On Their Jewelled Toes

The festival will open with a performance of Mudgal and her troupe. The Nayaks will then take the audience through the evolution of Kathak through three different periods. “We will perform dhrupad to denote the temple period,tarana and thumri for the court period and finally a jugalbandi of strings and percussion to denote the contemporary stage,” says Monisa,who has trained under Rajendra Gangani of the Jaipur gharana. Meanwhile,Mumbai-based Deboo,who will perform with eight Pung Cholom drummers from Manipur,will follow the modulations of sound — from a whisper to a thundering climax — in his piece Rhythm Divine. Shrikant says,“I will portray the elements of Hindu myths and scriptures through four choreographed pieces — a Ganapati vandana,a Srushti tandavam (the dance of creation and depiction of Shakti) followed by mazhai or rain,and finally a brisk tillana.”

Incidentally,next year Ananya will be part of the Commonwealth Cultural Festival to be organised by the Delhi government during the Commonwealth Games. The festival will be on during the 12 days of the Games and will bring together artists from all over India. “We are already at work for the Commonwealth cultural fest,trying to put together the best,” says Bhargava.