What an evening it was for devotees of Satya Sai Baba who gathered in large numbers at Sivam, to witness Bharatanatyam ballet presented by the disciples of renowned Bharatantyam guru V.S. Ramamurthy and his daughter Manjula Ramaswamy. A score of dancers, young and old figured in the event arranged to celebrate Sai Baba’s 88th Jayanthi.
The vivacity of all the children including ten-year-old Vamshika, great-granddaughter of Ramamurthy playing child Krishna’s role in a number Taye Yasoda, created make-believe effect.
The opening with a mandatory ‘Pushpanjali’, followed by a composition of obeisance to Vinayaka set in novel meter, was thrilling to watch. Though the dances were presented to pre-recorded music, their guru Manjula was seen conducting with cymbals in hands guiding their foot work. Noted vocalist Prema Ramamurthy and her daughter flautist Jayaprada added their mite to the musical impact. The recording was of high quality and the many instruments used created stunning effect.
The Padavarnam Nanubrova Inta Tamasama was presented by senior students Tejaswini and Maheswari. This was set in Shanmukhapriya and was tuned by Jayaprada. This brought in some mythological sequences in abhinaya part like ‘Gajendra Moksham’.
Another thematic bit was woven around the ‘Sthala Purana’ of Tirumala, Lord Venkateswara’s abode. Later Mastya, Kurma, Varaha and Narasimha Avataras of Vishnu come into the picture. Each of the abhinaya sequences were interwoven with jati presentation, culminating in fine teermanams. Muddugare Yasoda, a kirtana of Annamacharya made place for the presentation of childhood pranks of Krishna. Satya Prasuna as Yasoda and Vamshika as child Krishna figured in this part, while Varshini as a slightly grown up Krishna appeared in ‘Gopika Krishna’ dance sequence.
Later a fusion dance titled Taye Yasoda was a visual delight. This was followed by Eepadamekada of Annamacharya set in Ragamalika. This too was basically an abhinaya number dramatising ‘Vamanavatara’ and ‘Ahalaya Shaapa Vimochanam’ themes. Varsha as Vamana, Rohit as Balichakravarthi, Ravina as Vishnu, presented this dance part. The final show piece was ‘Deepa Tarangani’, a display of dance art combined with a little bit of acrobatic skills like standing on pot, holding well-lit candles in either hand, keeping pitchers on head and yet moving around on the pot with hands in dance movements. It was a real thrill and Ramamurthy became well known for this number that always received loudest applause.
At the end of the show both Ramamurthy and his daughter Manjula were warmly felicitated and all the participating girls were presented with mementos.
