Drama marked by finesse and fluidity

Presenting their First Fellowship Award performance, Sandra and Sheejith proved their mettle

April 13, 2017 04:26 pm | Updated 06:31 pm IST

Sandra Pisharody

Sandra Pisharody

Discussions, debates and conversations are inevitable when an award or fellowship is bestowed on artistes. Addressing this issue, Kalavaahini Trust presented the two artistes chosen for junior and senior fellowships. The ‘First Fellowship Award Performance’ placed on the artistes the onus to validate the faith reposed on their calibre. The chosen artistes were Sandra Pisharody, a young Mohiniyattom dancer and disciple of Nirmala Paniker, and Sheejith Krishna, senior Bharatanatyam artiste. Both proved their worthiness with refined performances at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium.

Kalavaahini Trust, initiated by Malavika Sarukkai and supported by Tata Trusts aims to foster excellence in classical dance with a multi-dimensional approach ranging from practice of the art techniques to interdisciplinary dialogue, archiving and dissemination of creative processes. The two fellowships have been conceived to extend support to dancers to pursue their art with dedication. While the junior fellowship should motivate young dancers to strive for excellence, the grant for senior artiste is a shot in the arm for those who conceptualise, choreograph and create new work within the classical genre.

Sandra Pisharody chose to present a Swati Tirunal kriti, ‘Gangeya Vasanadhara Padmanabha,’ in raga Hamirkalyani set to Adi tala. Sandra succeeded in communicating the fluidity and grace of the Mohiniyattom style, her refined movements making it an aesthetic experience. The description of the ocean and the snake on which Padmanabha rests were explored in detail with sancharis of Kaliya Mardhana and Govardhanadhara episodes. The inherent drama did unfold, but the impressive factor here was that she expressed it without deviating into unnecessary theatrics or over-dramatisation.

The maturity of abhinaya spoke volumes of Sandra’s talent. The communication in the Govardhana sequence, where one drop of water increased to multiple drops leading to torrential rainfall was done with exquisite use of Netrabhinaya. The transformation in Krishna’s expressions conveying benevolence as the protector of birds, animals and humans, the contrast between the fierce Kaliya — interestingly expressed with the squinting of eyes — and the mischievous young boy were some of the high points of her abhinaya.

Sheejith Krishna

Sheejith Krishna

 

Suresh Neelamperur provided melodic musical support along with Kalanilayam Prakasam on the madhalam, Raghunath Chalakudi on the flute and Kalanilayam Ramakrishna on the edakka.

Sheejith Krishna, talented choreographer and dancer, chose to present his creative thought process in his new work ‘SivaRamaKrishna.’ Moving away from the traditional portrayals of gods, he chose to look at them through varied perspectives. Perceiving god as an experiential experience, Sheejith explored the emotion by seeing, touching and inhaling the aroma of the form. Enhanced by Venkatesh Krishnan’s red-amber tone lights and smoke-filled stage setting, Sheejith beautifully captured the various feelings with intense expressions. The experience gained by touching the form, the preparation of the sandal paste that adorns the Lord and the fragrance were communicated with great finesse and the constant upward gaze signifying the magnitude of Siva enhanced the visual impact.

The human angle was projected through poet Brahmanand’s composition on a samvad between Rama and Lakshmana on Rama’s exile. Sheejith portrayed with great finesse the contrast between two states of mind — the angry Lakshmana and the calm Rama. The impact of this beautiful depiction of contrasting emotions was diluted by the Kaikeyi episode. Seeking god in all that we see in our day to day experiences was the subject in ‘Engirundho vandan’ based on Gopalakrishana Bharati’s poem. That God is not just an entity to be worshipped but an experience to be felt in every aspect of life was the idea depicted in the form of an interaction between a master and his servant.

A Thillana, which was the concluding item of the repertoire, seemed redundant and out of place in the scheme of things in a choreographic work of this nature, which chooses to look at ideas with a creative eye.

The rich classical music support provided by Kottayam Jamanish Bhagavathar gliding across ragas Arabhi, Hamsadhwani, Bageshri, Vasantha and Kapi, enhanced the experience. Nattuvangam was by K.P. Rakesh. The orchestra comprised K.H. Vineeth on the mridangam, Ganapathy on the tabla, Sruti Sagar on the flute and Rijesh Gopalakrishnan. Akhila Ramnarayan’s narration of the script was clear and lucid. Carnatic vocalist Vasudha Ravi set the ball rolling with a prayer song.

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