Jhalak 2008

By Sumita Sami 19 November 2008 1,541 views 22 Comments

I was just congratulating myself on finding a seat in the first row behind the VIP section at Jhalak, when a tall individual flopped into the seat directly in front of me. I ended up watching the show at a forty-five degree angle, but despite all that, I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Predictably for South Asian events, Jhalak began a little late, but my main gripe was with the singing of the national anthems. I thought that could have been handled a more professionally – definitely without a script, and maybe even with recordings. The MCs could have been also more subtle when reading off their scripts, but I have to say that overall, they did a great job.

In the spirit of celebrating all things Indian, the performances were organized by theme, with each group representing a particular festival. The evening began with Chandani, a student group focusing on the festival of Karva Chauth. Although they were enthusiastic and had a decent selection of songs, I didn’t think they made the best start to the show. But I have to say that Nritya Sangam, which came next, would have been hard to compare to anyway. An on-campus student organization focusing on classical dance forms, they were a huge hit with the audience as they performed traditional Bharathanatyam to exhilarating Latin inspired music.

The festival of Janmashtami had Sangita and Charanya singing an ode to Krishna, followed by an impressive attempt at Mere Dholna, which was unfortunately overwhelmed by the music. Still, it was clear the audience loved them. Professional dance group Agni was up next, and although I thought their performance had little to do with Janmashtami, it had variety and a great tempo. Most memorable, by far, was the Muqabala dance. That they carried off a song performed originally by dance guru Prabhu Deva, and with the inventive addition of painted on, glow-in-the-dark skeletons, made them a huge success.

Up next were the Roshogollaz, who were performing for the Durga Puja festival. Theirs were by far the most modern of the dances, and they were energetic and very talented. But what one of my friends pointed out was that not only did their performance have nothing to do with the theme, the background story (skipping out on a puja¹ to go to a club) wasn’t exactly what anyone would showcase as part of Indian culture. On the other hand, their inclusion of non-South Asian performers was laudable, and garnered many rounds of applause from the audience.

Dirty South Dandiya, up next, was full of spirit, excellent costumes and co-ordination. Although they were performing a fairly traditional dance, the variety in movements and professionalism made them extremely lively and fun to watch.

The intermission was the best chance to try and grab some Bombay Bistro from the catering tables outside and catch up with friends. Looking around at the large crowd, I realized that if the ICA’s aim was to spread awareness about Indian culture to non-Indians, then they had certainly made some progress. There were a considerable number of non-Indians in the crowd, including a former professor of mine whom I had the chance to interview.

“Terrific,” enthused Yale N. Patt, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, when I asked him how he liked the event so far. Interestingly, he mentioned that the dancing had been very unlike that which he’d seen so far, which had featured mainly women. Professor Patt himself has travelled to India several times in the past, and said that one of the things he loves about Indian culture is its variety: “Swimming in the Indian Ocean off Goa… it’s a very different experience from taking a train in Mumbai.” That love of variety would probably explain why Professor Patt enjoyed himself at Jhalak. He was also very enthusiastic about the MCs of the show, saying that “they played off each other very well.” Dr. Patt left soon after, however, regretting that his work wouldn’t let him stay longer. It made me wonder if the show, at four hours, was a bit too long – but if everyone was as enthusiastic as Dr. Patt, it would hardly have mattered.

Apurva Batra kicked off the second half of the show with a strong voice and good stage presence, but the sound again drowned out much of his voice. Ever-popular Texas Bhangra made up for that though – every formation, stunt and jump was in place and the music was amazingly energetic.

Of course, this wouldn’t have been an Indian cultural show if August 15^th hadn’t been mentioned, so Independence Day was next on the list. Nino Kar’s soulful rendition of Vande Matharam was accompanied by a beautiful slide show; some of the audience actually leapt up to give him a standing ovation at the end. Mohini Dance Team, a student dance group on campus, was another crowd-pleaser. They started off with some semi-classical moves, but added in plenty of other modern styles that kept it all interesting.

So far quite a few of the performances had had very little to do with their theme, but I thought Nach Baliye made a conscious effort to introduce it at the end of an impressive mix of genres and some excellent dancing. Considering the fact that they weren’t a student dance group, much less a professional troupe, I and a few others were very surprised when they didn’t win best non-professional dance.

Crowd-favorite Hum A Capella made a guest appearance at the end, nicely rounding out an evening of excellent entertainment. I was particularly impressed by their Chaiyya Chaiyya, which relies on very strong vocals and rhythms; Hum A Capella took it and made it their own with great mellow voices and beats.

I’d never been to Jhalak before this, and I’m glad I finally did, because it was really enjoyable. I do think, however, that some things could be improved upon. I’m still not sure why it was made competitive; the prize giving was very low-key, and the judging criteria were never explained, which I thought important since both professional and amateur groups were present. The slide shows could certainly have been more professional, especially because they were hardly in sync with the narration and used a number of largely irrelevant images. Sound and lighting seemed a little uneven in places, and the end of the event, after four hours, dragged quite a bit.

Regardless of those problems, though, I thought the event was a big success, and I hope it continues well into the future. It was an excellent opportunity for on-campus groups to show off their talent, and for the audience to really appreciate the variety of Indian culture.

Click here to relive Jhalak through our exclusive slideshow!

Footnotes:
1. Prayer

Photo Courtesy: Araceli Jaime