'Sadhana' reviews Das in reviews recent Chitresh Das reviews more Renee Renouf reviews

The measure of Das’ success can be testified to by a series of collaborations he has Undertaken with other ethnic artists and the comparative frequency with which he tours India. January and February 2003 Chitresh and company will tour the major cities of India. March to June Chitresh will be a guesting faculty member at Stanford University And through March and April ODC and Cultural Integration Fellowship are conducting workshops with Kathakali artist Govindin Kutty and Balinese dancer I Nyoman Cerita, Culminating in a premiere East as Center in late May and early June at ODC..

The brochure supplied at the door contained numerous photographs relating to Das’ family, teacher and career, plus photographs of a dedicatory ceremony which Das held when he established Nritya Bharati, in Kolkata this past August, a school he dedicated to the memory of his parents. Other materials included notes on his collaborators, information on the making of Sadhana, and brief explanations on the material, which appears in the course of this hour-long Das solo. The event seemed shared equally amongst Indian, Asian and Caucasian enthusiasts, many with a thorough knowledge of the kathak form.

There are some fascinating components to Sadhana, a prime one being the scenes of rural Bengal videographed by Ajoy Ray and edited by Roy and Souraw Saringi.. From long shots to close ups of flowers along a riverbank, Roy brings us into an atmosphere influential to any artist with a Bengali background. Equally intriguing are the shots of Kolkata’s Madan and what may be Chowringee Road, the city’s tram service, interior shots presumably meant to represent the bhajis, or professional entertainers, and distance train travels. The influence of Satyajit Ray’s films, particularly The Apu Trilogy, is evident.

Chitresh Das exhibits phenomenal stamina as well as the considerable technique of kathak, which fuses Muslim and Hindu influence in its story content. In Sadhana, Das is both vocal story-teller, which happens in most of his other solos, as well as technician, and, in one-spot, tabla exponent. For anyone teaching kathak, proficiency on the tabla is a must, and Das certainly meets that requirement easily.

Das possesses the characteristic Indian performer’s habit of timelessness and being able to improvise at length. In India that is a plus. In the United States, it is a minus when other dancers, even students, share a program. Both in the videotape, where Das is shown jogging over the hillsides of Marin County in verdant spring, in reciting bols, imitating the sound of the ankle bells, and playing the tabla, Das’ virtuosity overextended what basically is a good thing. Self-editing is not one of Chitresh Das strong points.

What was positive about Sadhana was the way Das incorporated staples in his repertoire in a new format, abetted by the handsome visual support. To see the train and then to hear Das repeat his teachers’ choreography for it; to refer to the Rajput or Jaipur style of kathak and then to hear the familiar sequence of a horse cantering and galloping, was a very nice touch. His sequence of Radha and Krishna and his imitation of his early dislike in portraying lasya was amusing, and Das can be a wonderful clown when the mood strikes him. To his credit, Das’ Radha exhibits more refinement in her flirtation than does his portrayal of Rati. Both portraits belong to highly extraverted females, capable or organizing a village, but constrained by mores to being coy.

What continues to annoy, after seeing Das for a quarter century, is his insistence on explaining everything to the audience in ‘Get my point, see what I mean’ manner, rather than to allow us to discover the tempo of a train or the phases of a horse in motion. I find this intrusive. This is doubtless due to Das’ zealot’s desire to make an American audience understand the wonders of North India’s classical dance form. I was lucky enough to see kathak in exponents, here and in India, before Chidresh Das’ arrival Here. I found them blissfully free of this habit.

I did not see his students perform Pancha Jati.