Surpanakha, the mythological character from Ramayana, is synonymous with the idea of a ‘rakshasi’. But how many of us would agree that Surpanakha was not a she-demon, rather a woman trying to find her identity and express herself fearlessly?
‘Katha Surpanakha’, a production of Sharmila Biswas’ Odissi Vision and Movement Centre, gets us this newer perspective on this familiar puranic character with an interpretation suited to the modern temper.
‘Katha Surpanakha’ has been attempted by Sharmila over the last 15 years and in different ways. “When I first came up with this, I had done it in solo. But as I grew as a dancer, I made many changes. The different interpretations in the choreography reveal various facets of Surpanakha. Here, she is just like any other normal woman, a woman in love,” she says.
Odissi has long been known for revolving around mythological characters—divine mostly — who form the subject. However, with the dance form no longer confined to temples and moving far beyond Odisha, eminent dancers are revolutionising Odissi presentations.
Many are moving beyond the beaten tracks and creating choreographies on abstract concepts, besides reworking on the presentation format to suit modern performance contexts. Odissi gurus like Sharmila Biswas, Madhavi Mudgal, Aruna Mohanty and Ratikant Mohapatra fall in this category.
Samrachana, the first-of-its kind choreography dance festival organised recently by Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi with support from Odisha Tourism, provided these artistes a forum to showcase their abstract choreographies.
Sharmila has created another Odissi assortment ‘Gativilas’, illustrating how movements of different animals were incorporated in dance. “A mridanga artist in Berhampur told me a sloka which denotes that a dancer should have the precision of a hawk, energy of a horse, lightness of a swan, sing like a cuckoo and dance like a peacock. This was the idea behind Gativilas choreography,” she explains.
Like Sharmila, Madhavi’s creation ‘Taapoi’ is based on the Odia poem of 16th century poet Gopinath Das. She presents the tragic story of a sister, Taapoi, whose seven brothers leave for maritime trade, and barring one sister-in-law, the rest torture her. On learning the truth, the brothers punish the wives whose noses are chopped off, except one who was kind to their sister. With minor changes in the pattern, Madhavi’s choreography has been an instant hit.
“I wanted to show the trade link between India and South East Asian countries through my dance. I was once talking to eminent poet Dr Ramakant Rath in this regard when he suggested me to look into this poem,” says Madhavi, an alumna of the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, New Delhi.
Another major highlight of Samrachana was Ratikant’s composition of ‘Ravana’, an unusual production. The dance drama showcases how an intellectual and learned Ravana wished for a death in Rama’s hands and thus plotted various misdeeds like ‘Sita Harana’. Ratikant from Srjan — the dance school founded by his father and maestro Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra — along with his noted danseuse wife Sujata and other artistes from Srjan’s troupe have been presenting this dance drama at many major festivals across the country and abroad. While Sujata performs Sita with flawless finesse, Ratikant plays Ravana with exquisite intensity. “I wanted to show that Ravana was highly knowledgeable, an all powerful king,” says Ratikant.
Similarly, Aruna Mohanty, through brief narrations and symbolic images, spins the story of transformation of Odissi dance spanning from the Jagannath Temple of Puri up to the contemporary stage. Her choreography ‘Gatha Odissi — from the temple to the stage’ is a multi-cast large-scale production. Nurtured under the able guidance of Guru Gangadhar Pradhan, Aruna especially excels in the abhinaya aspect of Odissi.