Dance performances in the fifth Surdas Festival Shashiprabha Tiwari New Delhi.

The fifth Sant Shiromani Surdas Mahotsav was organized by Geetanjali International Foundation on 30 December 2024. This festival was organized at India International Center, Delhi. Scholars like Vidushi Ranjana Gauhar, Vidushi Kamalini and Nalini, Guru Geetanjali Lal, Vidushi Uma Dogra, Jayaprabha Menon, Vidushi Bharti Shivaji were present at the ceremony.

Apart from this, a large number of artists also witnessed the program. This added to the grandeur of the ceremony. The Surdas festival began with the performance of the disciples of Vidushi Uma Dogra. The disciples Diksha Rawat and Karthika Unnikrishnan presented a duet Kathak dance. They presented their dance in a pure dance based on the fifteen-beat Pancham Sawari taal.

The style of rhythm in Upaj was presented in an attractive manner in the work of feet. In this, the way of coming to Sam on the fifteenth and eighth syllables was amazing. At the same time, the way of showing empty syllables was also easy. Along with the gaats of Rukhsar and Ghunghat, the use of Tihais and Parans was amazing.

Her traditional image was seen in her food and jewellery, which is rarely seen in Kathak artists these days. The credit goes to her guru Uma Dogra that she has maintained this style among her disciples. Aahaarya has special importance and dignity in classical dance. It is important for young artists to keep this in mind.

The main attraction of this ceremony was the dance of Bharatanatyam dancer Vidushi Rama Vaidyanathan. Her accompanists included Sudha Raghuraman, G Raghuraman, Varun Rajasekhar and Manohar Balachandran. They depicted the sweet devotion in the heroine’s expressions through Varanam. It was based on Shyama Shastri’s composition ‘Swami Ramyabhave’. This raga was composed in Anand Bhairavi and the atta taal of fourteen matras.

Dancer Rama portrayed the heroine’s expressions in various stages during the procession of Varadarajan, the main deity of Kanchipuram. She used hand gestures, postures, especially fingers very beautifully. Sanchari Bhaav showed amazing maturity and immersion. On one hand, singer Sudha Raghuraman’s singing was full of energy, on the other hand, dancer Rama Vaidyanathan’s acting was flowing. They kept the audience captivated during their entire performance. It is the first condition of classical dance that the artists establish a sense of belonging. Both the artists have mastered this.

Senior Kathak dancer Vidushi Rani Khanam presented a captivating Kathak dance. She started the dance with Surdas’ verse ‘Sundar Badan Sukhad Sadan’. It was a praise of Lord Krishna. In the next part, she presented a pure dance in Teen Taal. It included Upaj, Chhut ki Tihaari, Rela, style of shooting arrows during hunting in the composition of Pandit Birju Maharaj, speed of boat, style of question-answer. Pranshu Chaturlal, Jaivardhan Dadhich, Nasir Khan and Nisha Kesari accompanied him.

Both the senior dancers presented a duet dance in Surdas Mahotsav. The style of Bharatnatyam and Kathak dance performance was seen in this performance. For this Surdas’ verse ‘Bhoolat Haun Kat Meethi Baatein’ was selected. Both the artists created a charming image with their melodious acting. This performance was based on Hindustani music, it would have been better if the music was in the Carnatic style as well. This was a shortcoming. But, overall, this evening was really worthwhile.

Kathak dancer Geetanjali Sharma, a disciple of Vidushi Uma Dogra, had organized this event. Geetanjali Sharma had earlier organized the Sant Shiromani Surdas Festival in Mathura. Her Guru takes part in her events. She organises her events under the guidance of her Guru. This is commendable.