The Nataraj Music and Dance Academy’s (NMDA, Visakhapatnam) annual two-day Sathyabhama Yuva Nrithyotsav held recently showcased talent between the ages of 10 and 40.
The inaugural evening began with the launch of a monthly performing arts magazine, ‘The Dance India’ by NMDA at the Kalabharathi Auditorium prior to the presentation of 11 soloists.
Kathak dancer Yogendra Oze (Mumbai) started his performance with Shiva Vandana and Shiva Stuti in Bhairavi. Oze displayed a fine grip over rhythm in his pure dance numbers in Chautaal and teentaal, especially in thaat, ginti, paran, tihai and taatkar, unfolding the intricacies of the Benares gharana.
The sole Manipuri dancer, Y. Kavita Devi, began with a fine Vishnu Vandana and took up‘Krishna Nartan’ from Basanta Raas but could not capture the nuances of Jayadeva’s Ashtapadi, ‘Haririha Mughadha’ and ‘Chandana Charchita.’
Kuchipudi dancer S. Tejaswini (of NMDA) presented ‘Muddugare Yashodha’ that showed her command over technique. Some of the movements of GLS Harini’s Bharatanatyam in a Kamboji, adi taal-based varnam, ‘Vilayitam,’ in praise of Devi Saraswati, were impressive.
Among the gifted youngsters, petite Bharatanatyam dancer Shraddha Prasade stood out for her ‘Bansiwale Manamohana’, composed by Swati Tirunal in Mohana, adi taal. Archana Acharya’s Mohiniyattom, ‘Anandaganapati’ in adi taal was pleasing. Ten year-old G. Radha Sivani (Khammam, Telangana) astonished the audience with her poised Bharatanatyam performance in the adi tala-based ‘Chinnam Siruvam’ set to Sivabandavarali.
Poulomi Mukherjee’s (in the higher age group) entry with a chakkar in the Krishna Vandana, ‘Kasturi tilakam lalatapataley,’ displayed her experience and abhinaya skills. Her sharp laya and taatkar (footwork) embellished with beautiful hand-movements were as captivating as her strong nritta and intricacies of rhythm in teentaal.
Mugdha Rachakonda was a graceful Odissi dancer (Raigarh, Chhattisgarh) with a perfect ‘tribhangi.’ Of her Dasavatar, ‘Kacchaparupa’ (tortoise) was the best.
Preeti Valuskar, a Kathak dancer with strong footwork concluded the evening with a pure dance of the Lucknow gharana along with two energetic abhinaya numbers, Durga and Mahisasuramardini.
In between, the young learners from the workshop, conducted by the acclaimed Kuchipudi dancer Manju Bhargavee at NMDA demonstrated the hasta-vedas, padavedas eye-movements, bhramaras and sang in chorus the slokas.
There were three group presentations on the second evening including a vibrant Lambadi folk dance by NMDA and the artists of the institute also presented ‘Natya shastram pravakshami,’ an excerpt from the Natya Shastra portraying the slokas through mudras. A highlight was the Bharatanatyam group of Sri Krishna Kala Mandir (Vellore), whose nritta-based ‘Anandaganapati ‘in Nattai, adi taal and Mahesha tandavam in raga and tala mallika showed good teamwork.
Juniors of Jugalbandi Sattriya Academy, Assam, presented the ‘Krishna Nartan,’ ‘Boney Banamali’ and bortaal (large brass cymbals) dances.
Girija Nair’s group impressed with their Bharatanatyam piece, ‘Ksheerasagara,’ based on excerpts from Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Of the soloists, Kathak dancer Himanshi Dwivedi was ordinary, but Kuchipudi dancer Margam Vaishnavi’s ‘Anandatandava’ in Arabhi, adi tala, was neat.
Ten-year-old Sai Sriya showed her confidence with the Ashtapadi ‘Sanchara Dadhara.’ Bharatanatyam dancer Madhura Pawaskar sparkled in the padam, ‘Netrambi,’ in Hussaini and thillana (Hindolam), as did Srushti in the kriti, ‘Sri Jagadishwari Durga,’ but it was Chennai’s Purushotham Rao, who stole the show with a soul-stirring performance in the varnam, ‘Amma Kavithuvam’ on Mother and Guru Vandana.
Another gratifying Kuchipudi dance, written by Srikrishnaraya Bhupa with glimpses of the Yaakshagana style, was by Sravya Manasa, who was energetic and graceful. The programme was conducted by V.S. Puskhar.