To mark its 75th anniversary, Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, an iconic institution, synonymous with the promotion of Indian classical music and dance in Delhi, mounted an eight-day long festival of dance and music at the Kamani Auditorium.
The dance festival was unique. The Vidyalaya evolved the concept of mentoring by which six young and hugely talented dancers were paired with mentors. The mentors guided them in how to approach their own classical styles with additional qualities that the mentors brought to the table.
Thus it was that Arushi Mudgal, Odissi dancer, was mentored by Vidushi Leela Samson. Madhavi Mudgal mentored both Mythili Prakash (Bharatanatyam) and Vishal Krishna (Kathak); Sharmila Biswas mentored Kuchipudi dancer Amrita Lahiri; Kathakali vidwan Sadanam Balakrishnan mentored Bharatanatyam dancer Ragini Chander Shaker and I had the opportunity of mentoring Kathak dancer Monisa Nayak.
Monisa had performed at the Young Dancers Fest I host every summer, and she had also worked with my students in the Sankriti production. So there was no ice to break as it were, since we were familiar with each other. What was even more important was that I was familiar with the work of her Kathak Guru Rajendra Gangani since I had also collaborated with him a couple of years ago. So I sort of knew where Monisa’s dance evolved from and what her strengths were and what aspects needed some guidance.
Monisa’s flair for rhythm, crisply articulated in her Jaipur Gharana style, was a strength that one needed to protect. So, that aspect of her dance, we both agreed, would remain pristine and her ashtamangal taal section was crisp and masterful in its essaying of the key rhythmic aspects of her Kathak repertoire.
Still, I pushed her further. The jathi sequences in Bharatanatyam are flashes of rhythm that evoke a heightened sense of joy and abandon. Patiently, we worked on a jathi, but casting it in the padhant style of Kathak, I led her to say the different bols of Bharatanatyam through the articulation by a Kathak dancer. And Monisa warmed to it like a fish taking to water. And once she learnt the distribution of the jathi’s microtaal, she was able to flesh it out in her Kathak choreography, keeping in mind that it needed to look different and experimental.
Abhinaya was another matter altogether. Abhinaya in Kathak is approached differently than Bharatanatyam. Without using distinct hastaks, Kathak works at context and effect rather than narrative detail. So here was a challenge!
We also decided to choose an ashtapadi for abhinaya delineation. The process was fluid. I first made her read the text and understand the Sanskrit libretto. Then led her through the various important texts that brought alive Geeta Govinda—Barbara Stoller Miller and the translations of Dr Chandra Rajan. Slowly the bhava seeped in… and a gentle abhinaya evolved that eschewed the loud and embraced the soft.
The finale was a tillana in ragam Yamuna Kalyani, one of my favourite compositions of the late violin mahavidwan, Shri Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. The tillana was a joyous experiment in which tabla artiste Yogesh Gangani and the north Indian vocalist Samiullah Khan threw themselves with equal gusto.
To me the experience was truly heady. It offered me opportunities at understanding another tradition and exploring how one could strengthen it from within without tampering at it from without.