Kolkata witnessed a unique celebration of spirituality and Indian classical dance at Gyan Manch on November 28. ‘Thus I converse with you — The Shiva Chapter’, kathak dancer Arunima Sengupta’s debut as a curator, saw her put up a solo recital along with performances by other classical dancers
All photos by Amit Pramanick
Bharatanatyam dancer Jalsa Chandra reflected on her relationship with Shiva in a moving performance. Indian classical vocals accompanied her recital along with ‘mridangam’, chosen for its similarity to Shiva’s damru. The dancer explained how the beats of ‘damru’ resemble ‘jeeva spanda’ or heartbeats. The performance was named ‘Naad - Anahat’. Accompanying Chandra on stage was Shri Shankar Narayanswamy on ‘mridangam’ and ‘solkattu’ (traditional method of learning rhythms in Bharatanatyam), and Jaydeep Sinha on Hindustani vocals
Arunima Sengupta, who is also the creative force behind the dance school Anweshan Centre of Arts, started her kathak training under Birju Maharaj’s disciple Luna Poddar. Sengupta continued her kathak training under Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Rajendra Gangani. ‘The Shiva Chapter’ is the first of an evolving series where the dancer reflects on understanding spirituality. Thursday’s performance was a piece titled ‘Upalabdhi — a journey’
A master’s degree holder in kathak, Sengupta is also a national scholarship recipient under the Union ministry of Culture and was awarded the West Bengal Youth Award in kathak by the Government of West Bengal. Her experience and knowledge gave an added dimension to the narrations before each performance and offered a glimpse into the dancer’s command over stage production and Indian mythology
The blue colour at the inception of the act reminded the audience of Kailasa, the home of Shiva. Sengupta played with the colours yellow and red to showcase enlightenment and power. In a defining moment in the performance, she introduced floral chains as a prop. ‘I tried to symbolise all material comforts, struggles, and conflicts through the chains. Those things pull me back on a daily basis whenever I try to focus and meditate on Shiva,’ said Sengupta, introspecting on the performances during a discussion with the audience
The dance recital aimed to delve on the relationship between a God, Shiva in this case, as an idea. The artistes expressed their connection with Shiva through meditative dance performances where music also played an important role. Sengupta chose the soundscapes Ethnic Beats and Fusion for her performance. ‘Each one of us tried to find how we can resonate and connect with Shiva, apart from the choreographies and creative pieces that we have learnt from our gurus,’ said Sengupta
