Intensely involved

The three-day Nupura dance festival packed in some good performances

May 06, 2010 08:42 pm | Updated 08:42 pm IST

Shringara Lahari by Soundarya Srivatsa and Praveen Kumar. Photo: K. Murali Kumar.

Shringara Lahari by Soundarya Srivatsa and Praveen Kumar. Photo: K. Murali Kumar.

Dance festival Nitya Nritya commenced with Lalitha Srinivasan's “Nritya Karnataka”, the opulence of which is marked with its supreme musical score sung by Srivatsa, with the dance choreography accomplished brilliantly by students of Nupura School of Dance.

Commencing the evening with “astanayika” with verse in Kannada, set to ragamalika and talamalika, the group proved their forte implementing the composition set by their Guru intensely.

Segregating the astanayikas equally amongst well-groomed dancers, while a single dancer enacted the sanchari with the rest freezing at a particular posture concomitant to the sthayi bhava of the nayika implementation, the choreographer, brilliantly composed each Nayika giving a ingenious touch. With awesome prototypes governing the proscenium, the dancers moved onto a Manasi Varnam penned and choreographed by Lalitha Srinivasan pivoting around the pranks of Lord Krishna, the Geetopodesham episode with a musical composition by the late H.K. Narayana.

Ajay Vishwanath, one of the seniormost students executed his metaphor brilliantly in the said piece. “Nritya Karnataka” concluded with a ragamalika tillana set to aditala aesthetically performed by the dancers executing square, circle to form the Sri Chakra concept.

The Sufiana Kathak under the leadership of Rani Khanam from New Delhi followed next. With the dancer seemingly self-conscious, she tried hard to do justice to the items that she performed. The tihayis, the anahat and the concluding “Mohae apnae rang de rangilae” composed by Hazrat Amir Khusru in the 13th Century deserves special mention for their accomplishment in high aesthetic order. Bharat Natyam thematic duet by P. Praveen Kumar and Soundarya Srivatsa was brilliant. With the kritis, the javalis and the ashtapadis being intertwined into a thematic production “Shringara Lahiri” set to ragamalika and talamalika sung aesthetically by Srivatsa was a real treat to watch. Both the dancers proved their mettle in this evocative rendition.

The plot complimented with Soundarya being mesmerised with the flute of Lord Krishna and Praveen in the limelight executing the advent of the Lord with an awesome amalgamation of jathis; it was executed flawlessly. With a peacock's feather as an imagery, Praveen with Soundarya as Radha complimented each other brilliantly on the stage. The “Radhae Brindavana Nilayae” set to raga Rithigowla was an outstanding performance. Abhinaya reaches an echelon of superlative when executed most naturally. Praveen and Soundarya's most natural, yet traditional abhinaya won the audience. In “Yahi madhava yahi Keshava” Krishna eventually manages to placate Radha. He even fulfils her desire to wear his kinkini. It becomes a grand metaphor with the mingling of the micro and macro.

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