- Choreography: Aditi Mangaldas
- Solo Performance On Live Music
- Troupe: 1 Dancer, 4-5 Musicians, 2 tech- light & sound/ 1 manager
- Vocal Composition:Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan
- Duration:1 Hour 15 Min
- Premiere: Delhi, India, 2010
Krishna, Achyuta, Manohar, Muralidhar, Vasudev, Anant!
Krishna, can you be all this and more? Who thought of you, Krishna? Who's imagination are you? Is imagination greater than you?
Chakradhari, Giridhari, Achal, Anirudha, Keshava, Gopinath!
You are immeasurable, Greater than any man, woman or even God!
Parabramha, Parathasarathi, Achal, Madan, Niranjan!
You are breath, always be at the edge of my being! You are the journey, lead me through the vagaries of time! You are passion and abandon, let me partake of all that you offer! You are death, embrace me! You are LIFE, engulf me!
CHOREOGRAPHER’S NOTE: “Literature, Architecture, Dance, Music, Poetry, Sculpture…visions of Krishna everywhere! Can one make Krishna into a belief or a concept? Can one hold Krishna as something fixed and static? Can Krishna be of any gender, class or faith? To me Krishna is the ever flowing river, the unquenchable flame, LIFE itself.” Aditi Mangaldas
‘Immersed’, by Aditi Mangaldas, the celebrated Kathak dancer/choreographer, who was initiated into learning Kathak under Kumi Ben at the tender age of five, came as a tribute to her Guru. Centered around the multi-hued names and attributes of Krishna, the presentation incorporated all the intra-forms of Kathak technique and Abhinaya on the melodious music composed by Shubha Mudgal, Anish Pradhan and Aditi herself, based on raga Jhinjhoti and Abhinaya on the poem of Bhartendu Harischanra. This emotionally-charged tribute of the chiseled dancer concluded with a meditative and aesthetic ecstasy of bliss. Manjari Sinha, The Statesman 2020
Aditi Mangaldas, one of Kumiben's earliest disciples at Kadamb emerged as one who with the Kathak vocabulary she has learnt takes her thematic expression to the level of poetry with an appeal to the aesthetic sense of the modern viewer. Combining reason and emotion as also technique and skill in Immersed she has her physical existence melt into the portrayal of a human being gifted with a rare sensibility to see herself as part of the universe in which Krishna permeates as a fragrance. She demonstrated the peak it is possible to scale through the medium. Dr. S.D. Desai, Narthaki.com, 2020
A powerhouse of energy, she (Aditi Mangaldas) unleashed her impeccable chakkars covering the stage and pat coming on the sam, that had the audience eating out of her hands. Aditi has given traditional Kathak a new look with imagination and sophistication, giving thought on how to enhance its formal beauty. Sunil Kothari, Narthaki.com, 2019
The celebrated Kathak dancer Aditi Mangaldas, whose prowess in breaking the barriers of convention and pushing her classical form to ever new heights of imagination, has now become the stuff of a legend. That she is immersed in the eternal Krishna came through with great conviction and her impact was total on the audience. Utpal K Banarjee, Narthaki.com, Kolkata, 2019
“Mangaldas owned the stage without trying to earn it…in one magical scene, the rustle of ankle bells in the dark suggested a hushed pulse of life within the void.” Sanjoy Roy, The Guardian, Darbar Festival, Sadlers Wells, London 2017
“The best part of the programme was Immersed…images floated by: of the fast flowing river, the unquenchable flame.” Utpal K Banerjee, The Pioneer, India 2014
“Aditi Mangaldas’s sparkling technique of Kathak with a contemporary sophistication... Mangaldas stole the concluding evening with her sparkling solo...The intriguing concept of Krishna is dealt with utmost sensitivity by the dynamic dancer.” Manjari Sinha, The Statesman, India 2013