Anainah demonstrates dancing potential at her debut performance

Samskaras have significance. They get imprinted in the mind of a child. On completion of ten years of training in Bharatanatyam, Anainah, just out of teenage years, presented her first and thematic solo performance Bhakti Yug at the H K Arts College Hall on May 27, 2022. The dance recital, pretty good in quality for her age, and therefore engaging, had the small but discerning audience think of what had made the difference. A major difference lay in the family all through the ten years taking an active interest in her dance pursuit.

The family, led by grandfather Kalpesh Dalal, known for his aesthetic considerations in performing arts and life, it seems, rather than getting the child ten years ago on the track of ‘success’, material gains and fame during the formative years of her growth, made the choice of getting her initiated into a classical dance with a difference. And for the purpose, they reposed trust in Sarmishtha Sarkar, who is known for her knowledge of the form and skills in it (She is still an active performer) besides being caring for young learners, to be her guru.

Along with Anainah’s guru Sarmishtha, the family, including parents, Shradhavi and Khanjan, both actively associated with fine arts, besides Kalpesh, thought of celebrating her learning Bharatanatyam for a decade with select recorded songs of saint poets Vallabhacharya, Meera, Kabir, Narasimha, Tukaram and Tyagaraja following a Ganesh Vandana in Shankar Mahadevan’s voice. Her dance recital affirmed it that the training had helped evoke her imagination and sharpen sensibility – both dominant factors for a performing artist with a potential.

The transition between the songs portraying bhakti at varying levels of emotions like vatsalya, renunciation, nirguna devotion, spirituality , longing and mystical perceptions left the dancer barely a couple of minutes, just the time taken by the compere Utpala Desai to announce the next song, for her presentation in the same aharya all through.  It is relatively easy for a dancer to visualize kavacha- kundala, beej-vruksh and the like but portraying chidakash and dard and a feeling of oneness from within is a challenge. The young dancer did it all pretty well under her guru’s guidance.

The budding Bharatanatyam dancer used mudras and lines as also pada-chalan and netrabhinaya with understanding, in sync with the rhythm. If the evocative music elevated her spirits, Parth’s lights enhanced her emotions and the audience encouraged her to remain at her best. It was Sarmishtha’s creative idea to have four dancing girls wearing brilliant attires and a joyous smile to accompany her, generally remaining behind. Besides complementing and supplementing the dancer’s action and moods they gave a sense of fullness to the otherwise empty space. An illumined small image of the poet was projected on the backdrop.

A promising takeoff by Anainah. May she continue to dance, adding greater poise, spontaneity and grace to her expression!