Spiritual communion: Transcending barriers through poetic evolution of dance

Nighat Chaudhry’s emotive movements captivate audience.

ISLAMABAD:

The faint chimes of ghungroo announce the arrival of Nighat Chaudhry even before she appears on stage. Her radiance absorbs the curious gazes that fall on her body as it twists in reverence to her spiritual leader, transporting the audience from the plush ballroom to a parallel cosmos.

The seasoned kathak dancer was performing at the Marriott Hotel this Wednesday at an evening of classical music and dance organised by the Mausikaar Welfare Trust.

The evening kicked off with gunkali, a morning raga traditionally known to evoke a sense of union and concentration. Rana Daud Khan, 10 and Zakaraya Khan, 9, who were trained at the trust’s music school, demonstrated an impressive understanding of taal, the rhythmic pattern of the composition.

Chaudhry, whose relationship with dance began at an early age, differentiates herself from other dancers through her ability to articulate her connection with the art form. For the artist, the body is merely a vehicle, through which her soul can emanate and communicate with the audience.

“I am treading on the Sufi path, standing in the vortex of love, energy and harmony to express the deepest ridges of my soul,” said Chaudhry while introducing the pieces she would perform.



Chaudhry began with a spiritual ode to what she described as her master, using subtle footwork to complement the shifting emotion. The short but emotive dance was followed up with a thumri about the sensuous and ethereal love between Radha and Krishan. Chaudhry impersonated Radha, as she pleads with her lover Krishan: ‘do not put your colour on me because it soaks me to such depths that I can never escape’.

In a similar piece on the queue of a bhajan, spiritual writing by the mystic Meera, the dancer transformed into the overwhelmed writer in her dizzying love for Krishna as she unravelled the different levels of letting go, and of being one with him.

The most powerful, however, was the dhamaal, a form of spiritual dance that reveals complete surrender to a higher power, to Abida Parveen’s Lal Shahbaz kee chaadar meant to celebrate a 700-year-old Sindhi Sufi saint. While the piece has often been performed as a finale to the dancer’s programmes, it takes on an endearing exclusivity in each rendition. Chaudhry uses a symbolic red dupatta as she whirls on the stage in an attempt to let go of her body, her smile relating an elevation beyond the realm of description.

“Chaudary’s strength lies in her emotiveness; she slips into the characters with such ease and finesse, as if she knows them really well,” said Basirat Rais, a member of the Mausikaar group who attends most events and appreciates the group’s promotion and preservation of Pakistan’s musical heritage.

Dr Seema Khan, president of the Mausikaar Welfare Trust announced a musical evening in honour of Ustad Allah Rakha, the sole surviving teacher of sarangi, in a bid to collect funds for the ailing veteran. The trust is collecting funds to be gifted to the ustad as part of a lifetime achievement award on February 27.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2014.