Celebrating Mohiniyattam
In the times when Hip-Hop, Locking Popping, B-Boying etc. are taking over the craze of traditional dance forms of India, we hardly get to witness the magical performance of the art of weaving a story through Abhinaya (Facial expression) and Natyam (Dance).
Even if there are performances in centers like Kamani Auditorium, Lalit Kala Akademi etc., the turnout is really low and usually only has the old lot as the youngsters don’t seem to be interested. Not that the art of traditional dance is dying, but the interest amongst the audience is. However, it is astonishing to see that while we are busy embracing the western culture, the westerners are finding our culture more and more interesting and are dwelling themselves in it.
Recently, The Centre for Mohiniyattam celebrated Mohiniyattam Collective Festival for two days at the Indian International Centre, New Delhi, where they showcased performances of the dance form by artists from overseas.
Each day featured two performances and the performers came from Russia, Germany and Japan. The program was initiated to highlight the global reach of one of the most renowned dance forms of India, Mohiniyattam, and to show how people from abroad are willing to learn and witness the magic of this dance form.
On the second day of the celebration, One World News had the opportunity to enthrall itself with the amazing experience of Mohiniyattam and got to know more about the performers- KiekoOkana, Vijay Lakshmi and Bharti Shivaji.
Kieko hails from Japan, and she met Vijay Lakshmi and Bharti Shivaji when she was performing with them at the Festival of India, Japan. Kieko began her training ten years ago and was trained by a Japanese woman who herself was trained in Mohiniyattam and then started her intensive training in 2010 with Nirmala Panekar, who has a studio in Kerala. She has performed both in Japan and India.
As far as the performance is concerned, KiekoOkanawon the hearts of the audience with her facial expressions, which area very distinctive feature of the dances of Kerala.
Kieko’s performance was followed by Olga Stoliarovafrom Russia; she came to India on a scholarship some 12 years ago and was so fascinated with the country that she could never go back. She was very keen to learn Mohiniyattam from Bharti Shivaji and is one of the senior dancers at the Centre of Mohiniyattam. She has been an important part of every performance and her performance talks much about the technique and posture.
The event was attended by Manjali Sinha, Senior Dance Critic who felicitated KiekoOkanaand also, Ravindra Mishra, Senior Dance Critic who felicitated Olga Stoliarova. The audience had an enthralling experience and a visually appealing performance spread the beauty of the traditional dance forms of India.
