The Grace of Assam, Manipur and Hip Hop

We are now on the train back to Hyderabad, after some very eventful days. We were actually invited by the minister of Tourism of Orissa to stay in Cuttack for a few more days, in order for Freya to perform at a famous historic place on the 6th. But Sandeep felt it was more important to get back to Hyderabad, so we can continue on to Kuchipudi village and get maximum time there. Anyway, we will return to Cuttack for the next festival on the 15th. Before leaving the hotel, thanks to the very alert boys from the school, we caught a major news report on Freya’s dance performance on Orissan television. There were longish snippets of her dance as well as an interview with her and Sandeep. Freya was pretty matter-of-fact about it, but her sweet friends watching with her were all exited.

Freya performing Alarripu, on the second night at the theatre festival. (file updated with sound this time!)

Our party reached the train station by 5 cycle rickshaws, which are still found here – (incidentally I was just reading in the paper that the hand-pulled rickshaws have now been banned in Kolkata). It was quite fun, and much quieter than an auto rickshaw, but I did feel empathy for the operator, who had to stand up and peddle very hard with Caspar and I as well as our bag in the back. Sandeep was scouring the station for The Hindu paper of yesterday, as there were reports on the festival in it. He did not find one copy, but as I checked the magazine rack in our berth on this train, what did I find but the Orissa edition of yesterdays paper! It stated:

‘Frezi Zafri, a 10 year old girl from Sydney, Australia arrived with her family members in the city on Monday and she would be performing Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam during the festival, said her guru Sandeep Bodhanker.’

Yesterday we spent most of the day at the auditorium, as the school kids were doing their solo and group performances. Sandeep also talked Freya into doing one more small dance in the evening, as he wants to give her as much exposure to the stage as possible. She did indeed feel much more relaxed during this performance, and I am sure when she returns to this stage on the 16th, she will be very familiar and relaxed about the whole thing – which is all in Sandeep’s master plan.

The day program started with a group of women from Assam singing a beautiful rhythmic song in praise of Lord Krishna. It had a trance like quality that was quite transporting. After this were some wonderful traditional dancers also from Assam.

What we did not expect during that day was the incredible cultural extravaganza of many varied plays from regions of India such as Assam, Manupir and even Bangladesh. These professionally staged plays from renowned playwrights of many regions of India were really something.

After lunch we again prepared the kids for their group performance in the evening. Thanks to a bunch of large safety pins Guy had found in the market, her costume also managed to stay up and looked great on the stage. The kids did their items, a mixture of folk and modern dance, and they did extremely well in their group performance, which Sandeep had choreographed so well – a piece in praise of all he god and goddesses, not just just the Hindu classics, but even Christ featured. it was very well received. We had gone to a fairly way off place to get all the 8 kids make-up done.

The theatrical hire and make-up place was at the end of a dark lane, behind the main road of Cuttack, which looks much like the cities used to look 18 years ago when we first visited India. In this low ceilinged warehouse like structure the kids were speedily processed. Sandeep and I were busy applying the traditional red ink to their hands and feet – quite a big exercise to get a group of performers ready.

The costumes were amazing – the lead role in the play from Manipur looked much like a Japanese warrior. These actors had a very far Eastern appearance, and it makes one realise the vastness and variety of India culture. Guy and I were imagining sending an Aussie troupe for the next January festival – it would really be such an experience for the troupes as well as the audiences in Cuttack. We spoke to Professor Rath at the end of the evening, whom of course was very keen, and so we are hoping to encourage many to go for this cultural experience.

My favorite memory of the day though, was a really beautiful young female dancer of Assam. She was dressed in the very traditional red patterned sari on a cream background, and danced with several wooden implements in the bun of her hair. The music was a tribal sounding drumming, to which she spun around coming to a perfect halt at intervals. Often and the end of a pause, she break into song then again into the dance with increased vigour. She would do most of her steps in a stooped position, which surprisingly was incredibly graceful. The spinning would get fast as the music intensified, and her hands would twist rapidly at the wrists. She would then take out one of the implements in her hair, and play it with her hand & her tongue.

A skill which when done incorrectly can have dire consequences. As she came off the stage I asked for a photo with her, which was unusual…..as almost all the performers had asked to have photos with us! Throughout the whole day we were asked to come and present certificates to all participants, and got very good at smiling and giving official handshakes. By the end I had sort of had enough of it; thankfully 2 Austrian tourists who had stumbled upon the festival then became the newest guests of honour. So they were called to the stage looking shy and slightly confused, and us ‘old hands’ knew exactly what they were in for. Caspar was really impressed with the Hip Hop performances – the cool young ‘jet set’ of Assam performed their items very seriously and with great skill.

One guy in particular was really really impressive, and even I got exited about his incredible control, and ability to turn his body into a thing that moved like a machine. I’ll finish with a photo of Caspar with the gang after they had taught him how to do the Yo thing properly.