Centuries ago, Artistotle said, “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."
In India, when we think of love, the epitome of this divine feeling would be none other than Lord Krishna and Lady Radha. India's foremost Odissi dancers, Bengaluru-based Surupa Sen and Bijayini Sathpathy, have conjured an elegant recital of this eternal love story with their "Songs of Love and Longing'.
They captivated the audience at Chowdiah Memorial Hall recently.
“The performance, comprising of duets as well as solo performances, is based on excerpts from the Gita Govinda. Surupa has choreographed the entire performance. Both Bijayini and Surupa have incorporated their exquisite style of Odissi to make this performance an endearing one," says Gayathri Krishna, organiser of the event.
“The concept of the Vaishnavas, in which fate is represented as a female entity yearning to unite with an infinite male entity, is very symbolic. This has remained the essence of the way I have choreographed this piece," says Surupa Sen.
The original score for this performance, which is based on Hindustani Classical, was composed by Late Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi and performed by Jateen Sahu, Sibasankar Satapathy, Sanjib Kunda and Parshuram Das. Excerpts from the Geeta Govinda such as Sakhi He, Yami He, Dheera Sameere, Priya Charusheele and Kisa Laya have been adopted in Odissi style of dance for this performance.
“Dheera Sameere depicts the incident where the sakhis come to Radha and tell her that Krishna is waiting for her on the banks of the Yamuna. The sakhis also advise her to drape herself with the night and go to Krishna who is waiting for her with flowers and jewels. Surupa has choreographed the excerpt as a duet piece. She discussed every step of her choreography with me and as she explained every excerpt, I figured out the lighting and also how we would depict it on stage with music as well as silence," says Lynne Fernandez, the technical director of the show.
Surupa Sen has deviated from the traditional Odissi dance forms in the performance to make it more in sync with today's world and to give it a unique identity.
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