Rhythm Divine
A spotlight on the legend, Astad Deboo, and the audience cannot help but be hypnotized by his statuesque. Such is his repertoire!
Mjunction ties up with the Astad Deboo Foundation to promote the classical forms of dance to help the unrecognized performers sustain a nourished and dignified life as dancers. For such a cause, “Rhythm Divine”, choreographed by Astad Deboo with the Manipuri Pung Cholam drummer dancers, was performed at the G.D. Birla Sabhaghar on 22nd March.
The segmented choreography of the performance amazed the audience. Each segment merged into one another, beautifully, with the acrobatic moves of the dancers, rhythmic beats and stage lightning. When the legend himself entwined with the soft hue of the spotlight, and graciously untangled the beauty of his movements on the stage, the emotions of the audience were just left to be punctuated. The light effects had the same illusion on the audience. It grew brighter at the end of every segment. Besides the drumming beats and opera music, he adapted ‘bol cholum’ method of loudly reciting the dance steps by the dancers, buzzing the theatre and energizing the souls of the audience. The Manipuri dancers evoked the feeling of impatience with cymbals that had long bright red threads dangling from them. Astad Deboo’s entrances and exits, while the dancers performed, were exceptionally flawless. His Sufi style attire and repetitive twirls left the audience speechless. As every segment unfolded, the curiosity among the audience grew. Very intelligently Astad Deboo alluded to the audience through his choreography. As the performance gained momentum from very slow pace to vigorous movements, the drummer dancers set the stage ablaze in the last segment with their martial art movements of dancing and drumming simultaneously.
Towards the end, the audience was left in a world of surreal illusion. Sanskriti Sagar and Taj Bengal, along with MJunction and Astad Deboo Foundation, opened the gates of Hope for these financially handicapped dancers.
Published in CalCalling (Now Window on Travel)