Saptak diaries: A mesmerizing combo of dance, music

AHMEDABAD: Anoushka Shankar, the worthy inheritor of late Bharat Ratna Pt.Ravi Shankar's legacy enthralled a packed house with her rendition of raag Maru Bihaag. Though she is considered as one of the finest musicians today in crossover music, on the Saptak stage it was a classic display of a raaga elaboration handled with great finesse and grace. Raag Maru Bihaag has been adopted from Rajasthani folk music.The melodious raag needs murkis and harkats to bring out the mood of yearning and unrequited love. Anoushka displayed all elements of the Maihaar gharana which comprised creative alaap, jod and jhala. The striking feature of her presentation was an excellent control over laya where she even indulged in ladath with the tabla, brilliantly essayed by Shri Bikram Ghosh.
Noted danseuse, Shovana Narayan presented kathak recital in which she pre flamenco, tap dance and Buddhist chants with Buddhist monks. Trained under Pandit Birju Maharaj, her expressive bhavas, eloquent display of footwork and rhythmic skills had a stamp of class. She received able support from Shakeel Ahmad Khan on the Tabla, Madhu Prasad on Vocal and Vijay Sharma on sitar. Nirali Kartik presented Raag Purya sented nritya natika ­ the earliest form of kathak performed by kathakars or storytellers. As a 'choreographer-performer', Narayan has expanded the boundaries of story-telling beyond her Indian roots and has worked extensively with leading dancers of western classical ballet, Spanish Kalyan in the Mewati style of singing. She presented an elaborate alaap and extensively employed sargams and tihais in her presentation. Tabla and harmonium accompaniment was provided by Pravin Shinde and Raju Gandharva.
The opening program of the day was harmonuim solo by Rasikraiji Maharaj.He played Raag Jog and Khamaj in which he presented several compositions of the Haveli sangeet to tabla accompaniment by Nakul Mishra.