A blend of strings and steps

THE SIXTH EDITION of the strings and steps festival organised by noted Kathak dancer Sangeeta Majumder and Hawaiian guitar player Neel Ranjan Mukherjee got off to a flying start in the Capital. One of the highlights of the festival was the

jugalbandhi between Sangeeta and Neel Ranjan; a first between a stringed instrument and dance, paving way for a wonderfully executed festival. The Strings and Steps Festival this year was a two day event that featured several musicians and some leading dancers. The genesis of the name of the festival has a story of its own. Sangeeta Majumder named this festival as ‘Strings N Steps’ after her ‘Kathak-hawaiian Guitar amalgamation concept.’ In its 2017 edition, the country in focus was Canada and featured performances by eminent artists from the faraway land. Besides the jugalbandi, day one of the festival featured Pt Dev Bansraj on vocals and Dave Bansraj on Tabla and Sitar recital by Pt Prateek Chaudhuri, Ud Akram Khan on Tabla.

Second day of the festival saw delightful performances including that of doyen of Bharatnatyam Padmabhushan Saroja Vaidyanathan who gave an impressive lecture demonstration on the concept of Ashtanayika. The Ashtanayika is a collective name for eight types of nayikas or heroines as classified by Bharata in his Sanskrit treatise on performing arts - Natya Shastra. The other dance performance of the evening was Odissi dance recital by young dancer Gaurie Dwivedi who performed a piece of Devi Stuti. The item choreographed by Guru Bichitrananda Swain gave vivid description of the Goddess who as the Mother is the creator and nurtures and also slays demons Mahishasura.

A lecture demonstration session on ‘Rasanubhuti’ by Prof Anupam Mahajan, successfully explained the fine nuances of Hindustani music to the audience.