KOCHI: Boasting of having the lineage of a celebrity figure in dance, Uday Shankar, and the novelty of her own experimental approach, Tanusree Shankar’s dance form that was Indian in spirit but modern in approach charmed the audience at the JT PAC on January 9.
Throughout the two-hour performance, the Rabindra Sangeeth accompanying ‘Aakash’ and ‘Chiranthan’ turned to be soul stirring.
Though the dance form adopted by Tanusree was entirely different from the traditional Indian dance forms, the influence of Manipuri sword dance (Thangtha) ruled the two ballets. It was indeed a tribute to her master, Uday Shankar.
‘Aakash the sky’ was the first ballet and the choreographer in Tanusree divided the subject into different segments. The conventional beginning of the ballet started with the invocation (Anjali). As the curtains drew aside, a group of young dancers in colourful costumes started the performance. With graceful body movements they presented the nuances of smooth and slow paced steps where a dance buff could experience the merging of contemporary dance with a conventionally systematised traditional dance form.
Then the choreographer entered the boundless sky, first by portraying the ferocious face of the sky. She aptly called this segment ‘Storm’. It echoed the power of the bodies moving in a random style. A group of dynamic young boys with energetic movements and expressive faces conveyed the mood of the sky with glares of lightning, roaring thunder and storm.
The music to give life to the dynamic movements of the dancers, who also adopted martial art techniques to give perfection to their performance, was apt. Trumpets and dundhubhi with a Bengali fragrance added to the beauty of the rhythmic dance movements.
Tanusree took the viewers to a new platform as they enjoyed the ecstatic moments by correlating the glittering stars and the calm night. The danseuse gave a meaningful title to this segment - ‘Night sky’. The dress code for her dancers as night and twinkling stars was well thought of. Boys in black gowns symbolised night and the girls in silver coloured costumes with glittering overcoats symbolised the stars. With slow paced movements and swinging hands the dancers conveyed the mood of a serene night sky filled with countless stars which gave life to the quiet night.
The viewers were then taken from the romantic night to a hope-filled dawn. The segment was titled ‘Sooryoday’. The atmosphere echoed with hymns praising the Sun God, which was followed by the ringing of the temple bell and the holy sound of the conch.
Rabindra Sangeeth poured out from the bansuri in tune with the chirping sound of the birds.
All these ushered in a holy dawn to the theatre. ‘Sooryoday’ saw Tanusree making her first appearance on the dais. The next segment titled ‘Celebrations’ portrayed the happy moments of villagers on a sunny day.
The danseuse exploited Bengali folk dance elements here.
The music of the drums and the rustic nuances of the folk tunes created a wonderful aura. The eagerness of the future generation to attain peace through spiritual tracks was presented in the next segment. Tanusree used fast music in this part and it was well-received.
In ‘Pratheeksha’ that followed, she portrayed the longing for attaining oneness through ‘Vasudaiva Kudumbakam’ where the world is seen as one family. It is human beings who have divided the earth with boundaries and walls but the sky does not have any lines of demarcation. The sky stands as a symbol of oneness, of one world - that was the message sent across.
‘Chiranthan’, the theme-based ballet, was enriched by the voice of Amithabh Bachchan.
He describes the haplessness of mankind by comparing the mindset of a common man with the fear filled eyes of a child. The choreographer portrays humanity which is ignorant about the disastrous outcome of its thoughtless approach towards nature. The music scored by Dheb Jyothi Misra helps Tanusree convey the message to the audience.
The show concluded with Big B describing the endless scope of art forms in bringing ultimate peace.
“When grace is lost from life, come as music.
When desire blinds the mind, come to me as the light of realisation. This is the nature which has given me strength to bare my sorrows and to make my service fruitful.”
kochi@expressbuzz.com
