Natyarangam recently organised a six-day dance fest
featuring the Navarasa-s - the nine sentiments. The
programme was titled Rasa Bharatam and was staged at
the Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai. The word Navarasa-s are Sringaram (love),
Hasyam (laughter), Veeram
(heroism), Karuna (pity), Raudram (anger), Bhayanakam (fear),
Bheebhatsam (disgust), Adbhutam (astonishment) and Shantam (tranquillity).
Bharata in his Natya Sastra has referred to only the first
eight, omitting Shantam. Following his footsteps, Natyarangam organised a
4-day event featuring only the eight sentiments. While Vyjayanthimala Bali and Dr.
Padma Subrahmanyam performed all the rasas on the inaugural and the
concluding days respectively, other dancers were given one rasa to
portray. Padma Subrahmanyam's demonstration of the
rasa-s, pinned with apt mythological stories, had a touch of class. Priyadarsini Govind took up
Sringaram while A
Lakshman handled Raudram.
Sangeeta Ishwar's presentation of 'Malarum' on AIDS
using recorded music amidst other live shows did not gel.
Moreover some screening should be done on what is required on stage for better
crispness. Indira Kadambi dealt
with Hasyam. Funny orchestra introduction and
description of Lord Ganesha with cheap PVC tube and
plastic basket made a mockery of the elephant-headed
God and the dance form itself.
Gayatri Balagurunathan demonstrated Bhayam. Purandaradasa's composition
Gummana Karayadire in Tilang was presented well. P T Narendran's programme
was lively. Bheebhatsam by J Suryanarayanamurthy saw
equally good orchestration. Kalakshetra dance tutor
Sheejit Krishna's Mridangam accompaniment with pharans
and timely effects for even the minutest expression
created a terrific impact on the audience.
Lakshmi Ramaswamy's elaborated on the Adbhutam.
To sum
up, most of the dance presentations were fine in
general but failed to aptly covey the given sentiment.
Moreover the modern poetry by contemporary poets did
not have the depth to covey the given rasa. Such
presentations demand good homework. More relevant
anecdotes from mythology could have helped the
artistes demonstrate the given rasa-s in a better way.
The stage decoration by P Krishnamurthy did not
convey any meaning.
Natyarangam needs a screening and censor board to ensure better quality.
Mature and confident
Sarayu Sai displayed her skill in Bharatanatyam at the Music Academy Mini Hall
recently. A disciple of Guru Chitra Visweswaran, she opened with the traditional Pushpanjali.
The introductory item was
followed by the Annamacharya's krithi Sriman
Narayana in raga Bowli. The Angayarkanni Varnam,
composed by Violin maestro Lalgudi G Jayaraman
remained the anchor piece of the recital. This number
brought forth Sarayu's maturity in handling pure
dance and facial expressions. She was considerably at
ease while handling both abhinaya and nritta, and displayed
absolute confidence in presenting
the arudi-s in the Varnam. The Nattuvangam needs special mention - it
found its best place in the hands of Subashri (Nattuvangam), who was supported
flamboyantly by the young Mridangist Karthik. The Navarasa-s were well handled by the
danseuse in the Varnam. Her expressions proved her
experience and dedication. The songs in the second
half of the show included rare pieces such as Unnai toodu anuppinen wherein the nayika (the heroine)
laments sending her sakhi as a messenger to her lover as the sakhi turns out to be a traitor. The
item was not just word-to-word translation into abhinaya - crisp sanchari-s found a predominant place
that evening. Vanati's lilting voice had cast spell
on the rasikas. The Tillana in Mohanakalyani, a
composition of Lalgudi G Jayaraman (who was present for the show) was a fitting
finale to the recital. Kalaiarasan (Violin) extended melodious support.
Poornachandrika
Students of Antara Centre for Performing Arts recently presented a dance feature
Poornachandrika
at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai. The simple
story of a child that is lost on a full moon day
followed by its reunion with its mother was presented
in a very neat manner.
The scene opens with the pompous entry of the sutradhari (narrator)
into the village where the mother of the child is
found in distress. He carefully studies the situation
and promises to find the child out. The child reaches
the dense forest with crawling animals. The
description of the forest was enjoyable. The passage
of time and the sincerity of the moon in protecting
the child was brilliantly represented by a dance
sequence with creative movements. The music bit
in Kuntalavarali was a real feast.
A Kuravan (gypsy) couple that finds the child tries to
entertain her. The meeting, clash and reconciliation
between the kuravan and sutradhari were well portrayed
with suitable music and dance sequence. It was
beautifully set in raga Kharaharapriya and alternated between Tisra and
Chaturasra gati-s, and folk and classical styles.
The choreography of this sequence proved the genius of
Guru Sreelata Vinod. The ballet had very little
lyrics to support. The whole feature stood on the
musical interludes to suit the situation. Kudos to the keyboard artiste P R Venkatasubramanian for his
lively composition of these music bits. The 75-minute
play was non-stop, but one hardly missed the lyrics.
Meenakshi's performance as sutradhari stole the hearts of the audience. Other students also did a good job by
bringing out the imaginative choreography of their
guru live on stage. The credit of staging and
conducting a 30 plus team of young dancers
goes entirely to Sreelatha Vinod, well supported on
the vocal by Pratima and Shashidharan. Katikeyan on
the Mridangam, S S R Krishnan on Tabla and Morsing, M S Kannan on the Violin and P
R Venkatasubramanian on
the Keyboard were the others who share the credit.
Live Treat with 42 Dancers
Men may come and men may go but the story of Rama will
continue to be a box-office hit. Yet another version
of the story of Rama was presented at Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Hall, Chromepet by the
students of Anita Guha. The programme commenced with
a lively Ganesha Vandanam quickly followed by the main feast of the evening Sita Kalyanam. The ballet
opened with the scene where different groups of
dancers were found to be entertaining Dasaratha with
their vigorous dance presentations. The entry of Viswamitra to take Rama and Laxmana for the
Yaga
Samrakshanam, Tataka Vadham, Ahalya Shapa Vimochanam,
journey to Mithilapuri, and the Sita Swayamvara and
finally the wedding of Sita were scenes taken for
elaboration. All the dancers did a good job. Perfect
synchronisation bundled with some fancy movements gave
ample proof of Anita's choreographic skill. The
ballet had scenes describing the forest, which
included dance sequences of the animals too. One could
very well judge that the ballet was intentionally
choreographed to stage young dancers in large number.
The colourful show involving 42 young dancers was a
real treat to the audience. The performances of Archana as
Tataka and Ravana, Madhu as Laxman, Shanti as Rama
and Prathibha as Vishwamithra need special mention.
Lyrics in Telugu by Vyjayanthimala were set to tune by
Prema Ramamoothy and Anita herself. The small orchestral team comprising J Padmanabhan
(Mridangam), Muruganandam (Violin) and Ramesh (Flute)
did the job of a huge orchestra. Kudos to Anita
without whose soulful singing and appealing effects,
particularly for the villainous characters, the programme
would not have been so lively.
A Touch of Class
M Anupama, the proud product of the Kala Darsana Foundation of Arts, Chennai
recently performed at
VDS Arts Academy, Chennai. Blessed with a fine
expressive face added to which she has the blessings
of her guru Jayanti Subramaniam, who holds the credit
of moulding many young talents, Anupama's performance had a
touch of class. Natesa Kautuvam in Hamsadhwani, Misra
Alarippu and a Jatiswaram in Saraswati kicked the
show towards a complex yet thrilling performance. Most
of the traditional varnams revolve round Sringara bhava or the theme of love. But Anupama invariably
chose to highlight Mahalakshmi, the Goddess of wealth,
in the varnam format. This item revolved round bhakti bhava or devotion. Set to
raga Varamu, it was yet another unique item which could be termed as a mini thematic
presentation elaborating on episodes such as churning of the ocean followed by
the birth of Mahalakshmi and so on. This item had excellent lyrical
content, which could be readily elaborated, in the
form of informative sancharis. It not only made
Anupama cover every corner of the stage but
also made the percussionist Venkatasubramanian's fingers roll on both the sides of the Mridangam,
reaching every bit of the playing platform!
Anupama's performance of this piece was neat. Guru
Jayanti Subramaniam wielded the Nattuvangam with
absolute confidence. Her rendition with apt
modulations in reciting the jati-s was an aural treat.
She was assisted by her disciple Janaki (Nattuvangam).
The credit of writing lyrics and tuning the Varnam,
the nucleus of the day, goes to the renowned musician
T R Subramanian. The post-varnam session was again a continuation of the dance treat for the audience.
Solla Vallaayo Kiliye in Ragamalika, the ninda stuti Yedukkittanai
modi on Lord Siva and the
Purandaradasa devarnama Chikkavane ivano in ragamalika brought afore her mastery over
abhinaya. In addition to it Radha Bhadri brought all the bhava in her singing. Her voice modulations to suit
the dancer's expressions were simply unmatched. Anupama
ended the day with an enticing Tillana in raga
Tilang, a composition of the violin maestro Lalgudi
G Jayaraman. Ramana who played the flute also did a
good job.
Guru Charana Smaranam
Natya Manjari recently celebrated Guru Charana
Smaranam at the Rama Rao Kala Mantap, Chennai. The
programme offered sincere tribute to Bharata
Sastra Ratna Kanchipuram Sri Ellapa Mudaliar. Guru
Udupi Sri Laxminarayan was the brain behind the fine dance feature titled Panchabhootam (the five elements viz.
earth, water, air, fire and space). The show was a magnum opus, cleverly using the
five jaati-s of tala namely Chaturasra (4), Tisra (3),
Misra (7), Khanda (5) and Sankirana (9) to depict the five elements. The whole feature stood on the musical
interludes and jati-s (rhythmic passages) in the relevant time cycles to denote
every element. This was preceded by a couple
of items that brought out the importance of Guru in
one's life.
The students of Natya Manjari did a great job. The credit of staging and
conducting the team of young dancers goes
to guru Udupi Laxminarayan, well supported on the
Nattuvangam by Madhumathi Prakash, and vocal by Shanti
Jayaraman. Hari Babu on the Mridangam, Muruganandam on
the Violin and P R Venkatasubramanian on the Keyboard were the other orchestra
members.
Another highlight of the day was the release of the book Natyattil Pudiya Paadaigal written by
guru Udupi Laxminarayan himself. Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam
released the book and Nandini Ramani received the
first copy. Dr. Padma in her speech termed it as a
worthy handbook for both learners as well as their
parents.
Lakshmi V N
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