Soumya Subramanian, a disciple of Bharatanatyam dancer-teacher A. Lakshmanaswamy, is delightfully agile and delicate. She exudes confidence that stems from the comfort of long association and thorough preparation. Without a blink or hiccup, she handled the nritta and abhinaya portions at her recital for Brahma Gana Sabha. While Soumya’s footwork has clarity and her movements are graceful, her abhinaya shows good understanding. Of course there is room for improvement- the steps can do with more forceful execution and the expressions can get more fluid.
Soumya commenced with an old favourite of Guru Sarasa’s – the ‘Jaim Jaim Tana Na’ pushpanjali (Aarabi, Adi, Dr. Balamuralikrishna), that was followed by the beautiful Anandabhairavi pada varnam, ‘Sakhiye Inda Velaiyil’ (Adi, Ponniah).
The theme of the lovelorn nayika beseeching her friend to bring Rajagopala to her is set within exciting usage of vowels so they rhyme, especially occurring in the long sahitya passages of the mukthayi swara and the last charana swara.
The varnam visualisation was descriptive. Every line in the first half was expanded to underline its import such as the description of the sakhi in the first part and the description of ‘Swami’ in the second part of the pallavi. Even the ‘please bring him’ phrase in the line was expanded to show the friend welcoming him with flowers. It was a simple exercise that added value at a simplistic level.
Lakshmanaswamy sticks to traditional adavus, with rounded alapadmas, etc so the effect is soft and pretty. His quiet intonation (nattuvangam) was enhanced by Nellai D Kannan (mridangam) who was a picture of concentration as he anchored the rhythm, made room for playful fillers, played for the songs and provided sound effects all at once. His tisra jati fillers were especially notable.
The Kapi kriti, ‘Jagadodharana’ in which Purandaradasa marvels at Yashoda’s innocence, not knowing Krishna’s real identity as a godhead, was captured with clarity, but Soumya needs to emote in slow motion for it to register well with rasikas.
The music that evening with Sharanya Krishnan (vocal) and Sigamani (violin) was exceedingly good.
While Sharanya’s pick was the Kapi piece which she started on an unusual high pitch, Sigamani’s best was the Anandabhairavi padavarnam.