Kathak, now what next?

This was not Kumudini’s first attempt at sticking her neck out. In a solo titled Duvidha (Conflict), she played a middle class woman trying to balance the desire of a traditional wife, mother — conforming to all the pressures that the society imposes on a woman — with that of a free person. She used a wooden frame, around which she danced but was always hesitant to pass through it, to cross the borders. She discarded the libretto, the words, and moved away from the image of Radha and the gopis and revealed a contemporary woman — but through the Kathak medium with which she has been familiar.

Since her return from London in 1956, Kumudini has concentrated on marrying traditional Kathak with contemporary sensibilities. And her dance academy Kadamba at Ahmedabad, soon turned into a beehive of young acolytes. Fresh ideas and simple themes — closer to reality — were being attempted, without losing out on aesthetics.

In 1980, Kathak Kendra, with Keshav Kothari as its anchor, was instrumental in persuading Pandit Birju Maharaj — the inheritor of traditional Kathak through seven generations and one of the best exponents from the Lucknow gharana — to choreograph a work titled Parikrama. A tale in which Kathak was used to depict the rhythm that runs through all animate objects. A solo form, it soon found a new avataar in group works — some raw, immature, gimmicky and weak but some that were strong and full of vitality. Dancers woke up to the possibilities that Kathak offered in terms of performing it both with sophistication and yet within the comprehension of the audience.

Those glorious 10 years of Kathak Mahotsav — named after Kalka and Bindadin Maharaj, the ancestors of Pandit Birju Maharaj — saw a new movement in Kathak. It was the period of experimental works which veered away from Radha Krishna, Chhed Chhad, Gat Bhav and Tode Tukde. Chetna Jalan in Calcutta at her Padatik institute, Rohini Bhate at her institute Nritya Bharati at Pune, Durgalal and Bhaswati, Shri Ram Bharatiya Kala Kendra at Delhi, young exponents at Kathak Kendra and Lucknow vied with each other to showcase new work at the Kathak Mahotsav in Delhi.

The more successful dancers emerged from Kadamb, Ahmedabad. Among those who went from there to Kathak Kendra, to study under Pandit Birju Maharaj, were Daksha Sheth and Aditi Mangaldas. Others like Maulik Shah and Ishira Parikh stayed back and created new works like Nara aur Nari (Man and Woman). They also performed in Kumudini Lakhia’s work till they started their own institution, Anarta, in Ahmedabad.

Moving on from the Kathak Kendra, Daksha Sheth choreographed Seasons to the music of Vivaldi. Aditi Mangaldas choreographed several pieces using contemporary poems and literary pieces as a take-off point, like Letter — written by an unwed mother to an unborn child. From there to her recent highly successful work Footprints On Water, Aditi has lent her own signature to Kathak. Bhaswati, sister of Sashwati who is a prima ballerina in Birju Maharaj’s ensemble in Delhi, has taken up themes of women like Urmila (wife of Lakshman) and contemporary works like Kanupriya, by late Dr Dharmavir Bharati, interpreting them in Kathak but deviating again from the traditional presentation of Radha.

The latest to join these dancers is Akash Naik from Mumbai. He went to Ahmedabad to study Kathak under Kumudini Lakhia. After an apprenticeship under her for more than 14 years, he has now ventured into his own. Tall, personable and thoroughly trained in Kathak, he has performed in Kumudini’s latest works like Smasamvedana.

Akash’s recent performance at Prithvi Theatre was an eye-opener. He has excellent technique and a vivid imagination. His parents, Prof Bharat and Gita Naik, are well-known Gujarati litterateurs. Therefore he receives a reasonable feedback from them on the thematic content he chooses to depict. Of the four pieces choreographed by him — Shila (Stone), Shodh (Search), Ghoonghroo (Ankle Bells) and Jugalbandi (dancing with a male dancer who performs to Western music while Akash sticks to Kathak) — Akash revealed his abilities to explore Kathak in a manner that will do his mentor proud. There is a continuity of training and thought in Akash’s works without slavishly following Kumudini. He retains elements of Kathak from traditional numbers but they are not reminders of a feudal past. The boys are boys and girls are girls, be they Krishna or the Gopis, but they are seen as contemporary familiar figures. In particular, Jasmine Oza, who performs jazz and break dance with Akash, puts the audience in a foot tapping mood. From gharanas and ghoonghroos to a jazzy two-step, Kathak moves on while retaining its past glory.