Premiere of “The 18 Golden Steps’ Marks Finale of Bharatanatyam Festival

BENGALURU:
The spectacular premiere of ‘The 18 Golden Steps’, a dance portrayal of the legends around Swamy Aiyappa and Sabarimala temple, marked the finale of a unique 11-hour, non-stop Bharatanatyam recital as Vaishnavi Natyashala (VNS), a leading city-based dance institute, celebrated its 20th year of artistic journey by organsing Nruthya Neerajana 2018.
Attired in brilliant colours and their bodies moving in a rhythmic grace, 26 trained dancers of VNS dazzled the audience with an immaculate presentation of the premiere, retelling the story of Swamy Aiyappa and dwelling upon the concepts of 41 days of rigorous fasting and purity, the tiring journey, the spiritual essence of the ancient temple and why only men go to Sabarimala.
Choreographed and directed by Natyacharya Mithun Shyam, an acclaimed Bharatanatyam exponent and founder of VNS, ‘The 18 Golden Steps’, was held at ADA Rangamandira on Sunday evening, was a showstopper having plenty of dramatic and theatrical elements, and it also featured him in the female role of the demoness character “Mahishi”.
“Performing the role of Mahishi in the dance-drama enlightened me on the challenges, chaos and conflicts a woman has to experience in her lifetime. It is truly a game-changing experience to play a woman, as you experience the strong existence of the binary within her; she is meek like a deer and ferocious like a tigress; she can be both patient and destructive,” said Mithun, whose performances in India and abroad have earned him plaudits from dance connoisseurs and critics alike.
This was his first female role in a dance recital in a career spanning over 25 years. “A woman is blessed with god-given strength of endurance which should never be stretched to its limits,” said Mithun, who chucked out his lucrative corporate career to plunge headlong into the world of classical dance.
‘The 18 Golden Steps’ revolves round the Avatara Udesha of Lord Ayyappa, which sprouts from the misdeeds of the revengeful demoness Mahishi, and the subsequent destruction of evil and restoration of peace by the slaying of Mahishi.
Mahishi’s character articulated by Mithun threw light on multiple shades of women and their internal conflicts. The play discusses the materiality of the worldly fancies. Kumari Akshayashree Nair, who plays the protagonist opposite Mahishi, performed surpassing the limitations of her tender age.
Several dignitaries, including Karnataka Kalathilaka Guru Radha Shridhar; veteran Mrudangam player MR Rangaswamy; Kuchipudi dancer and cine artist Pratheeksha Kashi; Nanjunda Rao, scholar and writer; Kanya Talalia, daughter of Guru Padmini Ramachandran; Surya Prasad, multilingual scholar and renowned critic; Nisha Renjith; Minu Mohan; and Chetan Patel, were honoured on the occasion.
Singaramani Guru Rathna Supriya Sreedharan, who was among those honoured, commented, “It is a liberating experience to wear an antagonist on stage, as it is when you can let go”.
Mithun, who is an A grade artist of Doordarshan and an empanelled artist of ICCR, has performed at the prestigious International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage at Chengdu, China and the International Country Music Week Festival 2013 at Zhangjiajie, China under the aegis of the Prasiddha Repertory.
Set up in 1998, Vaishnavi Natyashala, situated in Banaswadi, Bangalore (East), has emerged as one of the most popular classical dance schools in Karnataka. It currently trains over 500 students, including 16 male dancers, in Bharatanatyam, Yoga and Carnatic Vocal in a spacious infrastructure of 7,000 sq ft.