The Articulate Festival showed how poetry finds diverse interpretations in dance

Experience diverse interpretations of poetry in dance by Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee, Deepak Majumdar, and Aruna Mohanty at Articulate Festival.

Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee (Kathak), Deepak Majumdar (Bharatanatyam) and Aruna Mohanty (Odissi), who performed at the festival, showed how poetry finds diverse interpretations in dance.

It was an evening meant to celebrate the contributions of three veteran dancers — Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee (Kathak), Deepak Majumdar (Bharatanatyam) and Aruna Mohanty (Odissi), who performed for the Articulate Festival in Bengaluru.

The introductory number by Ashimbandhu was an ode to the guru-sishya bond shared by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda. He highlighted the relationship between man and god in the piece ‘Soyaham’, which was set to Dhamaar taal and raga Darbari.

In ‘Guldasta’, a bouquet of ghazals, Ashimbandhu highlighted the poetic expression using white, black and red fabrics, an urn filled with water and rose petals and a lantern, making for an engaging viewing.

From the moment Aruna Mohanty appeared on stage striking a sculpturesque stance, framed by beams of light, her exploration was a combination of dynamic movements and nuanced expressions.

Based on a text from Shvethadhvatara Upanishad, the first composition ‘Shunya Swaroopa’ addressed the omnipotent presence of the supreme power that can only be felt and not seen through the formless Lord Jagannatha. She conveyed with great effect how he impacts every being.

That a villain is not an anti-hero, but a prototype of the nayaka was explored in the second piece ‘Pratinayaka’. Citing examples of Narasimha-Hiranyakashipu, Rama-Ravana and Krishna-Kamsa, Aruna emphasised on the philosophy ‘I am - therefore you are’, to highlight that every human being is a blend of good and evil. The melodious music, lighting design and choreographic patterns blended seamlessly in the aesthetic presentation.