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Birthdays & Anniversaries
Ileana Citaristi, not at her best in the demonstration part, introspected on the 'Evolution of Sanchari in Odissi Abhinaya'. That Odissi abhinaya did not go beyond a very basic word to gesture translation like an action song till the late fifties of the twentieth century is known. The Mahari was more a singer and her abhinaya did not go beyond elementary gestures and rhythm. It was during the Jayantika effort that persons like Guru Mayadhar Raut and the late Sanjukta Panigrahi who after a six-year stint at Kalakshetra had their minds opened to elaboration in abhinaya thanks to training in Kathakali and Bharatanatyam, and ideas of enlarging on the musical text began to spread in Odissi circles. Mayadhar's grounding in theory based on the Sanskrit treatises was a great help in expanding Odissi abhinaya. And what he gave by way of added information for codifying Odissi and for sanchari development was taken up and furthered with zeal and creative imagination by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. As his student, Ileana's illustrations were from the guru's repertoire. It was seen that Guruji's elaborations very often took a narrative and episodic form, sometimes warranted by the words of the song as in Salabeg's Janana Ahe Neela saila wherein the musical line "Kuru Sabha...." is followed by an entire depiction of the 'Dice scene' and of Draupadi being rescued by Krishna, the scene rendered to a repetition of the line, which after the first few sung versions becomes a melodic refrain played on the instruments. Here the poet who is praising Krishna as saviour refers to thisincident and the elaboration fits in perfectly. But in a Jayadeva ashtapadi like Sakhi he Kesi mathanamudaram when Radha as the abhisarika is depicted braving the dangers lurking in the dark forest to reach the kunj for a tryst with Krishna, the guru's interpretative interventions portray Radha as an already married woman stealthily stealing into the night in order to avoid the inquisitive eyes of the parents-in-law. Whether Jayadeva in his kavya ever thought of Radha as a parakeeya nayika (a married woman in love with another man) is doubtful and whether artistic freedom allows one to superimpose one's own interpretations not even hinted at in the text, is open to question. Similarly, in the ashtapadi Yahi Madhava Radha's accusations pointing out to Krishna's very obvious marks of dalliance with another woman, are interspersed in the guru's interpretation with passages where Krishna is shown making excuses for the give away signs on his person. What this does is not just strip Krishna of all his dignity, but also bring in a lighter comic element, which interferes with the tone of mixed anger, sarcasm and anguish in Radha's tone which is what Jayadeva's lyric is all about. For this writer, the treatment by Kelucharan interferes with the sthayi bhava of the khandita nayika, apart from introducing a mood not warranted by the text. But, of course as Ileana maintained, much of the Guru's interpretative imagination was fashioned by his long association with the Raas tradition and the episodes dealt with here became very much a part of Guruji's cultural memory that he dipped into for use in Odissi. Between the poetry and the artistic creativity of the dancer lies a whole area open to much interpretation, on which clearly the last word has not been said by a long stretch. Alisha Mohapatra and Soubhalaxmi Samal, two senior students of Ileana also participated in the demonstration.
Ileana Citaristi, not at her best in the demonstration part, introspected on the 'Evolution of Sanchari in Odissi Abhinaya'. That Odissi abhinaya did not go beyond a very basic word to gesture translation like an action song till the late fifties of the twentieth century is known. The Mahari was more a singer and her abhinaya did not go beyond elementary gestures and rhythm. It was during the Jayantika effort that persons like Guru Mayadhar Raut and the late Sanjukta Panigrahi who after a six-year stint at Kalakshetra had their minds opened to elaboration in abhinaya thanks to training in Kathakali and Bharatanatyam, and ideas of enlarging on the musical text began to spread in Odissi circles. Mayadhar's grounding in theory based on the Sanskrit treatises was a great help in expanding Odissi abhinaya. And what he gave by way of added information for codifying Odissi and for sanchari development was taken up and furthered with zeal and creative imagination by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. As his student, Ileana's illustrations were from the guru's repertoire. It was seen that Guruji's elaborations very often took a narrative and episodic form, sometimes warranted by the words of the song as in Salabeg's Janana Ahe Neela saila wherein the musical line "Kuru Sabha...." is followed by an entire depiction of the 'Dice scene' and of Draupadi being rescued by Krishna, the scene rendered to a repetition of the line, which after the first few sung versions becomes a melodic refrain played on the instruments. Here the poet who is praising Krishna as saviour refers to thisincident and the elaboration fits in perfectly. But in a Jayadeva ashtapadi like Sakhi he Kesi mathanamudaram when Radha as the abhisarika is depicted braving the dangers lurking in the dark forest to reach the kunj for a tryst with Krishna, the guru's interpretative interventions portray Radha as an already married woman stealthily stealing into the night in order to avoid the inquisitive eyes of the parents-in-law. Whether Jayadeva in his kavya ever thought of Radha as a parakeeya nayika (a married woman in love with another man) is doubtful and whether artistic freedom allows one to superimpose one's own interpretations not even hinted at in the text, is open to question. Similarly, in the ashtapadi Yahi Madhava Radha's accusations pointing out to Krishna's very obvious marks of dalliance with another woman, are interspersed in the guru's interpretation with passages where Krishna is shown making excuses for the give away signs on his person. What this does is not just strip Krishna of all his dignity, but also bring in a lighter comic element, which interferes with the tone of mixed anger, sarcasm and anguish in Radha's tone which is what Jayadeva's lyric is all about. For this writer, the treatment by Kelucharan interferes with the sthayi bhava of the khandita nayika, apart from introducing a mood not warranted by the text. But, of course as Ileana maintained, much of the Guru's interpretative imagination was fashioned by his long association with the Raas tradition and the episodes dealt with here became very much a part of Guruji's cultural memory that he dipped into for use in Odissi. Between the poetry and the artistic creativity of the dancer lies a whole area open to much interpretation, on which clearly the last word has not been said by a long stretch. Alisha Mohapatra and Soubhalaxmi Samal, two senior students of Ileana also participated in the demonstration.