The festival of classical dance and music came alive once again in the capital city, as Soorya hosted the 38th edition of their annual ‘Dance and Music Festival’. The dance segment of the event saw noted soloists and group productions celebrating the diversity of Indian classical dance.
Group presentations
This time around, the festival’s focus was on group presentations rather than on solos, making it a different experience altogether for spectators. The margam-based Bharatanatyam ballet by Chitra Visweswaran and team stood out. Wonderfully choreographed pieces set to profound compositions were performed by six talented disciples of Chitra’s – Vidya Anand, Uma Namboothiripad, Arupa Lahiri, Jai Quehaeni, Nandini Ganesan and Divya Shruthi. They succeeded in creating that ‘Anubhuti’, as the choreography was named.
The invocation offered to the Trimurtis (Ragamalika, Adi) and the concluding Thillana (Rasikapriya, Adi) saw some spirited dancing. A Lalgudi Navaragamalika varnam (‘Angayarkkanni…’) showcasing the goddess in different moods had some riveting drama, agile dance sequences and charming formations.
Action-packed Manipuri
A Manipuri performance by a troupe led by Bansali Sarkar had all the ingredients of a typical Manipuri package that one has come to expect. While the female dancers enlivened their fluid movements with subtle expressions, the male members stole the show with some fine-tuned acrobatics.
The marital art manoeuvres by Senyai Meetei (stick dance, blind cutting…) were thrilling to the core.
Pung cholom and Dhol dholak cholom, in which the male dancers seemed to defy gravity while beating their drums, were also well received by the audience. Being an oft-seen item in almost all Manipuri shows staged in these parts, the concluding ‘Vasanth Ras’ did not create waves.
Triple triumph
Rahul Acharya, Sonali Mohapatra and Gayatri Ranbir grabbed the attention of the viewers with their Odissi recital. The three opened with ‘Sthai’, set to Sankarabharanam and Ek tali, exploring the dancing nuances of the repertoire and followed it up with individual pieces focussing on abhinaya.
Gayatri and Sonali chose themes connected with Krishna while Rahul showcased the Tandava aspects through ‘Ashta Sambho’, in praise of Lord Shiva.
The three certainly made their mark, but it was the concluding ‘Aditya Archana’ that took their performance to another level. Scintillating postures and competent dance moves made it a memorable recital.
Kathak extravaganza
The mood was tranquil and it was further embellished as Rajendra Kumar Gangani opened his recital with a piece in praise of Lord Siva.
Landing on a ‘sam’ with that kind of dexterity each time a chakkar was taken or while demonstrating techniques like upaj, thaat, udaan and the like, exhibits a dancer's talent and skill.
One could get drenched watching the ‘barsat’ or see the elephant ambling along in the ‘Ganesh paran’.
Rajendra Gangani certainly made his dance evocative. Fateh Singh Gangani did a superb job of accompanying the dancer on the tabla.
Solos
Rasikas certainly missed some awe-inspiring soloists this time.
Lakshmi Gopalaswamy and Uma B. Ramesh were the two dancers who were featured.
Although Lakshmi couldn’t make the varnam profound, she made a comeback in the abhinaya pieces.
The Swati Tirunal dhrupad set to Peelu, Adi was the pick of the lot as Lakshmi effortlessly portrayed Krishna who joyfully meanders along the banks of the Yamuna, playing his bansuri.
The thillana was fine but she could have done without that extra long ‘Vaishnav janatho’ afterwards, which became monotonous.
Uma took up Swati Tirunal’s Ragamalika Keerthana (‘Kamalajasyahrutha...’) as the central piece. She shone in abhinaya aspects and the 10 incarnations of Vishnu were presented well enough. However, her footwork lacked finesse. The opening Thodaya Mangalam, javali in raga Saveri portraying the khanditha nayika, ‘Bhavayami Gopalabalam...’ and the Kamas thillana were some of the pieces included in her recital.
KuchipudiThe festival came to a closure with a Kuchipudi recital by Manju Warrier.
Rich in style, energy and charm, she certainly succeeded in enchanting the packed audience. Opening with a quick invocation in praise of Lord Ganesha, she moved on to Narayana Teertha’s tarangam, ‘Govardhana Giridhara...’. She depicted the incident when Krishna steals the gopis’ clothes and also the episode when he saves the lives of his people by lifting mount Govardhana.
Since the protagonist was Krishna, the danseuse went on portraying him in a playful mood and hardly did anything more than that.
She wasn’t looking very confident while dancing on the edge of the brass plate. Manju looked fresh after a change of costume for ‘Alaipayuthe...’ and she was more convincing as the romantic gopi. The concluding piece was a Devi stuti, which saw the danseuse bringing in some more emotions other than sringara. However, the narratives could have done with a bit more gravity.
Thanks to the live accompaniment comprising mridangam, violin, flute and veena, the recital was as riveting as it could be.
