The multi-talented dancer, Dr. Mythili Maratt Anoop, an expert in Mohiniyattam and Kathak, who also holds a certification in another classical dance form, Bharatanatyam, will be presenting Mohiniyattam, The Old & The New, at Lamakaan on the fourth Saturday of April from 6pm onwards.
Speaking to Natyahasini, Mohiniyattam dancer, Dr. Mythili Maratt Anoop, shares that she will be presenting some of the pieces presented at the annual day programme recently, such as Ganapathy, Jathiswaram and Thillana in Hamir Kalyani, and also some other new compositions. “An Utsava Prabandham, I learnt from Guru Kalamandalam Sugandhi, in a group format, will be presented,” she says.
Mythili states that the rasikas must watch out for some compositions under the category of Mughlai Vesham, which was part of the old Mohiniyattam repertoire, but was discarded when the dance was made a classical art. “I make no claims of reviving the Mughlai Vesham, but what I am doing is my own re-imagining of the same,” she confirms. The dancer says that she started working on Mughlai Vesham through an Arts Exploration Project of India Foundation for the Arts and have created a dance video which has been submitted to IFA,” she mentions.
The Mohiniyattam says: “Under Mughlai Vesham, I will present a Thumri written by Swathi Thirunal, a ‘Salaam Daruvu’, on which I worked with the help of Dr. Rajyalakshmi Seth.” She mentions that she has kept the lyrical lines of the Daruvu which is in praise of King Tulaja and added Sollus suitable for Mohiniyattam; and also, the popular Dhanasri Thillana, in which she performs both Mohiniyattam and Kathak – in something like a solo jugalbandhi. “Guru Mangala Bhatt has helped me with the Kathak segments in this,” Mythili adds. Apart from Guru Mangala Bhatt, Mythili is grateful to Guru Kalamandalam Sugandhi Prabhu, Dr. Rajyalakshmi Seth, Dr. Yashoda Thakore, India Foundation for the Arts GSMS GITAM (Deemed to be University).
For the evening’s performance, Mythili has mostly relied on Swathi Thirunal’s compositions and Sufi poetry of Amir Khusro. Musicians include Dr. Srikant on Percussion and Urjita Patel on Vocals, while the performers are Mythili Maratt Anoop, Neema Nikhil, Sherli E, Sangeeta Nair and Unnati Tiwari. The distinguished guests include Mamidi Harikrishna, Director, Department of Language and Culture, Govt. of Telangana and Sri Libby Benjamin, President, CTRMA.