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Tree of life, defined rhythmically: The Hindustan Times
New Delhi, May 11: The high point of the dance performance, The Kadamb Tree, presented by students of Shovana Narayan at the Ashok Theatre, is the music set by 13-year-old Vishal Khurana. Khurana is the brother of one of Narayan`s students, 30 of whom are participating in the ballet.
New Delhi, May 11: The high point of the dance performance, The Kadamb Tree, presented by students of Shovana Narayan at the Ashok Theatre, is the music set by 13-year-old Vishal Khurana. Khurana is the brother of one of Narayan’s students, 30 of whom are participating in the ballet.
“The title is very appropriate and totally in keeping with the mood of the evening,” says Narayan. “A sapling grows into a bush, then a tree, from which grow boughs and branches that provide shelter and solace to many a troubled soul. Yet it leads its own inner life of creation, nurturing within its folds many a smaller saplings. It transmits its qualities to these saplings that will one day also grow to become places of solace and introspection for others. Similar is the case with my students. I have learnt a lot from my gurus and imparted the same knowledge to my students in the best classical tradition. Now they are ready to go out and grow.”
The ballet is based on a poem by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, in which she has inter-woven the imagination of a small child in relation to a tree. For the child, each tree holds the potential to be a Kadamb tree, under which the child Krishna played, and later mesmerised the gopis with his flute. “While receiving the nurture and care of the Kadamb tree, the invisible Krishna residing within each child will ultimately become the focal point of another live nurturing tree! “Similarly, the Guru and the Gurukul is like the Kadamb tree that provides sustenance and nurtures the growing child that will one day spread out its branches, then take roots to bring other trees to life,” says Narayan.
More excited than Narayan, for whom presenting her students is an annual ritual, are the students themselves. For them it is a proud moment, and helping them make it memorable are some senior disciples of Narayan, who have become professionals now. Not only are they helping with the rehearsals, but they have also taken charge of all backstage activity. The Kadamb tree, planted by Shovana Narayan, has borne fruit.
“The title is very appropriate and totally in keeping with the mood of the evening,” says Narayan. “A sapling grows into a bush, then a tree, from which grow boughs and branches that provide shelter and solace to many a troubled soul. Yet it leads its own inner life of creation, nurturing within its folds many a smaller saplings. It transmits its qualities to these saplings that will one day also grow to become places of solace and introspection for others. Similar is the case with my students. I have learnt a lot from my gurus and imparted the same knowledge to my students in the best classical tradition. Now they are ready to go out and grow.”
The ballet is based on a poem by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, in which she has inter-woven the imagination of a small child in relation to a tree. For the child, each tree holds the potential to be a Kadamb tree, under which the child Krishna played, and later mesmerised the gopis with his flute. “While receiving the nurture and care of the Kadamb tree, the invisible Krishna residing within each child will ultimately become the focal point of another live nurturing tree! “Similarly, the Guru and the Gurukul is like the Kadamb tree that provides sustenance and nurtures the growing child that will one day spread out its branches, then take roots to bring other trees to life,” says Narayan.
More excited than Narayan, for whom presenting her students is an annual ritual, are the students themselves. For them it is a proud moment, and helping them make it memorable are some senior disciples of Narayan, who have become professionals now. Not only are they helping with the rehearsals, but they have also taken charge of all backstage activity. The Kadamb tree, planted by Shovana Narayan, has borne fruit.