The city of Panjim has transformed into the
hub of all this art, across eight venues, all thanks to the Serendipity Arts
Festival. One of these venues, the Bandodkar Grounds, is the place where music
and performing arts take centre stage. The dance section of the festival
features six dance companies of the country exploring the theme ‘Pravaha’, the
Sanskrit term for ‘flow’. Nritarutya, a contemporary dance company founded by
Mayuri Upadhya, will present a three-piece choreography interpreting the native
river of Karnataka – Kaveri. The performance will be staged at Bandodkar
Grounds today, December 17, 2016.
Based in Bangalore, Mayuri has dedicated
her life to learning and performing various forms of dances. She started out as
a child, accompanying her elder sister, Madhuri, who is now the Associate
Director of the same company, for her Bharatnatyam classes. She herself joined
the classes when she turned six. “I had this hyper energy as a child; as I watched
my sister dance, I too used to start dancing and twirling around. Taking note
of this, my mother decided to enrol me for the classes. Children have a natural
rhythm in them,” says Madhuri, who has choreographed a team of 18 dancers for
the performance. She is trained in Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Chaau, Odissi, Kalaripayattu
and modern dance techniques.
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“I found the festival ideation and curation
interesting. Six of the best dance companies of the country will be performing
at the festival. We all were given the same theme for the festival, to explore
a river of our interest with contemporary and classical artistic prospects.
Since Kaveri is the river of Karnataka, that’s the river we chose,” says Mayuri
about the festival.
Explaining the concept of Kaveri, Mayuri
says, “As this river is one of the most prominent rivers of South India, we
decided to present three choreographic works with a vertical exploration of the
river. ‘Matsyaangna’ explores the mystical mermaids of the holy river, depicting
the indulgence of the six sins that prevent a human from attaining ‘Moksha’.
The concept is inspired from the Vedic philosophy of ‘Arishadvarga’, the six
emotions of desire and passion – ‘kama’ (lust), ‘krodha’ (anger) ‘lobha’
(greed), ‘moha’ (attachment), ‘mada’ or ‘ahankara’ (pride) and ‘matsarya’
(jealousy).”
She continues, “Madhyam’ explores the lore
of Kaveri’s birth as stated in the ‘Skanda Purana’ through the myth of ‘Amrutha
Manthana’. Exploring the flow and sustenance of the river using contact
improvisation, the piece delves into formation of an identity and characteristics
of a river. Contemporary floor work and striking images using overhead projectors
further enhance the exploration of the river flow. Aerial silk adds to the
interpretation and visual appeal. The piece also makes a comparison of the
river with the journey of a woman’s soul, using the ancient form of Yoga. And
finally, ‘Prabhaav’, an all male modern dance piece, is inspired from the
dynamic flow of the Shivanasamudram. The composition features live singer and
drummers and highlights the importance of Kaveri and the issues of water
scarcity and the resulting parched lands.”
She has choreographed for Hindi film
‘Mirzya’, directed by Rakeysh Omparakash Mehra, and conceptualised and
choreographed for the Make in India Week Opening Ceremony, Mumbai. Mayuri has also performed for a clientele
which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachchan and Queen
Elizabeth. “Once you go on stage and the lights come on, you take the spotlight
and the size of the audience does not matter. I live in Bangalore, which is a
cosmopolitan city where there is an asset of celebrities. I don’t get star
struck but I have an immense respect and I am in awe of these respected
figures,” says Mayuri, who is currently judging the TV reality show ‘Dancing
Stars 3’ on ETV Kannada.
