Productions

“NEY: Bansuri” at the Bansuri Festival, Kamani (organised by Raag Rang of Naina Devi)

For the first time after Sadhona ji’s performances, Sufi couplets of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (‘Ney’) was performed on stage by any classical dancer of post independent India. This programme also explored – again for the first time - SufiVaishnavism parallels through Verses of Rumi and Vaishnav poets Bihari and Surdas. 

           Presentation: As a solo + Also presented as a Group composition

           Duration: 18-20 minutes

“Umang: Basant”  – on Spring as seen by the young, by a newly wedded maiden and by an elderly person: based on traditional chhota khayal ‘bandish’ and verse of Lalita Devi.

           Presentation: As a solo + Also presented as a Group composition

           Duration: 18-20 minutes

‘Chand’ – with verses of Surdas, Harivanshrai Bacchan, Malik Muhammed Jayasi

Exploration of various panorama of perceptions, views and inter-linkages of a subject, was for the first time evident in classical dance through “Chand” (the moon) such as the poetic fantasy of poets, the longing of a child to play with the moon, the moon as the centrepiece of lullaby for a doting mother, and the scientific relationship of high and low tides with human emotions. Verses of Surdas, Malik Mohd Jayasi, Harivansh Rai Bacchan, Lalita Devi and Urdu poets were woven together to highlight various phases of the moon and its psychological impact.

           Presentation: As a solo + Also presented as a Group composition

           Duration: 18-20 minutes

Yashodhara : Sacrifice of the wife of Lord Buddha (by Maithili Sharan Gupt)

Ever heard of a woman donating her son as alms to her husband who has become a ‘sanyasi’? What emotion does she experience when she is forsaken without provocation by her husband during the dead silence of night, who wishes to search for the Truth? And what pain does motherhood experience when the husband returns after experiencing enlightenment not to accept her but to ask for alms? Shovana took up this heart rending saga of a woman from Indian history. Interest in Hindi literature and social concern led Shovana Narayan to feel the pain of the eminent Hindi poet, Maithili Sharan Gupt’s ‘Yashodhara’.

           Presentation: As a solo + Also presented as a full ballet group presentation

           Duration: 15 minutes (if performed solo) & 1 hour (dance ballet group presentation)

Omar Khayyam: Memorial programme for Sadhona Bose at Kala Mandir, Calcutta.

The script culled out from the works of Omar Khayyam reflected the transiency of life and the desire of each soul to be ultimately united with the universal soul. It was Shovana’s foray and an introduction to the world of philosophy and Sufism. The script of Sadhona Bose was provided by her younger sister well-known thumri singer, Naina Devi who desired that Sadhona ji’s only known young disciple, Shovana, should pay homage to the memory of her first guru, by performing two of her original numbers, one being Omar Khayyam and the other being The Street Dancer.

Sadhona ji had first performed these items in the early 1940s – definitely a first of essaying of Sufi philosophy in the Indian classical dance idiom.

           Presentation: Group presentation

           Duration: 18-20 minutes

“Ghalib ki Dilli”(Opera) - Aiwan-e-Ghalib Auditorium, New Delhi

The journey into inter-faith dialogue through verses started early in 1973. Performing to verses of Meer Taki Meer and Mirza Ghalib in the opera “Ghalib ki Dilli”, Shovana began her journey into essaying and delineating Urdu verses through the Kathak medium. These were performed at various Festivals including the Sanskritik Festival of India in Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1978 and yet again at several venues and Festivals.

           Presentation: Group 

           Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes

For the first time, young Shovana ventured into the realms of emoting poetry through recitation. Harivansha Rai Bacchan’s “Madhushala” and the revolutionary poem “Bidrohi” of Kazi Nazrul Islam were telecast by Doordarshan Television in two special recordings on the poets and the recently liberated young nation of Bangladesh.

           Presentation: Solo + Also done as a Group composition

           Duration: 15 minutes