The looming threat of another major New England snowstorm did not keep an enthusiastic audience from a night of Music-Rhythm-Dance-Drama at Little Kresge Theatre at MIT. The concert and dance program, entitled Sangeet, was jointly sponsored by Chhandika, MIT Department of Music and Theatre Arts and MITHAS on December 15, 2007.

World renowned artists George Ruckert and Gretchen Hayden illuminated the stage at Little Kresge with a presentation of Indian classical music and dance. In the first segment, Mr. Ruckert struck high notes on his sarod, but inspired tranquility with his beautiful style and elegant strumming of the fretless instrument. Mr. Ruckert evoked a melancholy feeling with his alap (introductory conversation) in Iman Kalyan. He was accompanied on tabla by special guest, Mr. Nitin Mitta, whose dynamic and sweet style maintained strong cycles of tintal (16 beats). The second part of the musical segment continued with three gats the romantic rag Bihag, which were highlighted by the improvisational themes and variations presented by the artists.

After intermission, we were brought into the world of North Indian Classical dance- Kathak. This segment was presented by Gretchen Hayden, a senior disciple of Pandit Chitresh Das. As an introduction, she colored the stage during Rang Manch, or consecration of the dance space and gracefully welcomed the audience to the second half of the presentation.

As she moved into tihais (rhythmic patterns repeated three times) and bols (technical dance syllables) the audience was impressed with the rhythmic variations and how they complemented the strokes of Mr. Mitta on the tabla.

Apprentice dancer Shefali Jain was brought on to stage to accompany Ms. Hayden during the presentation of bols in Dhammar taal (14 beat cycle). Ms. Jain, a teenager, demonstrated strong technical skills and dazzled the audience with her natural and graceful expressions. Mr. Mitta, a strong vibrant player who lives and teaches in New York, presented a dynamic and complicated tabla solo for the audiences’ enjoyment.

Next, Gat Bhav, the ancient practice of storytelling that gives Kathak its name- brought the audience into the life of Krishna as a young boy. Ms. Hayden portrayed Krishna playing ball with his friends on the Jamuna River and continued with his capture and eventual triumph over the serpent demon Kaliya. Using her improvisational skills, Ms. Hayden varied the game of ball with a great American tradition-baseball! The audience was in splits as they watched Ms. Hayden portray the comical expressions of batters, pitchers and catchers. Using the nava rasas (nine moods or emotions), Ms. Hayden brought the audience through the battle with Kaliya and Krishna’s success, ultimately symbolizing the triumph of good over evil.

The final segment was dynamic and demonstrated the upaj (improvisation) that many senior artists bring to their audiences. Ms. Hayden engaged Mr. Ruckert and Mr. Mitta in an exhilarating segment of sawal jawab, or question-answer, where her ghungroo (ankle bells), her musical instrument, would create a pattern and the sarod and tabla would reply to it. It was a great conclusion to an evening of music, rhythm, dance and drama, and the New England community is fortunate to have such great artists living locally to share their incredible talent with classical music and dance enthusiasts. 

|