MAHAKAVI by Asthana Arts
17th April 2010, Auditorium Taman Budaya, Kuala Lumpur
Mahakavi was a production based on the Bharati (a poet) from
India
and his works. His poet compositions helped rally the masses to support the
Indian independence movement in South India.
After
India’s
independence, many of Bharati’s poems were adapted into songs as lyrics in many
Tamil cinema numbers. Some of it was also sung in individual album. This
current genre of music by using the poems was the music used in this production.
The show consists of dance and poem recitals or perhaps
readings. There were nine dance pieces in between the narrations and the poem
recitals. All the nine dance pieces were very interesting yet have wonderful
glimpse of narrating the inner meanings of each poems. This shows the deep
thought and understandings of the choreographers and performers.
The show started with the scene showing the death of the
poet. Having dancers in all white carrying a corpse was an emotional sight.
This piece became an entry point to further know about the contribution of the
great poet.
Adjacent to the first piece, there was two other dance
pieces which caught attention. “Sutrum
Vizhi Chudar” and “Panchali Sabatham”.
The poem Sutrum Vizhi Chudar which
was adapted to a beautifully sung song was danced by two well trained dancers. The
duet showed the mastering of rhythm and expression fused with some modern dance
vocabularies. The merge of the beautiful song and the dance elevated the piece
to an ethereal state. I would rank this as the best dance piece of the night.
The other was the Panchali
Sabatham which was danced by five male and one female dancer. The story of
a king whom looses his kingdom including his wife in gambling was cleverly
choreographed using mainly expressions along with some simple movements.
Although, there were no unisons movements, the piece was interesting as the
legendary story was conveyed in a rare execution. Two thumbs up to the dancer
played the character of the Saguni.
All dance pieces in the showcase be it classical, fusion or
contemporary was at its best.
However, I was perplexed between poem recitals and poem readings
as the three artists whom were on stage to recite the poems read the poems from
a Q-card they all hold in their hand. This was noticeable by the audience thus
failed to deliver the emotion content and flow of the poems. Memorizing the
poems in advance would be a wiser act.
Besides that, the poem readings botched to gel and merge
with the dances. Therefore it was seen as two different elements in the
showcase performed one after the other. More attentions should be given to the
transitions between the dance pieces and the poems.
The show sidetracked after the final piece of the night when
there was a speech by the honorary guest of the showcase. The objective of the production
diverted further when there was some political remarks content of the speech.
None of the audience expected that sort of a finale piece, I guess. Although
there were some production’s commentary, it would be wiser if those sorts of
notes were given only to the casts and members of the production rather than to
the public. May be the speech was part of the protocol. Guess, that’s what
politic is all about, huh?
In general, the showcase had some mind-blowing dance pieces
danced by fine dancers which I think have potentials of standing on its own
without the poem recitals (or readings). This showcase reflected the enrichment
of the performing arts scene in the country. I’m seeing Asthana Arts moving towards
the right path, keep it up.
