Friends,
Pratibimba – Reflections by dancer-guru, Dr Ajith Bhaskar, accompanied by live musicians Dr Sai Raja Rajeswary (Nattuvangam), Smt Suganya Sharma (Vocal), Shri J.B. Aravind Sharma & Shri J.J Prathap Sharma (Mridangam) and Smt Shuwehtha Raj Dashhen (Veenai) on 18 & 19 July, as both a Studio & Amphi-Sutra Bharatanatyam performance, is an emotionally moving presentation of a personal dance journey. (The performance-video featured here was taken on the premiere night of 18 July)
Pratibimba, clearly a labour of love, was a personal homage by Ajith to the artform that had bestowed upon him a deep spiritual and emotional raison d’etre. At the same time, Ajith also wanted to pay tribute to his dance teachers, Guru Smt Banumathi Krishnan & Datuk Ramli Ibrahim, who had given him the inspiration, support and love to survive the challenges faced in his dance journey.
What better way than to hold the performance in Sutra as the coming together in full circle of a journey undertaken by a Malaysian prodigal son?
The concept had been churning at the back of Ajith’s ‘creative oven’ for some years now. It was conceived as a soliloquy and as the sharing of the inner thoughts & ideas of a creative all-rounder Malaysian Bharatanatyam dancer, guru and dance-maker!
Pratibimba was presented with Ajith’s own voice-over reflecting on his life’s journey set against the background of the mythic episodes portrayed in the Bharatanatyam repertoire that he choreographed.
Pratibimba, saw Ajith assailing, not only the complex rhythmic thirmanams he had composed but he also demonstrated the subtle nuances of abhinaya of storytelling that required him to take on the switching-on & off, of complex characters and moods. This was the quintessential Ajith par excellence and we were privy to Ajith’s artistic aura at close proximity at the intimate Sutra setting!
Like many of Sutra’s senior alumni, Ajith faces the inevitability of age which is understandably more intense for a dancer. The precariousness of an artform that demands youthful agility, virtuosity and beauty made the foreseeable situation more fragile.
This was apparent and not missed by the audience who had been watching Ajith for decades.
In retrospect, one is reminded of the therapeutic effect of a performance. Pratibimba, served as a subtle form of ‘release’, both from the point of view of performance and as a personal vow-healing performance, not unlike a Main ‘Petri , the traditional healing held to blandish the personal ‘Anginʼ of the dancer. It was touching that Ajith was granted the assured support of his teachers, friends and fans, that he has fulfilled his vow and aim and has discharged his responsibilities to the Artform and teachers to the best of his prodigious talent and ability!
Sutra