Shishya Nilakshi pays tribute to late guru Nafde

Nagpur: A befitting tribute was given to late Kathak exponent Sadhana Nafde on Friday evening at the South Central Zone Cultural Centre in Civil Lines on Jan 5. Nafde's student and city's noted Kathak dancer Nilakshi Khandkar Saxena took the stage to not only perform various facets of Kathak for the benefit of amateurs and aspiring dancers, but also explained her learning at intervals.

To commemorate Nafde's death anniversary, which falls on December 31, Nirzar Kala Sansthan had organized a five day Kathak workshop, helmed by Khandkar-Saxena. The dance recital saw the conclusion of the workshop. Khandkar-Saxena was accompanied by noted musicians such as Delhi based tabla player Rahul Vishwakarma, Gunwant Ghatawai on vocals and Harmonium, sitarist Nasir Khan and flautist Aravind Upadhyay.

She began the performance with Ganesh Vandana, and went on to perform basics of Kathak such as Tode, Tihai, Thaat, Tukde, and Paran among other concepts of Kathak.

She also explained different postures and positions in Kathak. The idea behind the performance was to showcase how the 'manch' of Kathak is, and how it is perceived in its true form, encompassing what you learn in the syllabus, she says.

Khandkar-Saxena went on to perform abhinaya on the thumri 'Kanha Girdhari', based on Krishna and Radha's playful scenes. She ended the recital by presenting Dhruta Laya. Having learnt Kathak since the age of seven, Khandkar-Saxena, learned from Nafde and furthered her talent under Rajendra Gangani, and performs traditions of Jaipur gharana. Delhi based musician Rohit Saxena, secretary of Nirzar Kala Sansthan Amit Dandige, and SCZCC program coordinator Shashank Dande inaugurated the event.

Nilakshi mentored over 40 students in the workshop, which was conducted from January 1 to 5.