Six-dance show unveils pan-Indian aesthetics at SAARC Culture Ministers Meet

In a little over half-an-hour, the visual treat encapsulated the rich variety of India's performance arts in its entirety.

Dances, drama and melodies from the north, east, west and south of the host nation dazzled delegates at the Third Meeting of SAARC Ministers of Culture, as the 40-minute show highlighted the individuality and commonalities of classical, folk and martial traditions of the country.

Presented under the aegis of Sangeet Natak Akademi which also crafted the programme, 'Nrityarupa' brought out the essential charm and collaborative beauty of Bharatanatyam, Kathakali (both from the south), Kathak (north and west), Odissi and Chhau (east) and Manipuri (Northeast) before an august audience featuring ministers and diplomats among other dignitaries.

Addressing the gathering at The Ashoka hotel on Wednesday evening, India's Minister of State for Culture Shripad Yesso Naik noted that the two-day conclave was striving to lay a time-bound roadmap that would work substantively to revitalize cultural institutions and re-inject enthusiasm among artists, writers and scholars who work in the areas of the dance, literature, museum, archives, libraries, oral narratives and modern art.

"Towards this end, India is willing to commit its time, manpower and resources for strengthening institutions in the region so that we can preserve our rich cultural heritages and particularly preserve the hundreds of thousands of mini-narratives which are in danger of being lost forever to future generations," he noted at the banquet speech, hours after officials of eight-nation conglomeration held talks on taking forward cultural cooperation.

'Nrityarupa', choreographed by frontline Kathak exponent Rajendra Gangani, wove a tapestry of celebrated Indian dances, thus demonstrating a kinetic synergy between them. As their seamless portrayal eventually led to a jubilant flourish, the spectators gave the artistes a cheerful ovation.

Light-designed by Sreekanth Nair, the package unrolled gracefully with a piece invoking Lord Shiva. The hymnal offering symbolised the cosmic cycle of creation and destruction, as the Shiva Stuti drew in artistes in pairs representing the six dances.

Subsequently, they also found individual demonstration before finally the dancers performedtogether to a uniform rhythm. That climactic tarana melody merged the streams into a pure-dance passage, symbolising the essential Indian spirit of union despite its cultural differences regionally.

The artistes were Arun Sankar, Rajamally B (Bharatanatyam), Gauri Diwakar (Kathak), Nikhil Lal (Chhau), Shagun Butani, Asha Kumari (Odissi), Chandan Devi, Meneka Devi (Manipuri) and M Amaljith (Kathakali).