Bharatalaya Academy Melbourne
The Chandrabhanu Bharatalaya Academy made yet another splash in Melbourne with their presentation Legacy – A Grand Odissi Festival, at the Darebin Arts Centre over 4 performances in August. The shows were in part a celebration of their musician-director-composer and vocalist Krushna Chandra Ray’s milestone 60th birthday in August this year. The dance numbers for the programme were selected from the immense body of work created by him and Dr Chandrabhanu in Odissi over the last 35 years of collaboration between them.
Dr Chandrabhanu needs no introduction to Melbourne Indian classical dance audiences – he has stridden the field like a colossus as a performer, teacher, educator, researcher, ambassador, bridge-builder with other dance forms. His Bharatalaya Academy, established in 1973, has trained 100s of Bharatanatyam and Odissi dancers.
So this offering was an event that was much anticipated. The evening opened with the traditional Mangalacharanam, a theme that evokes a devotee entering a temple: it began with an invocation to Lord Jagannath of Puri and Mother Earth, followed by the well known Shloka to Lord Shiva Karpura Gouram – one that probably every Hindu knows by heart; concluding with the ten dancers offering their Sabha pranams – welcome and homage – to the Gods, gurus and the audience. It was a grand harbinger of things to follow. Bharatalaya Academy Melbourne
Keeping to the classical format, Pallavai, the signature item of any Odissi performance – a pure dance number with the tribhangi, footwork and graceful movements characteristic of this dance form came next, set to rag Kirwani. This was followed by a lively and fast-paced presentation Ganesha Tandava by five dancers who portrayed the tandava of this portly deity in all His glory. The Ravana Stotram – or the Shiva tandava Stotram – followed suit, with twelve dancers keeping up the frenetic pace with rapid, rhythmic movements evoking Shiva’s cosmic dance. The patterns they weaved on the stage were a delight to watch.
Three items that followed the brief interval were what one would describe as a ‘padam’ in Bharatanatyam: Ambika Docherty, a pillar of Bharatalaya, has been with the academy for many years as a senior pupil, teacher and member of its management team. Returning to solo performance after a hiatus of several years, she presented Patha Charide, an abhinaya-rich Odissi piece in which a Gopi uses all her wiles to get past Krishna on her way to the Yamuna. Docherty’s abhinayas were evocative, delightful and rich, never melodramatic – showing the audience and the dancers what good expressions in dance should be: just right and never overdone. The next two numbers from Jayadeva’s Geeta Govindam, were rendered solo by Poornima and Roshni respectively, both veteran dancers of the school. The themes in both the items were, in the Geeta Govindam style, highly sensual, and Roshni and Poornima executed them with aplomb. The dancers adhered to the strict classicism of the dance style, first encountered by Chandrabhanu quite by chance during a visit to Odisha in 1974. He met the great Odissi guru Bijoy Kumar Senapati then, began learning with him, and never looked back.
The final event of the evening was Navadurga, a tribute to the nine forms of Devi, specially choreographed by Chandrabanu a few years ago. This masterpiece was aptly performed by nine senior dancers of the school. This mammoth presentation depicted the nine aspects of Shakti in all their glory with music set to nine different rags. Both Chandrabanu and Ambika were masterly in their wielding of the nattuvangam.
The live music by the most sonorous ensemble, led by Krushna Chandra Ray himself on the vocal and harmonium added to a fulfilling experience. He is an internationally acclaimed singer, an A-grade artiste with All India Radio, and has collaborated with world-renowned Odissi dancers. His haunting melodies filled the hall in a soft embrace. He had been chosen as the vocalist for the Bharatam Dance Company as a 25-year-old by Ambika Docherty and Chandrabhanu 35 years ago!
Dr Dibakar Parida on the pakhawaj who in the Odissi style, also rapped the ‘Bol’; Soumya Ranjan Joshi who most melodiously captured the aura of several Krishna compositions, and Sabyasachi Rout on the sitar and Pradeep Kumar Moharana on the violin added to the ensemble’s most wonderful accompaniment.
Read Also: Sharanga’s Velavane: From longing to divine union
