A melting pot of cultures

'Natya Matsuri', a festival of dance, was held at Chowdiah Memorial Hall on Friday. It was a cultural extravaganza of Indian and Japanese classical dance forms. The aim was to build a cultural bridge between India and Japan organised by ‘Lotus and Chrysanthemum Trust’. The evening offered a brief insight into the various forms of performing arts.

Despite the heavy rain, the auditorium was packed with guests. The evening began with an introduction of the dignitaries. The chief guest was Takayuki Kitagawa, the Consul General-Japanese Consulate. Srinivasa Raju, president of ‘Lotus and Chrysanthemum Trust’, Shyamala Ganesh, managing trustee, Chiranjiv Singh, trustee and Kasumasa Kuboki, representative of Bangalore Japanese Association shared the stage as well.

The first performance was a Kuchipudi dance by ‘Shambhavi School of Dance’.

The song accompanying this number was ‘Krishnaleela Tarangini’ by Saint Narayana Theertha, a text that recounts the life and charming looks of lord Krishna.

This was followed by a Mohiniattam recital by ‘Dasyam’ where they performed ‘Jathiswaram’, an assemblage of syllables and musical notes within the frame work of raga and tala.

There were beautiful sculpturesque postures combined with intricate rhythm designed to highlight the grace of this dance style.

Adding a touch of Japan to the event was Hiroko Shimoda’s bamboo flute performance. She played ‘Sakura Sakura’ with a piano accompaniment and ‘Akatombo’ with a mixed choral group called ‘The Royal Echo’. She finished her act by performing an Indian tune alone with tabla player Puttaraj Gonahalu.

The next was an Odissi dance by ‘Sanjali Dance Ensemble’ called ‘Grisma’. It was a summer dance taken from poet Kalidas’s ‘Ritusamhara’.

The members of ‘Nanohana-Kai and Saino-Kai’ entertained the audience with a group dance that is performed during the ‘Sawara Float Festival’. ‘Nadam’ performed a Kathak dance called ‘Mahadeva’ and ‘Tarana’.

The highlight of the evening was when ‘The Royal Echo’ sang the popular Kannada song ‘Huttidare Kannada Nadalli Hutta Beku’. The audience, as well as the dancers, joined in singing, making the event a grand success.

The evening ended with felicitations and national anthems of both the countries.

“It was such a wonderful evening and we all had a great time. It was nice to see how similar we are with our celebrations. We look forward to many other events like this,” said Jeena R, who was present with her husband and kids to watch the show.
DHNS