Veteran exponent of classical dance Sonal Mansingh and her Centre for Indian Classical Dances (CICD), celebrated the 75 years of India’s Independence—’Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ by organising ‘Dance of India @ 75’ (DOI@75). It was presented as a virtual dance competition for young dancers between 15 to 30 years of age, conducted from 22 to 24 July 2021.

Founder President of CICD and Member of Parliament, Sonal Mansingh, opened her introductory speech by reading out the message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi wishing the event all success: “It is heartening to learn about the organisation of the ‘Dance of India @ 75’ by the Centre for Indian Classical Dances, that is, Shri Kamakhya Kalapeeth, New Delhi. The noble endeavour to support our artist community through virtual competition is appreciable. Our classical dances are representative of our timeless culture. Ingrained in the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat - Shreshtha Bharat’, the diversity and richness of our arts and heritage fill every Indian with pride. India’s classical dance forms bring alive tales from our tradition and take the art of storytelling to loftier heights. A creative blend of abhinaya and bhava, the dances strike an instant chord with the audience….”

“The selection of thoughtful themes like ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, ‘Vishwaguru Bharat’ and ‘Unsung Heroes of India’ echo the glory of Sanatana Bharat, the glow of modern India and also a homage to the courage and sacrifice of our innumerable freedom fighters who did not get the fame in recent history. The conclusion on the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima imbibes the glorious tradition of our guru-sishya parampara that inculcates virtuous values. The competition platform invites youngsters to showcase their skills and art.”

Sonal Mansingh continued with her remarks, “Dance is the easiest way to experience the divine. What cannot be said gets expressed in dance and touches the heart. At that moment, one forgets the sorrows and difficulties. In these challenging times, let us celebrate creativity. Let the young generation look at our dances where there is the union of body, mind and spirit like a Triveni. The DOI@75 has ignited the young minds and showed where our classical dance heritage is now, and how our young dancers have shown grit and national pride despite the pandemic lockdowns and closure of cultural facilities.”

There was also a recorded video message from Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State, Culture, appreciating the welcome endeavour of CICD and wishing Sonal Mansingh for the grand success of the event. The prize-winning solo and group choreographies based on various classical dance forms of India were showcased on the three evenings of DOI@75, anchored competently by Rima Gautam in Hindi and Arupa Lahiri in English. The captivating presentations were interspersed with Sonal Mansingh and Satchidanand Joshi, member secretary IGNCA, interacting with the jury members who shared their experience of judging this kind of mega event.

Independent observers from different fields did the overall assessment of the competition including Amjad Ali Khan, the world-renowned sarod maestro; Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President ICCR; Vaman Kendre from the field of theatre; Malini Awasthi, folk and thumri singer; Manoj Joshi, actor; Topon Angarag Mohanta, the Bollywood fame singer-composer from Assam; the Kalakshetra alumnus, Shubhalakshni Khan; scholar Bharat Gupt; sitarist Shubhendra Rao; classical singer, Wasifuddin Dagar; art historian Ashish Khokar; and the dance gurus like Vanashree Rao (Kuchipudi), Aruna Mohanti, Aloka Kanungo (Odissi), Parul Shah, Ananda Shankar Jayant and Roja Kannan (Bharatanatyam), guru Shovana Narayan (Kathak) and Sharodi Saikia (Sattriya).

Motivated with patriotism ‘atma-bal’, one of the Marathi poems by Veer Savarkar written while going through the tortures of the Andaman jail, gave a flying start to the inaugural evening of the group choreographies. The poet says, you may torture my body, but my atma is immortal singing the glory of my country. Composed in the piercing swaras of Sohini, the soul-stirring poem and the impressive group choreography touched many hearts. Spoken words and documentary clips introduced the story of Veer Savarkar in the background, augmenting the choreography enhanced with martial arts, including paika with sticks. In the given canvas of just 10 minutes, bringing out the whole life of Savarkar on the theme of Unsung Heroes was challenging but conceived and presented with aplomb.

The second presentation in Bharatanatyam, Aaj mane lagyo kasumbi rang, a Gujarati song written by the patriotic poet Jhaver Chand Meghani had Garbha-like steps. The Tamil song of Subramania Bharati echoed the theme of Vishwa-Guru Bharat in Bharatanatyam. In conclusion, Vande Mataram, sung like a slow-moving bol-aalap in raga Desh with no rhythmic accompaniment, sounded like an emotional devotional song for our motherland, bringing a strong feeling for being an Indian with pride in our rich cultural heritage – it gave goosebumps. The Kathak choreography from Rajkot on the theme Atma-Nirbhar Bharat had a song Ai Bharat tujhko atma-nirbhar hona hai and tarana, both in raga Charukesi incorporating tode-tukde, paran, gat-nikas and gat-bhava, showcasing both nritta and abhinaya, along with crisp footwork.

The winners of the solo presentations opened with the theme Unsung Heroes with a Bharatanatyam performance depicting the brave Chandela queen Durgavati. She was born as a tribal gond and lived like a kshatriya fighting the Mughal enemies with all her might, protecting her young son’s kingdom after the death of her husband. The solo Kathakali performance Ghatotkach left the audience spellbound. The Odissi solo on Vishwa-Guru Bharat, was based on raga Hamsadhwani. The solo Bharatanatyam highlighted the story of Timmakka—the childless woman who brings up trees as her children, herself gradually growing old from a charming young maiden to an old woman, along with the imaginative sargam. There was a solo Odissi performance on Keshav Baliram Hegadwar’s Dhanya hey yug-purush Keshav pujyate Hegadwar on the Unsung Heroes’ theme and a Bharatanatyam solo on the untold story of Kuily. The Kathakali performance about Sahadeva, the youngest of the Pandava brothers, was fascinating.

The interactive sessions of Sonal Mansingh and Satchidanand Joshi with some of the judges felt like ‘jnan-charcha’ with wisdom nuggets. When Sonal asked Vaman Kendre, “You are from the theatre; how did you feel here evaluating these performances?” his response was: “Natya Sastra was written for the theatre, but no Indian theatre can be imagined and staged without music and dance. Indian theatre is a total experience comprising music, dance, visual arts, and more. Our storytelling heritage is never complete without all these arts. We cannot remain in compartments, and we will have to come together to become vishwa-guru. In these challenging times of the pandemic, we all need to be involved in something. These themes of ‘DOI@75’ have put hundreds of young people across India on some creative activity by offering a platform for the younger generation.”

Topon Angarag Mohanta from Assam underlined that classical dance needs classical music. He sang a melodious Borgeet from classical Assamese music to go with the classical Sattriya dance form from Assam. He also had to sing his famous film song on popular demand, which went Ye moh moh ke dhaage. Manoj Joshi emphasised the importance of gurus in our classical performing arts.

Renowned dancer Padma Subrahmanyam, also affirmed this wonderful initiative of bringing to youngsters this excellent opportunity to establish their talent and creativity. Malini Awasthi said, “These were some of the most beautiful moments of my life, going through these video recordings on such themes. I was moved by the story of an Anganwadi worker, thinking that this competition has reached the farthest corners of our country. There can’t be a better musical or dance tribute to our Independence at 75 than this idea.

DOI@75, the brainchild of the visionary Sonal Mansingh, brought out the very best of young talents practising Indian classical dances; they were honoured with cash awards. It was the originality of ideas that added uniqueness to every presentation. Some participants brought original musical scores that must have called for an extra effort to look for musicians and the lyrics written especially for their themes. The overall standard of classical dance and music was not compromised, including the technical support of camera, light, picture in picture to enhance presentations. The hard work put in by the young dancers was laudable, and so was the support of the IGNCA and the Sanskriti Mantralaya, along with the other sponsors.

MANJARI SINHA

(Music scholar and critic)