A new perfection

Aug 26 2011

Second concert in the series of "Kala Virasat" - by "Banyan Tree".

Dance is the lens through which Pt Birju Maharaj views the whole universe. Laya is in everything, within you and me, in the sounds of birds, the ringing of the telephone, and the dancing of the peacock. This living legend is poetry and beauty personified. For more than one and half hours there was a free wheeling demonstration of the various aspects of laya danced in and by nature by Pt. When his senior-most disciple (also performing that day) - Saswati Sen reminded him of the time, he casually remarked " मैं मज़ा ले रहा हूँ, मुझे

लेने दो :)घडी नहीं थी - उस ज़माने से हूँ मैं" :-)

(I am having fun - let me be. I am from that time when there were no watches)

A sample video for his demonstration of a "duck". Another masterpiece demonstration of the "peacock" actually led the audience to imagine the full bloomed plume around the Pt.

The music was by live musicians (could not have been any other way for such a senior artist) - Sarangi, Sitar, Vocals, Harmonium, Tabla. A 100% extempore performance by Pt, he explained one line of the verse to the musicians, danced to his heart's content, came to the mike, explained the second line and so on. The most spontaneous, and unprepared performances ever witnessed in dance. As with spontaneity, there were  corrections, pauses and breaks.  But divine beauty was abundantly flowing in the imperfection. A new perfection.

Saswati Sen - his disciple for the past 43 years was expressive and technically competent, an accomplished artist in her own right, a bit overshadowed in grace and divinity by her Guru.

The "samvad" or dialogue between the tabla and the ghungroo - dramatized by Pt as if between a hero and the heroine whom he is pursuing, and finally culmination of the lovers in the "sam" or the end of the tala made it very obvious that the Kathak is indeed a very close kin of the percussion tabla. Perhaps due to a common evolutionary lineage with the "courtesan" era of the Mughals - alongside the Khayal style of music itself.

Kathak itself is so differently beautiful - de-linked from the usual "devotional" repertoire  with equal emphasis on expressiveness while maintaining the crescendo from the beat. (The concert has in-fact inspired us to learn more about the connection between Kathak and the Tabla, comparing it with other dance forms - where Tabla is significantly absent)

Our view: Transcendental experience.

Must pursue to see.