tN7nsJM8A

You can see the slow build up of the speeds - in the first speed, I love the perfect araimanDi (in dancers as tall as Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan and Smt. Priyadarshini Govind, it is awesome to see how they get to half their heights with the araimanDis - the contrast is really nice), and there are so many kArvais clearly appreciable to even someone like me. I hope one of our resident dancers ot maybe tALa experts can walk us through these. My only greivance with the clip is that it stops before the tIrmAnam, whcih I am sure would have been awesome, given that beautiful build-up!

manvantara · Post by **manvantara** » 02 Jul 2008, 15:19

Thanks rshankar, that was certainly a nice piece!
The slow build up of the speeds makes it interesting and makes all the speeds look good! This makes more sense than to dish out adavus at high speed! This is in better taste, IMHO.