Madhavi Mudgal: Best step forward at concert

The curtains went up with Mangalacharan, an invocation to Lord Shiva from a 13th century musical treatise, the Sangitaratna-kara. This piece evocatively celebrates the union of Shiva with his wife Parvati. In the process cosmic balance and harmony are invoked. The audience thoroughly enjoyed her intricate footwork and energetic movements.

Next was Madhavi's duet with her niece Arushi Mudgal, an upcoming artiste. The duo gave an effective rendering of Dvidha, described as "A play of rhythms and visual patterns in a duet where the tala (rhythmic cycle) and raga (melodic mode) are simultaneously delineated. Forms converge and diverge." The synchronisation of aunt and niece were flawless.

Then came Ashtapadis (a genre of Sanskrit poetry with eight stanzas) from Jayadeva's composition Gita Govinda. In this work Madhavi presented excerpts from three ashtapadis portraying three characters depicted in the text -- Radha, her confidante the sakhi and Krishna himself. With effortless ease she slipped into each of these roles -- the wrenching pain of Radha who longs for Krishna, the friend who advises her to make up with Krishna and Krishna who implores her to surrender.

This piece was followed by Arushi's Pallavi, a visual representation of music motifs. There was still more to come -- Madhavi's Oriya Champu, derived from a poem written by Oriya poet Kavi Surya Baladeva Ratha. In this piece, Radha's friend playfully chides Radha for having fallen in love with Krishna. The last attraction was Moksha, which depicts the blissful state of transcendence when the dancer and dance merge -- a symbol of the merging of the self with the cosmic self.

A rapt audience called for an encore. A gracious Madhavi responded with a rendering of Yahi Madhava.

Talking to Madhavi after the performance was a tough proposition, as she was surrounded by a bevy of fans. Nevertheless she managed to squeeze in a little time to talk to The Daily Star in the green room. Having returned from a joint performance in France with fellow dancer Alarmel Valli (a Bharatnatyam exponent), the duo are set to go to the Edinburgh festival late August. Then it is time for Madhavi and Valli to stop at the Festival of India in Brussels and other cities in Europe in October.

Explaining her experimentation with fusion, she asserts, "Fusion is first of all a more challenging art form because you are not totally free. One has to share the space and Bharatnatyam dancer Alarmel Valli and I enjoy doing that."

Though cultural figures express apprehension about the lure of the small screen, the ramp and Bollywood dance for classical dancers, Madhavi is optimistic of the future. " These are ephemeral attractions and do not touch one the same way as a dance performance. My advice to the young ones is that if they love to dance, they should just dance. I am sure that with hard work, they will make a name for themselves in the dance firmament," she concludes.

The dance recital was organised by Shadhona, A Centre for the Advancement of South Asian Music & Dance. The sponsors were Unilever and ntv. Credits must also go to the instrumentalists (Gandhi Mallik on the pakhavaj, Srinibas Satapathy on the flute and Yar Mohammad on the sitar) and vocalists (Manikuntala Bhowmik and Purna Chandra Majhi) and the light designer Gautam Bhattacharya.