Pandit Birju Maharaj along with his leading disciples Saswathi Sen and Muhua Shankar presented a riveting Kathak performance at the newly renovated Somerville Theater at Davis square on Sunday Oct 8, 2006 under the auspices of World Music.

Briju Maharaj is the greatest living exponent of Kathak, as well as being the inheritor of the Lucknow Gharana, which has produced, arguably, the finest form of Kathak.  Kathak, an Indian Classical dance form that derives its name from Kathakars or Story Tellers uses very intricate rhythmic patterns and subtle gestures to tell stories of Hindu history.  The early style of Kathak was performed in the temples. Later during the Mughal regime, a version of this was developed to entertain the courtiers. This added new dimensions to the style. In the hands of a master like Panditji the style is sheer magic.

Panditji opened his recital with his own composition depicting various episodes from the life of Lord Krishna. His Abhinaya was simply superb. Birju Maharaj is known for his mastery over rhythm and his effective use of rhythm rather than words to tell certain parts of stories made the piece clear even for those who do not understand the language. Panditji demonstrated a rhythmic patterns he had created  to mimic live events like the chuckling of a mother hen, thunder, lightning and mordern themes like the playing of field hockey. His demonstration of extremely intricate footwork was a delight to watch. Even at sixty-eight he was precise and extremely light on his feet!

Saswati Sen then took the stage and presented a most beautiful rendition of “Ahalya Uddar” – the story of Ahalya from the Ramayana which is the highly emotional story concerning the seduction of Ahalya, wife of the Maharishi Gautam, by the Lord Indra in disguise, followed by her punishment by ossification and subsequent rescue by Lord Rama. Her interpretation of the piece and her depiction of the shocked Ahalya transforming into a statue were truly breathtaking.

For me the highlight of the evening was Birju Maharaj’s rendition of “Uddhav Samavad” where Lord Krishna speaks to his dear friend Uddhav about their younger days in Brij. I have never seen such a beautiful depiction of a sentimental Krishna. Panditji became very emotional at the end of the piece with real tears rolling down his eyes.

Later Mahua Shankar and Sasawati Sen performed pieces that displayed their technical virtuosity with rhythm and movement. The ended with a “Chaugal Bandi” with the tabla maestro and the three dancers presenting very interesting and complicated rhythmic patterns with perfect synchronization.

The musicians , each a maestro in his own right included Utpal Ghoshal on tabla, Jayanta Banerjee on sitar, Debasish Sarkar and Ramesh Mishra on the Sarangi. Their accompaniment with beautiful and provided the right support for the dance.

Differentiating it from Bharatanatyam style the great Kathak dancer Gopi Krishna once said “Hum to sabkuch isharoan se he keh dete .. we convey our message through subtle hints”. It takes a great master to convey the message through subtle movements, but when a master does take the stage he certainly can cast a spell on his audience.  Suffice it to say that Birju Maharaj and his two worthy pupils Saswati Sen and Mahua Shankar enthralled the audience with their superb presentations leaving the audience asking for more.

|