Guest guest Posted September 13, 2006 Report Share Posted September 13, 2006 Forty Reasons to Perform Sumati Mehrishi Sharma "Krishna's images were coordinated with lyrics sung by O.S. Arun, the versatile Carnatic vocalist from Chennai." New Delhi, September 13: As a rule, three-year-old boys don't enjoy Bharatnatyam. Till they come across Jyotsna Shourie, that is. Then it's almost like watching a TV show. For her choreographies have Noddy togged in Bermudas prancing in Nrityaland, Alice preening about in Wonderland, even a Chhau dancer playing Captain George Von Trapp in a ballet based on the film The Sound of Music. That, in short, is Shourie's contribution to Bharatnatyam. The Delhi-based exponent presents simple, refreshing themes with a brush of theatre, translating the text from Telugu and Tamil to Sanskrit, even English. This time around, Shourie has glorified Lord Krishna. Though the Hindu God has been a favourite muse for Indian dancers, Shourie, in her inimitable style, picked up the Krishna Chalisa as her text source for a ballet presented at the India Habitat Centre last week. "The Krishna Chalisa, much like the Shiv and the Hanuman Chalisa, hasn't been explored by classical dancers," says the woman who, along with students from the Indian Dance Centre, performed the ballet based on excerpts from Krishna's life in around 40 verses (chalisa is derived from chalees, meaning forty). "It's not wise to perform for more than 75 minutes. No matter how simple you make it, people, specially Delhiites, tend to get restless," she says. Though she conceptualised it three years ago and first presented it in 2004, this time she added a digital punch by using screens on stage. Krishna's images were coordinated with lyrics sung by O.S. Arun, the versatile Carnatic vocalist from Chennai. "The digitalization really helped. It was impossible to reflect on many aspects through abhinaya in such little time," she says. Chalisa, according to Shourie, is easy to perform and simpler to follow. "Plus, it's light on philosophy. My students are young and connect well with them," says Shourie. It's not just the students who lap up her creativity. More importantly, it's the audience. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=201168 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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