The dance of the seasons

Kolkata troupe brings Tagore to Sydney

UTTAM MUKHERJEE

Rituranga, a well-known work of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, offers interpretations of the various seasons and illustrates their rhythm and meaning. Tagore identified six seasons: summer (grishma), monsoon (barsha), early autumn (sharat), late autumn (hemanta), winter (sheeth) and spring (basanta). The work has been presented as a stage production incorporating both song and dance on many an occasion, but for Sydney’s Gurudev fans, another opportunity to soak in the Nobel laureate’s talents cannot be passed by.

The Kalamandalam Dance Troupe of Kolkata presented Rituranga at the Redgum Function Centre in Wentworthville in early February. Their version blended beautifully the dance forms of kathak, bharatnatyam, kuchipudi, mohiniattam, as well as others. The dancers performed solo and in groups depicting the rhythms, emotions and forms of each of the seasons. For example the thundering and dark days of monsoon were brilliantly performed, and so was the chill of winter. Music was composed by Debashi Saha and the dances were choreographed by Govindan Kutty and Thankamani. The narration of the seasons was done by renowned Bengali actor, Sabyasachi Chakraborty.

The Kalmandalam Dance Troupe was established in 1968, by Govindan Kutty and Thankamani. It showcases various dance forms such as bharatnatyam, kathakali, mohiniattam, kathak, and kuchipudi. Although Govindan was born in a village in Kerala he has based his works in Bengal. The duo, through their commitment, brought and popularised South Indian performing arts in Bengal. They combined Tagore’s music and compositions to the rhythm of dancing feet. This has been the mission of the Kutty family, and remains strong even now.

The Sydney program was organised with the encouragement and support from the Government of India, the ACT government, Bengali

Association of NSW, Bengali Cultural Association Canberra and Sydneybashi.

As a wonderful ‘warm up’ to Rituranga, two other presentations in classical dance were made, this time by local artistes. Shruti Ghosh, the first performer, gave a kathak recital, based on raag bhairavi. One of the eight forms of Indian classical dance, it was interesting to learn that ‘kathak’ literally means ‘storyteller’. The dance involves abhinay (acting), raasa (emotions), mudras (gestures and body movements), among other aspects within the dance.