Kālī Mātā review by Shrinritya Girish of Danceschool Natya Sudha (Chrada Sheoratan)
“A performance called Kālī Mātā, Poernima Gobardhan challenges the mind and body against one another. The yearning for clarity and the drive to transcend beyond it are at the heart of this performance. The dancer conveys her readiness to face the darkness that we are unaware of and her eagerness to engage in combat. Your capacity for understanding is appreciated as your performance serves to illustrate how the universe is arranged according to order, classifications, and frames. We specifically desire to manage the chaos around us in situations like this. We achieve this by making well-considered decisions and removing every margin for mistake to ensure clarity. Kālī Mātā begins with this clarity and the innate urge to advance beyond it.
The choreographer for this performance took inspiration from a variety of sources, including the South Indian martial technique of kalarippayattu. Poernima Gobardhan once again succeeds in translating themes from ancient Indian culture into choreography that is still powerful today. She does this with a lot of passion and in her own artistic dance language, which is closely related to the Bharatanatyam dance style. In this performance, the Bharatnatyam movement style is prominent. You are drawn into this conflict between the mind and the body by the precision of the hand gestures, the intensity of the emotions, and the audio that is immersive.
The dancer’s clothing, which was all-hot pink, represented Kālī Mātā’s fearlessness ,extreme sociability , and fierce fun. The hue pink also symbolizes for innocence and unconditional love, exactly as the well-known mother figure and emblem of motherly affection Kālī Mātā, as well as the aggression and rebellious mood of Kl Mt. In order to reflect the creative vision and message of the dance and to captivate the audience, this outfit was created to highlight the lines that the dancers’ bodies make. The dance’s qualities and theme—rebellion and unconditional love—are shown in the attire. The dancer’s outfit is loose-fitting to highlight the dancer’s physique and motions.
Kālī Mātā, this performance includes a lot of bhartnatyam movements such as:
- Asamyuta hastas: Tripataka, pataka , mushti , kataka – mukha , alapadma
- Samuyta hastas: Anjali , dhola , pushpaputa
- Mandal Bhedas: Aayata, prerita , prenkhana and sthanaka
In order to accurately and thoughtfully reflect the ancient Indian culture in a choreography that is still powerful today, the choreographer combined bhartnatyam moves with other Indian dance forms. The dancer uses a variety of rasas to express emotions and sentiments during the performance. For example, Raudra represents the fury of Kālī Mātā, Veera represents bravery and courage, and Shanthi represents the dancer’s inner serenity when the sand falls on her head at the conclusion. The audience could understand and feel these feelings because of the gestures and facial expressions that were used to convey them.
One of the most frequently utilized lights in the performance is the white, brilliant light that fills the entire stage at the start of the dance and casts a shadow on the dancer to unveil the dancer and the form. In order to make the dancer the center of attention and to draw the audience’s attention to her, front light was also employed.
In summary, this show was a fascinating and enchanting exhibition of culture and a variety of dance styles. The dancer’s incredible ability and commitment were on display in the beautifully choreographed moves, expressive gestures, and rhythmic footwork. The audience was swept away by the beauty and tradition by the dancers’ movements, expressive gestures, and rhythmic feet. It was a truly memorable experience that celebrated the essence of Bharatanatyam.”
