Nritya Sanrachna : Cream of Indian choreographic dance

Rajmani Ayekpam *

A dance number being staged at Nritya Sanrachna on January 03 2015 :: Pix - The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

India boasts of having numerous forms of dance and music. But, one has rare opportunity to witness all these forms of dance and music. Moreover, one has less opportunity to witness best choreographic works from imminent choreographers and composers of the country without the support of big funding agency like Sangeet Natak Academy, New Delhi.

To see best choreographic work of imminent choreographers and composers is very important for not only for those upcoming dancers and composers of the country in general and state in particular to horn their skill but also to know best work of imminent choreographers and composers by any dancer or any art enthusiast.

Manipur is a small state in size but big state in terms of its richness in art and culture in comparison with other states Inspite of being its rich heritance in dance and music but it has limited opportunity to witness best choreographic work of Indian dance and music.

In earlier years, Manipur had an opportunity to witness cream of Indian dance and music in the festivals organized by Jawaharal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA).

Unfortunately such festivals were being stopped due to numerous reasons. At the outset of this year i.e. 2015, Manipur has an opportunity to witness Nritya Sanrachna – a festival of Choreographic Works organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi in association with Manipur State Kala Akademic and Jawaharlal Nehur Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal from 3 – 9 January, 2015 at Maharaja Chandrakirti Auditorium, Palace Compound, Imphal.

In this edition of Nritya Sanrachna, an audience got an opportunity to witness choreographic works of eminent choreographers like Shanti Bardhan, Maya Rao, Narendra Sharma, Prabhat Ganguly and Gul Bardhan etc. besides, choreographic presentations from Kumudini Lakhia, Leela Samson, Astad Deboo, Ranjana Gauhar, Mamata Shankar, Vaswati Misra, Th. Chaotombi Singh and Bharat Sharma etc.

And works of upcoming choreographic works of Ahsmibandhu Bhattacharjee, Rama Vaidyanathan, Maitreyee Pahari, Ashavari Majumdar, Preethi Athreya, Madhu Nataraj, Pridyadarshin Ghosh, Mohana Iyer and Bimbavati Devi etc. were also included in this edition.

The first presentation of this edition of Nritya Sanrachna after opening ceremony was the presentation of Ramayana presented by famous Ranga Sri Little Ballet Troup Trust, Bhopal. Shanti Bardhan was the choreographer of this choreographic work. In this presentation, some portion of the great epic Ramayana was presented to audience in puppetry style.

The presentation was good and original but my question was how long survives this rare presentation against this day’s high voltage presentations from electronic media. Among numerous satellite channels of this day, story of Ramayana and Mahabharata were not new ones to audiences.

Keibul Lamjao presented Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal was the second & last presentation of that day. Guru Chaotombi Singh was the choreographer while M.K. Binodini was the script writer. The presentation was good and original. But, the relevance of this story was questionable. Because, the story of Keibul Lamjao was made up on the background of when Sangais (Brow-antlered deer) were dancing without any protection on the floating sanctuary of Loktak lake.

In course of time, Sangai has the luckiest animal protected by the law and authority. Any hunter kill Sangai openly he will get heavy punishment from the law and authority. So, in order to adapt any circumstance it needs some modification in scripting. The musical score and lighting design may be good ones before 30 / 40 years ago when this dance drama was premier in first time. After witnessing so many sophisticated presentations, the music and lighting design were too simplistic. For new audiences, it needs modification in music and lighting design.

On 4th January, the second day of this edition of Nritya Sanrachna, the first two presentations were Jatakmala choreography, Music and Design by Bharat Sharma and Hans Balaka choreography, Music and Costumes by Narendra Sharma from Bhoomika Creative Dance Centre, Delhi. The two performances of choreographic were work exotic and colourful.

Jatakmala dwell into our soil while Hans Balaka extended to other boundary i.e. Siberian Cranes across continents to India. The other item of that day was Maharaas by Lok Chhanda Cultural Unit, Midnapore. The performance was good based on Kathak style. However, Raas is not new to audiences of this place. Bhakti is the backbone of Manipuri style of Raas. Any Raas distance from Bakti is not suited to those audience who is very much familiar with Raas.

The third day of the Nritya Sanrachna, i.e. 5 January, 2015, the first presentation was the solo performance of Supranakha by Ashavari Majumdar The performance was a highly academic one. It tries to explore a new interpretation of Surpanaka and folding many layers of Surpanaka stored in 300 versions of the Ramayana. And also draws attention of many scholars and art enthusiasts.

The next and the last presentation of that day was Devatmayee – The Soul of the Gods by Manipuri Nartanalaya, Kolkata. Choreography and direction of the presentation was Bambavati Devi while concept by Bimbavati Devi and Srijan Chatterjee. The presentation was the ideas from Indian mythology and Manipuri folklore by expressing where lies the power of women. Women centered in Indian society so the spirit of gods also lies in women. Thought presentation was good but to present so many things at one time is to put audience in juxtaposition. The best thing is to select the best among the numerous forms and contents and have a good curry to audience.