Love for kathak comes alive
SD Sharma
Chandigarh, September 18
Epitomising elegance, divine grace and dynamics of aesthetics (saundriya) associated with Lucknow gharana kathak, the young dance doyenne, Divya Goswami Dikhshit, gave a magnificence solo performance at Tagore Theatre here on Tuesday.
Her solo dance performance was a part of the ongoing three-day ‘Nritya Sangam’ organised by the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi.
The disciple of legendary guru Munna Shukla of Lucknow kathak ghrana, Divya has been awarded with the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s national Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puruskar and Sur Singar Samsad’s ‘singar mani’ honour. She has performed in India and abroad.
Divya commenced her dance with an invocatory offering ‘mahro parnaam’ in laudation to Lord Krishna thus bringing alive devotion and surrendering the mystic Meera, who envisioned Krishna, the divine consort, attired in golden-yellow robes and bedecked with gold rings.
She created a tranquil atmosphere through gentle dance mudras and movements marked with sobriety and spiritual fervor.
She was, however, at her best in the concluding ‘abhinaya’ for which she chose a philosophical theme based on the 20th century indomitable Hindi poet-Jai Shanker Parshad’ s ornate poem ‘beeti bibhari jaagri’.
An array of accomplished musicians, including Abhishek Mishra (tabla), Kiran Kumar (flute), Mudassir Khan (sarangi) and Ambika Dutta provided excellent vocal support.
Dr Shobha Koser, kathak guru, Kamal Arora and Atul Sharma honoured the artiste.
