Aesthetically appealing

February 26, 2015 08:28 pm | Updated 08:43 pm IST

Aishwarya Narayanaswamy Balasubramanian. Photo: K. Pichumani

Aishwarya Narayanaswamy Balasubramanian. Photo: K. Pichumani

Walking into the auditorium, without any idea of the school or Guru under whom the dancer has been trained, I found myself actually enjoying the performance at The Music Academy . It was reassuring to know that this young dancer’s performance focussed on maintaining a high standard of the aesthetic beauty of the art-form.

Clad in a beautiful blue-red costume, Aishwarya Balasubramanian, a disciple of Anita Guha began with a pushpanjali, followed by the Bahudari kriti of Tyagaraja, ‘Brova Baramma,’ wherein her transformation to the bhakti bhava of the kriti from a vibrant nritta segment was appealing.

The Adi talam, Papanasam Sivam’s Dhanyasi varnam, ‘Nee Inda Mayam’ was testimony to the innate talent of the dancer in both nritta and abhinaya. It was choreographed at a leisurely pace giving scope to the dancer to complete each movement to its aesthetic conclusion. The jati sequences were not just a set of movements, but were linked to the theme of the composition. In the first jati, depicting the vigour of Krishna and the grace of Radha alternately, was beautifully interwoven to the teermanams as an embellishment, and in the next sequence, it was a composition of ‘chakkars and stances.’

Aishwarya’s ability to relish each movement and mood understanding the in-depth meaning adds an extra spark to her dance. In the sequence depicting the shooting of the arrow by Manmadha she began describing the cool breeze caressing the nayika and slowly tormenting her, adding fuel to her state of mind which was burning with pangs of love, the dancers depiction of the feelings with subtle quick emotive expressions was appealing. Then slowly the movements build up to a rhythmic crescendo of arrows flowing relentlessly, culminating in a vibrant jati sequence. Depicting the various episodes of krishna’s life such as raas leela, kaliya nardhana and poothana vadam the dancer maintained the sthayi bhava throughout.

A Sarangapani composition in ragam Kalyani ‘Chittige Vesithe’ emphasised her ability to portray the emotions of the composition with conviction. The dancer’s portrayal of the pride felt by the nayaka Venugopala, while speaking about the adulation he gets from other women, was memorable. A Brindavani thillana of Balamuralikrishna was a vibrant finale to a performance which was an aesthetically enriching experience.

Hariprasad providing vocal support, Jayashri Ramesh wielding the cymbals, Ram Shankar Babu on the mridangam, Eashwar Ramakrishnan on the violin and Atul Kumar on the flute complemented the dance.

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