KATHAK AND BHARAT NATYAM

Kisike Dil Me Pyas Paida Kar Dena Aur Phir Usye Bhuzayebina Adhuri Chod Dena?

Waqt ki pabandi ke karan. Hell with the Time. Somebody please give me time machine I want to freeze time.

“To conclude with”, “come to an end”, “Aakhirme” , Sharwat Shevti”, I want to find out the person who has invented those words and ask him "ki baba ka, pan me kaay mhanto, why have you done this to us?" Why all good things in the life have to an end so soon?

Tonight I wished so many times that the splendid, spellbound Kathak Dance performance by young and extremely talented Nartaki (Dancer), Ms Adittee Bhagwat should never come to an end. The Trio, Guru Nadita Puri, Pt. Kalinathji Mishra on Tabla and Adittee Bhagwat, it’s a deadly combination. Unfortunately the duration allocated was very short. It was hardly one hour. What can you expect in one hour? I never came to know “Shurwat kab huie aur khatama kab huva? (When did the program started and when it ended?) .

Two years back I had watched her performance at Y.B.Chavan Center in Mumbai and since then was waiting and waiting to watch another. I still remember that program and the Jugalbandi in particular between Pt. Kalinathji Mishra and Adittee Bhagwat. The magical, mystical, and mischievous ways and the challenging (demanding or stimulatingly to perform difficult tasks) of Pt. Kalinathji Mishra on Tabla and equally strong answers by Adittee Bhagwat. (Muhatod jabab you know)

Then after the Interval, I understood why those words were created. The next performance followed by was Bharat Natyam by Guru Dr.Sandhya Purecha and her four students. So far I had watched a solo or at the most duet performance. What a vibrant performance it was. All these years I was craving to watch her performance. Today was the D day. The concluding dance was based on a theme on tribal dance somewhere in Andhra Pradesh. At a special request, Pt. Kalinathji Mishra (I am great fan of him and this tabla and his style), accompaniment her. It was a feast to eyes and to ears as well. I stopped watching dance and concentrated on instruments. First time in my life I heard Tabla, Mrudungam and Ghatam, playing together at the same time.

Bhagwan jab bhi deta hai to chapper phadke deta hai. (Whenever god starts giving you there is no boundary, but he should have known that I have only two hands, two eyes and two ears)

These performances were under the 3 days Dance Festival at Nehru centre, Worli, Mumbai.

Tomorrow we are going to watch Mithali D’souza (Oddissi) and Smita Shastri (Kuchipudi) and day after tomorrow, Megha Ahire (Mohainiattam) and Sharodi Saikia (Sattriya)

All the best.

Cultural Wing
Nehru Centre’s Dance FestivalNehru Centre is celebrating its annual ‘Dance Festival’ from 16th to 18th January 2007.The details of the Festival are:16th January 2007Adittee Bhagwat, Mumbai (Kathak)Dr. Sandhya Purecha, Mumbai (Bharat Natyam)17th January 2007Mithali Kamath-D’souza (Odissi)Smita Shastri, Ahmedabad (Kuchipudi)18th January 2007Megha Ahire, Mumbai (Mohiniattam)Sharodi Saikia, Guwahati (Sattriya)

Adittee Bhagwat is a disciple of Padmashri Dr. Roshan Kumari and Nandita Puri and seeking able guidance under Pt. Kalinath Mishra. Also trained in Odissi from Smt. Jhelum Paranjpe. She is “A” grade artist of Doordarshan and has performed dance shows all over India and abroad.

Dr. Sandhya Purecha received the benefit of learning under the guidance of the great Guru Acharya Parvatikumar of Bharat Natyam and the basic training in folk under Shri Ramesh Purav. At present she is working as a Director of Kala Parichaya, Mumbai. She was awarded Ph.D degree by the Kalidas Sanskrit University, Ramtek, Nagpur.