Celebration of 15 glorious years of Kathak and more!

“The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit. Be patient and stay the course” – Fabienne Fredrickson.

Nritya Ninad- 3 conducted on 16^th Oct 2022 was the perfect representation of the patience, dedication, and compassion that is needed for the small seeds to grow into bigger and taller trees. Guru Dr. Tina Tambe is a celebrated Kathak exponent, founder, and Artistic Director of the Ninad Centre for Performing Arts (Ninad CPA). She planted this seed 15 years ago, nurtured it over the years with her love for teaching Kathak, staying consistent and patient in this journey, and today, this seed has grown into a tall mighty tree bearing many fruits in the form of dedicated students and accomplished Kathak performers. The journey from 1 student in 2006 to over hundreds of students in 2022 has been very fulfilling and rewarding in many ways.

Dr. Tina Tambe has touched the lives of many students by being their mentor, creating not just the passion for Kathak art in her students but also helping them imbibe the values and virtues to be good human beings, makes her an extraordinary Guru! Nritya Ninad- 3^rd edition was the perfect celebration of these 15 glorious and magnificent years of Kathak and much more… where we witnessed that each student was not just a student of Ninad CPA but an equal member of the beautiful big Ninad Family from the age group of 6 to 75 years! Tina Tai (as all her students lovingly call her) is the head of this family perfectly keeping all her family members connected to each other and she’s always there to support each one of them! She herself is an accomplished artist with many accolades on her name but on the day of the event, she was the perfect captain of the ship making sure that everything runs smoothly throughout the event..

The event  started with a unique piece on “Dashavatar” depicting ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, beautifully written by Dr. Tina herself and composed by Shri Vaibhav Mankad. The powerful beginning of the show was done by the senior most students of Ninad CPA and it perfectly set the tone for the rest of the event. Ninad CPA always tries to promote authentic Kathak form in its teaching and performances which was evident from the different components of Kathak repertoire showcased in this show. Various Taals, Tode-Tukde, Bandish, Thumri, balanced combination of Taal and Abhinay Paksha (technical and expressive parts of dance) were gracefully and aptly choreographed and performed by different batches of Ninad CPA ranging from beginners to advanced level students. The tiny members of Ninad family who have just started to take baby steps in their Kathak journey confidently performed Shloka (invocation prayer) and basic toda and tukdas in Teental (16 beats). Similarly students of Ninad CPA’s Powai batch showcased Shiv-Stuti and advanced technical aspect of Teentaal. Another set of students mesmerized the audience with their presentation of Ektaal (11 beats) followed by a popular Bhajan by Saint Meera Bai – ‘Pag Ghungroo Bandh Meera Nache re”.

To learn any classical dance form and to master it well, one cannot expect fast results!! It’s a process which requires patience, dedication, devotion, hard work and passion.. and of course finding the right Guru to lead us on the way of knowledge is crucial for students. Disciples of Ninad CPA are grateful to have found the right Guru in Tina Tai who walks this path with her students to lead them to the light of knowledge in their journey and also helps them to understand the intricacies of this art form. Spellbound presentation of complex taals in Kathak repertoire like Shikhar Taal (17 beats) and Raas Taal (13 beats) by senior students was truly remarkable! Making these complex Taals simple for students yet challenging them to understand the intricacies of them to enhance their skills, is an art in itself which Tina Tai knows well…which was evident from the flawless performances given by the students.

Some other performances which enthralled the audience were the technical kathak presentation (Taal Paksha) of Jhaptaal (10 beats), Rupak Taal (7 beats) and Dadra taal (6 beats) along with beautiful and expressive classic Kathak compositions like Holi and Thumri (Sab Ban than ayi shyam pyar ri re). Students also celebrated 75 years of independent India with Vande Mataram song and one of the favourite performances of the audience was the tribute to Bharat Ratna, Swarkokila Lata Mangeshkar ji where students aptly choreographed some of her melodious songs using Kathak. One of the masterpieces (and my personal favorite!) of the show was the Gatbhaav on Sita Swayamvar where students played the roles of different characters involved in the scene of Sita Swayamvar and portrayed it perfectly with their facial expressions, body language, and attire. Gatbhaav is a challenging part where one needs to depict the entire scene without any music or dialogues and students of Ninad CPA nailed it with their excellent presentation! In the end, senior students performed on classical composition sung by Sangeet Martand Pt. Jasraj called ‘Madhurasthakam’ which narrates how everything about Lord Krishna is “Madhur” or pleasant. The concluding piece of the Nritya Ninad was a powerful, energetic and fast paced Tarana and jugalbandi by senior most students which left the audience in complete awe! All in all, it was a perfect amalgamation of various aspects of Kathak and all the students did a great job!!

The success of the show was evident with the houseful audience glued to their seats from the beginning till the end of the show for 3 hours, applauding and encouraging young, aspiring as well as accomplished performers throughout the program. Any dance show is incomplete without equally important and amazingly talented musicians and accompanists. Shri Satya Prakash Mishra on Tabla, Shri Vaibhav Mankad on Vocal and Harmonium, Smt. Alka Gujar on Sitar and our very own Guru Dr. Tina Tambe on Padhant were the absolutely amazing team that brought the magic to the show and took it to another level!

Any successful event is not possible without teamwork that happens behind the stage.. All the teachers at Ninad CPA, parents, well wishers and students … everyone contributed immensely to make this show a great success..

In the beginning, Dr. Tina’s parents Shri Ashok and Smt Kumidini Deole along with other family members, lighted the lamp.

I wish Ninad CPA many more years of continued success, spreading love and happiness through dance for many generations to come and celebrating its many milestones with Rasikas (audience) in years to come!!

– Tejali Kunte (Proud 1^st student of Ninad CPA)