"Kathak dancers, we mostly perform mythological tales, but I felt the need to stage the current issues as often encountered by many," notes Kartika Singh. The Kathak dancer is all set to perform today in the capital city. Her production, Tumne Uss Roz Mujhe Kyun Chuna, on the eponymous poem by Sabika Abbas Naqvi, is a heart wrenching recital.
Here, the victim is in conversation with the perpetrators of the recent heinous rape in Hyderabad.
“I am very disturbed with the crime against the veterinarian. Earlier it was the Nirbhaya case in Delhi then came the tragic news of Unnao rape victim and now this. Even toddlers and old women are not spared,” says Singh, who changed her performance last minute after the recent happenings. “I asked Naqvi, who is a spoken word poet, if she could write something on the subject. She readily agreed and we had a poem.”
This particular performance encapsulates both the nritta and natya – the traditional teyyari ang of Kathak and the abhinaya sequence.
“I begin the evening with the teyyari ang in taal Pa n cham Sawari, which is a 15-beat cycle. The second part of the evening is the abhinaya based on Naqvi’s poem and set to music by Pandit Madho Prasad,” says Singh.
According to the artiste, the piece highlights the excitement and ambition of parents when a child is born, and the subsequent squashing of those. “In this conversation between the victim and the rapists, was it the courage and faith that shook the criminals? Could they not bear the sight of a free, ambitious girl?” Kathak doyen Shovana Narayan was Singh’s guru and she’s highly influenced by her tutelage.
“Training under her was like having the knowledge of a guru, warmth of a mother and fun of a friend, all wrapped into one!” says Singh. For the 30-year-old artiste, Kathak is a form of meditation. “I’ve grown up having 3-4 hour-long early morning classes and stick to the tradition till date. I’ve been lucky to have been introduced to it at such an early age by my mother. It is how I best express myself.” Just as she’s using this performance to express her angst and distress about the position of women in present-day society. On: January 5, 6:00pm At: Triveni Kala Sangam, 205, Tansen Marg, Mandi House, New Delhi