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 Kathakscapes - tradition to contemporary- Vijay Shankere-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com Photos: Om Swarup June 5, 2026 The first edition of Kathakscapes was presented by Ishalaya Ensemble led by Isha Kathavate at the St Andrews auditorium, Mumbai, on 14th April featuring three choreographies and one production 'Emergence' - Where fear ends. The program also showcased two performances by Ishalaya Bandra students. Kathakscapes covered a wide spectrum of Kathak, from the traditional technical to the modern contemporary with a holistic perspective, reaching out to the larger section of the society, while maintaining the exuberance of the Kathak dance style. Ishalaya celebrates its 21st year, since its inception in 2005. Ishalaya was founded by accomplished Kathak exponent Isha Kathavate, disciple of the veteran Kathak dancer and mentor, Guru Maneesha Sathe, who is the disciple of the legendary Kathak exponent, Pt Gopi Krishna. Isha is part of the Maneesha Nrityalaya ensemble for over two decades and is also the recipient of the Pandit Vishnu Digambar award by Sharda Sangeet Vidyalaya in Mumbai.  Chaturdasha The program commenced with solo presentation by Isha Kathavate, "Mharo Pranaam". Vocal rendering of the bhajan by the celebrated vocalist Kishori Amonkar in praise of Lord Krishna and choreography by Maneesha Sathe, made a fine start to the program. The second group presentation was Chaturdasha based on Taal Dhamaar in 14 beats that portrayed the tandav (robust) and lasya (graceful) style of dancing based on strong percussive syllables of the pakhawaj, along with the interpretative Parans, performed by Isha Kathavate, Rujvee Shroti, Tanvi Dharmadhikari, Samyaka Naik, Jia Joshi and Rishika Kulkarni. It was performed with flawless ease and technical perfection with tabla and pakhawaj by Charudutta Phadke, vocal by Leeladhar Chakradeo and Nagesh Adgoankar, sitar by Aniruddh Joshi and padant by Isha Kathavate. Kathak Yo Yo was an experimental performance in which the young children who are students of Prarambik level, danced with fine rhythm, along with a ball attached to the string, which would bounce forward and backwards while dancing. This number was well appreciated by the audience and proved the point that classical dance can be enjoyable too. The young dancers were Saanvi, Kiara, Kritika, Shyra, Prisha, Nihara, Rajvi, Swara, Riyanshi and Saanika. Shree Yantra which is based on the significance of 'tantra' and 'yantra' was another innovative and significant choreography that exposed movement vocabulary and structure with divinity underlined. It was well performed by the ensemble with music by Kedar Pandit. Another interesting experiment was Joy 5 based on 5 beats known as "Sul Fakta" that explored the melody and rhythmic charm of the tabla, sarod and the percussion instrument from Peru known as Cajon.  Emergence The finale number Emergence was the choreographic production based on American writer Joseph Campbell's thought process, "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek". This was an unusual and unique presentation that explores the emotion of fear. We are mentally reluctant to move ahead in life, as we fear the consequences. Nothing ventured, Nothing gained. Hence, we have to be mentally prepared to face any challenge, physical or mental to achieve success or prosperity in life. The dancers appeared in different coloured long skirts, without the dancing bells, to venture into the world of the phobia of fear with calculated steps with the expression of fear. An interesting exercise indeed with music by Amod Kulkarni. The compere of the evening was dancer Prachi Saathi.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
