To be honest, the prospect of watching an illustrious guru and musician-nattuvanar such as Bhagavatula Seetharama Sharma was the main draw for me. From the moment his full-bodied voice was heard from behind the curtain with the Hamsadwani invocation, ‘Gajavadana Beduve,’ (Purandaradasa) he captured the rasikas attention.
Singing, reciting the jathis and performing nattuvangam at the same time, like a one-man orchestra, looked effortless. The pace and dexterity with which he switched talas in the opening Tandavesaha (Hamsadhwani, Seetharama Sharma) with no pause in between, was incredible.
It is to Moritz Zavan Stoeckle’s credit that he could hold my gaze, when all I wanted to do was watch the legend in action. And to hear from the chief guest, the veteran Professor C.V. Chandrasekhar that this was the Italian dancer’s second full-length Bharatanatyam programme, the first being his debut performance in Italy in 2013, was a shock.
A long wait Moritz is no novice; there is his agility, timing, grace, precision in adavus, clarity of mudras, but more than the physical perfection is the centeredness he radiates through restrained role-play and intense brown eyes. Professor Chandrasekhar was right when he said Moritz had been working hard for months and years for this day.
To describe Moritz’s style, do we need to underline the beauty of his well-chiselled body, with rippling lean muscle when he stretched his arms out sideways in the natyarambam position, or speak of his graceful and arresting nritta or his involvement and intense focus while emoting?
A rigorous Tandava led to a rigorous jatiswaram (Niroshta, Rupaka, Seetharama Sharma) that had a difficult slow sequence and another with muzhu mandi adavus. By the time Moritz began his 30-minute Nattakurinji varnam (‘Chalamela,’ Adi, Moolaiveedu Rangaswami Nattuvanar, choreography-Rukmini Devi), he was dripping with sweat.
As a devotee appealing to Rangayya for protection, Moritz spoke in short, simple sentences -- Why are you angry? Why are you indifferent? It was his capacity to hold the expressions that drove home the import of the words. His moment of glory was, however, in the Hanuman piece, an excerpt from the Sundara Kanda of the Ramayana, composed by Seetharama Sharma (ragamalika, Adi) and choreographed by Professor A. Janardhanan.
The tale begins with Hanuman’s search for Sita in Lanka. He spots her crying, a pool of tears from her beautiful eyes. He identifies her, ‘Konu Putraha...’ asking why she was crying. He then identifies himself with ‘Vanaro aham...’ and tells her of Rama’s ring that has his name engraved on it. He takes the ring and drops it into Sita’s palm - and this was the moment - with so much reverence, intensity, tenderness, that powerful emotions were unleashed like a tsunami.
Unfortunately for the orchestra, vocalist D.S.V. Shastri’s sruti was not compatible with maestro Sharma’s, so he sang for the most part in a lower octave and could not contribute in a larger way. The instrumentalists, C.N. Thyagarajan (flute) presented a wonderful Kadanakuthuhalam piece midway through the recital, with the able assistance of Kalaiarasan (violin), whose Nattakurunji opening was memorable.
The lighting (dancer Gayathri Rajaji) was excellent, especially the white spots from the wings that were used for the abhinaya pieces.
It was an inspiring show all around.