By Raschid Osman
If the
dance is the Cinderella of the arts, then the kathak is the glass slipper and
the prince and the coach and four all rolled into one.
The kathak has been around for well over 2000 years, danced originally by the Brahmins as they worshipped their God. Much later, it was refined and made more sophisticated in the courts of the Mughal emperors. Today, there is an upsurge in the popularity of this splendid dance form, characterised by stomping feet with ankle bells adding their distinctive carillon, and lavish, whirling pirouettes alternating with quiet, meditative choreography when the story being told demands this.
The trio behind Shakuntala: Philip Francis, at left, and Hemant and Vaishali Pamwar.
For
kathak dancing is story-telling, very much like the western ballet is
traditionally a story in dance.
Of
course the similarities end right there. For this Indian dance, with its acute
nuances enacted to the unique and awesome rhythm cycles of the tabla, the
instrument so essential to the kathak, is in a class all by itself.
At the
Indian Cultural Centre in Georgetown, Hemant Pamwar and his wife Vaishali have
created a kathak ballet using the Shakuntala story from the Mahabharata.
Hemant Pamwar created the choreography and music for the ballet, while his wife Vaishali wrote the script and did the narration, and Philip Francis arranged the music and was in charge of special effects.
One departure from the traditional instruments used in classical Indian dance was the use of a keyboard. Mrs. Pamwar explained that they couldn’t find a sitar for the string section so necessary to the Indian orchestration, and the next best thing to create the strings effect was a keyboard.
Oriental costumes and the special nuances fashioned by arms and hands are of particular importance in Shakuntala
(Pictures by Delano Williams)
The
Pamwars are pleased at the reception the ballet received at its National
Cultural Centre performance last week, with those who saw it literally gushing
at what was for many a unique theatre experience.
“There
were 23 dancers in the show, with nine musicians and chorus, and they were all
students of the Centre,” boasts Mrs. Pamwar.
Mrs.
Pamwar says the reason for staging of Shakuntala was two-fold.
“Historically,
the story tells of how India got its name, and while Guyanese indulge in their
very own version of Indian dance, at weddings and what have you, we thought we
should show a bit of Indian classical dance set to a story,” she explains.
The
Indian Cultural Centre was established in Georgetown 34 years ago and since
that time has been offering classes in music and dance to interested Guyanese.
The
Centre has become a wellspring of things cultural, and many Guyanese Indian
dance groups and soloists now performing here and overseas were taught the art
by instructors at the Centre.
The
Pamwars stint at the Centre is over, and they should be leaving around
month-end.
“This
does not mean that the work
at the Centre will be interrupted,” Mrs. Pamwar said.
“Other
instructors are coming and the classes in music and dance will go on.”
When
they leave, their legacy to culture in Guyana would be a greater appreciation
for the kathak and the instrument with which this dance form goes hand in
hand, the tabla.
It is in
this heightened appreciation of each other’s culture that the ethnic
potpourri we have inherited as Guyanese becomes more meaningful.
Needless
to say, this appreciation needs to be encouraged, promoting all the ethnic
strands that make up the splendid weave of the Guyanese culture.
This area of enrichment is hardly one to be ignored.