Himanshu Srivastava in ‘Unekalavya’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Jharna, a festival of dance curated by Bharata Kalanjali, is slowly gaining momentum as a platform for young, talented dancers to share their art with the connoisseurs of Chennai. In its fourth edition this year, the line-up featured dancers who had been shortlisted based on their applications, and a few guest performances.
The idea behind ‘Jharna’ is that dancers are given an opportunity to conceive, choreograph and create an original work.
Himanshu Srivastava presented ‘Unekalavya — The riddle of the thumb’ about Ekalavya. Attired aesthetically like a forest dweller, Himanshu began with a sequence showing Abhidhyumna being killed in the battlefield, the narration then went into a flashback mode, into his past life as Ekalavya .
The dancer immersed himself into the character with sincerity. His eagerness to train under Guru Dronacharya, facing rejection, learning archery by observing his guru in secrecy, and slicing his thumb as gurudakshina, was dealt with clarity.
Himanshu’sexpressions ranged from admiration and eagerness to melancholy and disillusionment. The process of creating a sculpture from the soil his guru walks on and his devotion and worship were handled with sensitivity. His depiction that laid emphasis on the use of four fingers for archery after losing a thumb was dramatically visualised, but the most poignant moment was when he removes the feather from his head and places it at his guru’s feet in total surrender. A noteworthy aspect in Himanshu’s performance was the sthayi bhava, wherein the space between himself and Dronacharya was consistently maintained.
A noteworthy aspect in Himanshu’s performance was the consistent sthayi bhava
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The idea of bringing in a clay doll ‘Antaram’ as an alter ego was an interesting addition, which could have been explored better for a greater impact. The introduction of jathis at intervals, especially to show Ekalavya’s archery practice, disturbed the flow of the narrative.
The musical team comprised Sridhar Vasudevan on vocals, Sarvesh Karthik on rhythm inputs, Tiruvara Veeramani on the violin and T. V. Sukanya on the flute. However, the violin and flute overpowered the vocal rendition. The soundscape should be reworked to match the dance.
Published – February 25, 2025 04:15 pm IST
