KARACHI: Those who braced the uneven, waterlogged roads of Korangi Industrial Area instead of staying home or heading to the theatres to watch the much anticipated final episode of some television serial on Saturday were in for a rare treat at the All Pakistan Music Conference where the ‘New Strides on Familiar Paths’ dance recital at the Getz Pharma Auditorium featured two most brilliant and creative young dancers in Suhaee Abro and Amun Chaudhary who performed various forms of classical dance and their innovations.

The evening began with Khalil Gibran’s Soul of a Dancer. “Once there came to the court of the prince of Birkasha a dancer with her musicians. And she was admitted to the court, and she danced before the prince to the music the lute and the flute and the zither.

“She danced the dance of flames, and the dance of swords and spears; she danced the dance of stars and the dance of space. And then she danced the dance of flowers in the wind.

“After this she stood before the throne of the prince and bowed her body before him. And the prince bade her to come nearer, and he said unto her, ‘Beautiful woman, daughter of grace and delight, whence comes your art? And how is it that you command all the elements in your rhythms and your rhymes?’

“And the dancer bowed again before the prince, and she answered, ‘Mighty and gracious Majesty, I know not the answer to your questionings. Only this I know: The philosopher’s soul dwells in his head, the poet’s soul is in the heart; the singer’s soul lingers about his throat, but the soul of the dancer abides in all her body.’

The words perfectly described the creative expression and movements of both dancers. The gestures, the steps, the poses before the audience must have also made them feel like royalty witnessing something beautiful before them. It was no longer an auditorium stage. It truly felt like a court of a prince. The image of the Dancing Girl of Moenjodaro also added to the ambience.

Suhaee Abro, in mint green sari with pink borders, opened with Pushpanjali, the first dance of the Bharatha Natyam in which the dancer offers salutations to the audience with folded hands.

This was followed by some history of the Kathak dance, which is really all about the art of storytelling. Amun Chaudhary in a black and gold peshwas and traditional jewellery inducing a gold tika shining on her forehead demonstrated in her dance the major sub-traditions of Kathak in the form of the Lucknow, Benares and Jaipur styles.

Amun then took to the stage again for the manifestation of the Hindu mythical goddess Kali fighting her demons as she turned to Jagat Janani exuberating supernatural strength.

And then from the tabla, flute and bells, from the stomping of the feet and the twirling one moved to swirling like a dervish and bending, stretching, rising, sliding, gliding, jumping, darting and turning and twisting. Suhaee was going to take you to the finale with contemporary dance.

As the director of the All Pakistan Music Conference, Ayla Raza, had explained while introducing the two dancers earlier, Suhaee started her dance journey at the age of seven with classical dance but she has now moved to contemporary dance. Thus the green sari was replaced by a silver top and a flowing peachy orange skirt and black tights as the dancer fought her own modern demons. The classical music, too, was switched with modern compositions with voice recordings in Sindhi and the chirping of birds. And in the middle of all that there was the dancer, with amazing stamina, telling the story of a young girl coming of age while teaching herself to live taking in all that life threw her way.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2020