Dancers of Golconda, delight to watch
Hyderabad: Dancing with the feet is one thing. And dancing with the heart is another. The dance-drama, Prem Raqs Rasa, presented the other day at the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University surely fitted the other category. The danseuses seemed to put their hearts in the performance as they whirled and gyrated in perfect coordination. Dance is […]
Hyderabad: Dancing with the feet is one thing. And dancing with the heart is another. The dance-drama, Prem Raqs Rasa, presented the other day at the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University surely fitted the other category. The danseuses seemed to put their hearts in the performance as they whirled and gyrated in perfect coordination. Dance is the joy of movement and the heart of life. Every moment of the show was a delight to watch as the narrative of Dancers of Golconda was conveyed through dance. Through graceful foot movement, hand gestures and facial expressions the performers told the stories of the legendary Bhagmati, Taramati, Premamati and Bala. Stories of enduring love, harmony and fealty that have become part of the Telangana folklore.
Moham Attakalari and the Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana came together to present this unique show through the medium of dance, music and theatre. “The idea is to promote the cause of universal love and peace cutting across man made barriers of race, religion and language”, says Mythili Maratt Anoop who conceived, scripted and choreographed the show. This creative exploration is the result of her research on the courtesans of Deccan. Present day dancers redefine their role as communicators of ideas, stories and emotions.
Thanks to their abhinaya, they are able to exhibit the meaning of what they portray. The troupe led by Mythili reached out to the viewers with the enormous resources at its command – using feet, hands, face and eyes. With their engaging performance, the dancers drew the audience back into the world of Qutb Shahi rulers when cultures, languages and faiths co-existed in the proverbial Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb.
The 40 minute show presented, among other things, the legendary love story of Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah and Bhagmati. Using nimble body movement, the dancers created the scene of flooding of the Musi river and the doting Prince riding through the rough waters to meet his lady love.
This apart the troupe also depicted the story of Taramati and Premamati, the gifted dancers in the Abdullah Qutb Shah court. Story of the beautiful Bala, the last of Golconda dancers, was very mesmerizing to watch. Her refusal to dance before the king after the siege of the Golconda Fort by the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, was superbly carried out by Mythili and Danny Kumar Azad. “Jo shakhs ek bar Tanashah badshah ka namak kha leta hai wo phir kisi aur ki ghulami pasand nahi karta” (Anyone faithful to Tanashah would not want to be the salve of another king).
The musical show concluded with the group dance by Mythili, Gopika, Sreelakshmi Murali, Megha Vijayan, Sivaganga, Maneesha, Sherli, Sreeja Gopakkumar, Aishwarya Raj, Niya George and Avanthika Anoop.
Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.
Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .
