Soorya Concert

 A mesmerizing concert featuring Kathak and Bharatnatyam dances and an exposition of hypnotic rhythms played by an ensemble of percussionists, formed part of the Soorya India Festival at the Al Falaj Hotel auditorium in Muscat on Sunday, November 23.

The concert, presented by Soorya and brought here to Muscat by Al Falaj Hotel and the Oman UAE Exchange, had HE Anil Wadhwa, India’s Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, as the chief guest.

 

In the first part of the concert, Laya Shakti, three renowned Indian percussionists with an equally distinguished musical lineage, Rashid Mustafa Thirakwa (tabla), Arunachalam Premkumar (mridangam) and Fateh Singh Gangani (pakhawaj) together with Ustad Nazir Khan (sarangi) played individually and together, interpreting different rhythmic patterns and stirred up a percussive storm of sound and passion.

The artistes excelled in not just their solo pieces but also in their jugalbandhis, where they vied with one another to present percussion phrases, known as bols, strung together in different patterns, to bring out amazing configurations of sound and rhythms that drew repeated applause from the audience, time after time.

In the Indian context of performing arts, jugalbandhi is when two or more artistes, vocal or instrumentalists engage in a kind of dialogue, where each one tries to interpret the music, sound, rhythm and movement in their own particular way. In this way the performers try to excel in their presentation each time and for the audience, the whole process is very enriching indeed.

The dance performances were equally spell-binding. Taking the stage first, Kirti Ramgopal gave a scintillating performance of Bharatnatyam, one of the oldest Indian classical dance form, having its roots in South India, Tamil Nadu especially. Known for it grace and tenderness, Bharatnatyam combines the three elements of bhava (expression), raga (music) and tala (rhythm).

Starting off her performance with the traditional invocation to Mother Earth, Kirti went on to portray an episode from the Indian epic, the Mahabharata depicting the outrage of Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas. Kirtis execution of hand and body movements were graceful and flowing and her statuesque poses were immaculate.

But the highlight of the evening’s performance was a flawless presentation of Kathak dances by Hari and Chethana from the famous Noopur Performing arts Centre, Bangalore. Kathak possesses a different kind language and grammar and with a vigour and rhythm that sets it apart from all other genres of classical Indian dance.

The dance duo exhibited both aspects of Kathak. The gentler and milder form of devotional kathak and its later form that emerged from 16^th century onwards as a court dance with its strong Persian influence. This genre reached its zenith under the patronage of the Nawabs of Avadh, with the seat of power at Lucknow, the most well-known among them being the last nawab of Avadh, Wajid Ali Shah, an accomplished poet, singer and dancer himself.

Bringing back all the opulence and grandeur of that Nawabi era,  Hari and Chethana performed their second set to the accompaniment to some of the finest poetry or ghazals of Mirza Ghalib.