Step 1: There should be no room for doubt.
Step 2: Put that assurance into your performance for everyone to see its manifesting brilliance.
Practising these steps is Kathak dancer Vishavdeep, 26, who believes that the only way to survive is to be ruthless with your self. That’s why he never lets uncertainty creep in. With such confidence, he plans to perform at Thouryathrikam, an Odissi dance recital at Triveni Kala Sangam.
Today, he is a flag bearer of the Jaipur gharana and a prominent face at Delhi’s Kathak Kendra. But Vishavdeep finds men still shy about taking up Kathak even though the dance form was pioneered by the male gender. “Women came into the picture much later, and see the great heights they’ve achieved. Men, on the other hand, have gotten entangled into the prejudice that surrounds male dancers,” he says.
The person who moulded Vishavdeep into this energetic, optimistic individual is his father, Satpaul. He would secure the four-year-old Vishavdeep on the back seat of his rickety scooter and ride him to his dance class four hours away from Pathankot to Jammu.
“This was Sunday routine. My class would start at 7:00 am for which my father and I would leave at 3:00 am. Given the volatility of the situation in Jammu, he insisted on dropping me. Sometimes, the class would get cancelled and we ould return feeling terrible but never defeated,” he says.
Today Vishavdeep is a senior disciple of Guru Narain Prasad. He continues to train under Guru Nandini Singh and Guru Prerana Shirmali. He is a Mathematics graduate from Delhi University but learned Kathak for five years and graduated with a distinction. He wishes to pursue English honours someday.
But that’s in the distant future. He is now focused on the upcoming show. His piece for it begins with a Shiv Vandana in which he extends prayers to Lord Shiva. This will be followed by a technical version called tarana, and finally, he will perform a thumri showcasing Lord Krishna teasing Radha.
This presentation by Navaneetham Cultural Trust will also see dancers Ankita Bakshi, a disciple of Ranjana Gauhar, and Sannidha RajaSagi, a student of Dr Vempati Chinna Sathyam’s Kuchipudi Kalakshetra, Visakhapatanam.
Date: September 21
When: At 6:45 pm
Where: Triveni Kala Sangam, 205, Tansen Marg