Saranagati is celebrated every year by Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardee Avijit Das for the noble purpose of schooling dancers enrolled under him to other dance forms. Das doesn’t believe in confining his disciples only to the dance form he is teaching. He has completely surrendered himself to a higher power—as the word Saranagati suggests. He aspires for excellence for himself and the wards under him. He seeks guidance from the Almighty. His school is aptly named “Kim Aham. Who am I? Avijit Das is a Bharatanatyam graduate from Kalakshetra. He fell in love with Kuchipudi after seeing the style of Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam. After which there was no looking back for him. His pursuance to learn the form filled his waking hours. He saw, he learnt, and he practiced burning his midnight lamp. Today he’s an established Kuchipudi performer, scholar and teacher. Very recently, he rendered a mesmerising Kuchipudi performance at the very prestigious Madras Music Academy Festival of Dance. In the heartland of Bharatnatyam, amidst ace Bharatnatyam practitioners, Kuchipudi dancer Avijit Das was adjudged an outstanding performer in his category. He was born to dance.

I have had the chance to see Mohiniyattam exponents Gopika Varma, Pallavi Krishnan, Guru Aruna Mohanty, an exponent of Odissi dance, and of course Nrityagram’s Odissi group performance under the tutelage of scholar practitioner and principal Surupa Sen and other greats, ever since I have been attending the Saranagati Festival of Dance held in Bangalore for quite a few years.

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This year Avijit Das had Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee-Kuchipudi exponent Guru Deepika Reddy’s disciple and daughter Shloka Reddy perform with her other students to captivate and enamour rasikas in Bangalore with a scintillating Kuchipudi dance presentation.

At the very start, the group made a mark with the presentation of Kuchipudi Vandana.

Deepanjali, the dance school of Guru Deepika Reddy’s ensemble, commenced with Kuchipudi Vandana, consisting of a string of traditional Kuchipudi dance elements integrated together as a single offering. The piece commenced with an invocatory verse in praise of Lord Ganesha, who removes all obstacles for the fruitful completion of the endeavours of human beings.

Then followed Jathiswaram, a pure rhythmic piece with intricate patterns, which concluded with the Sahityam, which was an offering to Siddhendra Yogi, a scholar and artist of the 14th century and the doyen of Kuchipudi. Then came an enthralling piece of dance where the dancers standing on the rim of a brass plate executed intricate footwork in synchronisation with the percussion. This is unique to the Kuchipudi repertoire. Kuchipudi Vandana choreographed by Deepika Reddy was in Taal Malika and Raagam Malika to a composition of DSV Sastri. The presentation of this trad, Thakkuvemi Manaku, was a melodious piece by the renowned vagyeyakara, Ramadasu, an ardent devotee of Lord Rama. Here the poet praises Lord Rama, saying that we lack nothing if Lord Rama is with us. It is believed that Lord Vishnu has donned various incarnations (dasavatharam) for the benefit of mankind to restore righteousness (dharma) and annihilate evil (adharma). It is interesting to note that Krishna’s profound statement in the Gitopadesham proclaiming his appearance to redeem mankind whenever the situation so demands, as explained in the Dasavatharam, has found poets of almost all the Indian languages to write engrossing poetry. For the first time, I heard the Telugu version of the manifestations of the Lord by Vagyakara Ramadasu.

Thakkuvemi Manaku set to Raagam Saurashtra and Adi Talam choreographed by Guru Smt. Deepika Reddy was performed by Shloka Reddy, Ruthvika Nalamalapu, Anjali Reddy, Khushi Kamtam and Srujana Vanka.

Shloka Reddy’s daughter/disciple of Guru Smt. Deepika Reddy’s performance of Rudrama was simply out of the ordinary. As the historical figure, Rudrama Shloka had many roles: a skilled warrior, a strikingly good horse rider adept at wielding the sword, and an ardent devotee of Goddess Bhadrakaali, worshipping her replete with the chanting of a few verses from Kaalikaashtakam.

In short, the calibre of Rudrama was established through Kuchipudi dance by the powerful performer.

Deepika Reddy choreographed this piece inspired by the historic warrior queen of the Kakatiya dynasty. Brought up like a son by her father, King Ganapati Deva, Rudrama was one of the very few females who ruled as a monarch in India. The piece highlighted her lineage as well as her valiant character.

Rudrama set to Samudra Priya and Dhenuka Raagam and Adi Khandachapu Talam, the lyrics of which were written in by Vaddepalli Krishna, set to music by DSV Sastry with the fine choreography of Deepika Reddy, was performed by Shloka Reddy, Ganapathi Deva, and Ruthvika Nalamalapu.

Warriors: Anjali Reddy, Khushi Kamtam and Srujana Vanka. The dancers with their fine renditions will be etched in the minds of Rasikas for a long time to come. Perfection was at their fingertips. Guru Deepika Reddy touched upon various aspects of the rich legacy of India, which are Indian mythology, tradition, and history.

Kathak practitioners Nirupama Rajendran and Rajendran—both awardees of Sangeet Natak Akademi—taught by stalwarts like Kumudini Lakhia, Arjun Misra, and of course Maya Rao presented their repertory members in Shiva Sthuthi, which blended Hindustani music and Lucknow Gharana Kathak with an aesthetic flavour. It was in Taal Dhamar played on Pakhawaj. Having established themselves with Shiva Stuthi, the vibrant group of dancers took up a string of stories from the life of Krishna. In these tales too, the art of storytelling that Kathak is famous for—rhythm, energy, and music—helped in exploring the life of Krishna.

At the outset, Gopikas are in intimate conversation with the flute of Krishna. The flute is personified. They want the flute—who has had the golden opportunity to be close to Krishna’s breath—to whisper in Krishna’s ears about their love for him. In the second segment, Krishna, the stealer of butter, is caught red-handed. His lame excuses fall as sweet honey to the Gopika’s ears, and Krishna wins the day. The last story is rather poignant, where duty comes before pleasure and Krishna goes away from Vrindaban to Mathura, leaving the Gopis broken-hearted. He lives in their hearts, though not present physically. That is the stuff love is made of.

Their recital ended with Bahurang, which was pure dance. Young and vibrant dancers displayed the rhythmical beauty of Kathak in all its completeness. The performers Rohini Prabhath, Ashwin Prabhath, Adithi Ashok, Spurthi Ashok, Maanvi Ram, Bhavana Parashar, Apoorva Rao, Radha Varadhan, and Sanchita Shenoy Rohini Jayaram and Bhavana Parashar made the evening. Lighting was by Ajay Vijendra, and the choreography was by Nirupama and Rajendra.

The writer is a senior dance critic

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