Umesh Shetty (Indian Contemporary)

[uptowndragon]

Dance Director/Choreographer
Temple of Fine Arts

www.tfa-i.org/mal.htm

[uptowndragon]

REMA KURUP, TFA Brickfields, Wednesday January 4, 2006
Umesh's Odissi Solo - a Review.

TFA, KL launched the first of its programmes on 1st and 2nd January 2006 to mark its 25th Anniversary Celebrations - with "Umesh Shetty in Odissi". And what a happy coincidence: it is also Umesh's 25th anniversary of dancing! It was also quite apt and 'in place' to launch the celebrations with reminiscences of the "Shetty" name. In fact, we could hear the audiences behind buzz with "Gopal Shetty, Gopal Shetty." in most nostalgic tones between items.

Umesh himself has come a full circle with his strong grounding and graduation in Barath Natyam, some serious dabbling in Kathak in Poona (Swamiji's grace) and a degree, awards, accolades and recognition in contemporary dance; so it was befitting that this 'heir apparent' showcased his versatility and talent in yet another solo classical dance 'debut' - Odissi.

What came across so incredibly on both days of the show was that it was Geetha-Umesh dancing, or, as if it was Geetha's twin brother performing!!! Serious, no jokes about that! An astonished Chinese girl from the audience told Geetha just this - as I was about to tell her about this strange phenomenon myself! Of course, Geetha countered it by saying that she had done the make-up for him and that must have caused this resemblance. But, believe me, it was not something as simple as just make-up. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, this deep reverence and utter humility to his art and his mentors, and the incredible focus and concentration on the form of the guru. He is definitely a study in discipleship!

But this striking resemblance in demeanor and posture was also carried through into the natural vibrancy and dynamism of movement of both these artistes (the mentor and the pupil) - a blissfully wonderful combination to the onlooker.

Umesh here exhibited a complete and delightful body control in his chaukas and tribangis (unlike the wild beauty and abandon of contemporary styles), defining shapes and postures in space and resting in contoured artistry between Movement. Even the swiftness of the 2 and 3-turn spins on one heel ( ek pada brahmari) seemed so perfectly orchestrated, as a myriad crystal droplets of perspiration twinkled off and around him in synchronised timing - like tiny sprays from cascading streams bouncing off a dancing Lord Shiva Nataraja.

The Odissi repertoire was purely traditional, consisting of the 5 main items of any classical Oriya performance of:-


Mangalacharan
The invocatory item - in this case, dedicated to Lord Ganesh, with a bumi-pranam to mother earth for stamping on her and homage to the gurus and gods.

Shtaayi
Geetha exploited her pupil's suppleness with some 'bandha-nritya' (or acrobatic style of Odissi) in Shtaayi with Umesh adopting some sculpturesque karnas and poses as he entered the stage sans music. Serene stone scultures gracing the walls of Oriyan temples came alive. This piece is usually a dedication to Lord Shiva.


Pallavi in Kalyani Raaga
This number (equivalent to the Jathiswaram in Barath Natyam) is a study in pure dance / nritta, but presented in accompaniment to a particular raga. Here, the choice was Kalyani raaga, which is able to portray both valor/heroism and bhakti: N R G M D N S; S N D P M G R S

Abhinaya
'Kealo sajani', a composition of Banamaali Dass, whose poetic style is in the genre of Jayadeva's Ashtapatis and is mainly focussed on Krishna-lila themes. It is a beautiful and haunting song of Radha, and Umesh (like Kelucharan Mohapatra and his father before him) easily transcended bodily form and consciousness to take the audiences on a journey into the soul of a maiden and her love-lorn state of mind, as 'she' peers timorously through a thicket to watch Lord Krishna in his dalliance with the gopis, or tormented and teased her. This piece was outstanding in its choreography and artistic depiction.

Moksha
The final piece (compared to thillana in Bharatanatyam) brings the short but impactful repertoire to a finale, leaving the audience wishing for more.

On the second and final day of the concert, two well-known personalities, Joseph Gonzales (the director of Akademie Seni Kebangsaan - ASK), a veteran dancer himself, and Mr. Cho (Umesh's ballet teacher), were both called up on stage and honoured along with Umesh. Gonzales paid a fitting tribute to Umesh declaring that although genetics did play a part in the make-up of this artiste, it was more, he felt, that Umesh was a dancer "touched by God". Geetha declared herself as both proud mentor and fan. Umesh was honoured by TFA (Dr. Radha and the Teachers) on the first day's performance at TFA with a shawl and the title of "Gopala Shiva-Shanta Natya Yogeshwara. "
All in all, I came away with the feeling of having witnessed a priceless performance. How sad that a city of teeming millions missed this incredible spectacle, although it must be said that the modest premises at TFA was packed to overflowing.

[chillipaddy]

whoahahaha... 3 words to describe him... cool,great n superb!!! wat a talented choreographer...

[tinkerbell]

Hi Umesh, don kno u felt disappointed or not that Isaac was being sent home becuz of his so called "No good dance and left behind his partner" for last week Top 12. All of us think Isaac & Sue delivered ur choreo well.. but we know thAT 2 judges don seems to support Isaac and kept saying he is no good! But they are so wrong!! We all have eyes to see and we are aware that they are really good and touched all of us!!!! I'm sure u agreed also since u're the choreographer for that dance!

Many of us think this show really not fair and very obvious they wanna keep those they like and really politic behind the scene.!! Wasted the choreographer's effort to come up with nice dance steps becuz those ppl jus don appreciate it! Sucks big time and not worth a pence to wATCH...