Niral Uprit Performs Kathak Production 'Aavahan' at Shilparamam

Kathak dancer Niral Uprit presented her solo production, "Aavahan — Sam: Dialogues with the Divine," at Shilparamam in Hyderabad, bringing a multilingual exploration of movement, music, and faith to the stage.

The performance was developed in under a month in collaboration with Nadee School of Movement and Aangan Space. Conceived around personal questions addressed directly to the divine, the piece combined classical and contemporary Kathak elements with narration in English, Hindi, and Sanskrit.

Performing entirely as a solo act, Uprit enacted both the human seeker and the divine entities. The choreography featured embodiments of Ganesha, Shiva, Devi, and Krishna, set to original compositions arranged across shifting rhythmic structures, ranging from the 16-beat teentaal to the seven-beat rupak taal.

Structurally, the production alternated between spoken English voiceovers, newly composed Vandanas, and traditional Shuddh Kathak Bols, along with the use of small props. Uprit noted that she left certain sections open for experimental choreography during the performance to allow for spontaneous expression on stage.

The entire production was assembled in a brief preparation period. Scripting took approximately four days, after which the music was sung, recorded, mixed, and mastered in Mumbai over five days before the final choreography was completed.

The musical foundation was a collaborative effort involving Uprit, her mother Smita Uprit, and artist Savni Bhatt. Together, they wrote the lyrics, with Bhatt composing and singing the pieces. The music was structured to evoke diverse emotional states, including raudra ras, shant ras, and ecstasy.

Speaking about the demands of the presentation, Uprit explained that performing solo required complete awareness and physical stamina, as the audience's focus remained solely on a single performer without the safety net of an ensemble. Despite the contemporary touches in the music and voiceovers, Uprit maintained that the production stayed strictly committed to the traditional grammar and storytelling essence of Kathak.