US-based Odissi dancer, Sreyashi Dey is back with the third edition of KathaAngika, a classical dance festival which showcases different classical genres under one roof.
The festival was started by Sreyashi Dey in 2017, along with a group of immediate friends and performing artistes, with the objective of upholding the collaborative spirit among artistes from different classical genres.
“At KathaAngika 2019, each dance piece will be presented in its own regional setting and historical context with the aim of connecting the segments from various forms, as a part of the interconnected whole, which derives its roots from the Natyashastra. The dancers will use their movements and expressive vocabulary to narrate stories and highlight unique cultural aspects of their respective classical styles,” says Sreyashi Dey, one of the co-founders of the festival.
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There will be six performers, namely, Anurekha Ghosh for Kathak, Arpita Venkatesh and Sreyashi Dey for Odissi, Mohana Iyer for Mohiniattam, Poushali Chatterjee for Manipuri and Sujatha Ramlingam for Bharatanatyam, who will present a 20-minute performance each, individually or with their respective groups.
“It‘s a unique festival, organised by the dancers themselves and a great opportunity for the younger generation of dancers, to see senior dancers working together, without any competitiveness. We showcase different styles and through them, we speak in one unified voices,” adds Sreyashi.
While Anurekha will be presenting Rung, a Kathak recital in her characteristic style of ‘tradition meets modernity’, Sreyashi Dey will be presenting her latest dance-theatre work called Hidimba. Anurekha’s Rung explores the connection between Kathak as a classical form and its connection with Indian classical music.
Hidimba explores the life of the demon-princess, who was married to Bhim, one of the Pandavas and conveys the story of a woman’s struggle, outside the dominant socio-economic narrative. Sreyashi uses Seraikella Chau and vachika abhinaya as a storytelling narrative. Anshuman Das has written the script and Malini Mukherjee is the storyteller for Hidimba.
Mohana Iyer will be presenting Mohiniattam with her group Natyanova. The performance will consist of traditional pieces of Mukhachalam and Shivakarini, a dance piece performed in the praise of mother Goddess and her consort, enacted with verses from the shlokas written by Shankaracharya.
The performance is born out of the collaboration of Priyadarshini Ghosh, artistic director of Natyanova and Mohana Iyer. The Natyanova group is known not just for showcasing the pure dance form, but also exploring new dance movements in the recital, simultaneously.
The Kalashrishti Kalakars group will be presenting traditional Bharatanatyam, with Pushpanjali and an alarippu named “Anghrir Lakshana Alarippu”, based on Khanda Chapu taalam composed by Shri MS Sukhi.
They will also be presenting, Lilavati a celebrated Indian text on Indian Mathematics, written by Bhaskaracharya. The work is addressed to Bhaskara’s daughter Lilavati and constitutes a series of poetic questions asked by Bhakaracharya to Lilavati when she was a little girl. Lilavati has been choreographed by Sujatha Ramalingam as a tribute to Chandralekha Prabhudas Patel. The music has been composed by Madurai Ramachandran Muralidharan.
Arpita Venkatesh will be performing Yog Pallavi in taal khemta, raag Yog in Odissi and Bato charo Suhatta Nagara in Abhinaya, the second part. The second performance will encapsulate the story of Radha-Krishna and retell stories, where Krishna is mocking or teasing Radha, while she goes to Yamuna river to fetch water. Both the pieces are choreographed by Arpita venkatesh, the script has been written by Kavi Banamali Das and the music has been composed by Himangshu Shekhar Swain.
Poushali Chatterjee with be presenting Ichhe, an interpretation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Shuorani’r Shaadh with her dance institute, Nandanik Manipuri Dance Academy and another dance group Abahan. Ichhe has been choreographed Poushali where she includes different aspects of Manipuri dance, such as Cholom, Thang-ta and Lai Haraoba.
KathaAngika will premier at ICCR on February 25, at 6:30 pm