Priya Jayaraman, daughter and disciple of Guru Dr. Saraswati of Vipanchee Natyalaya, is well-versed in both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, the latter learnt under Gurus M.V.N. Murthy and M. Kishore. There's no doubt that Priya has an excellent grounding in music and dance and an intuitive sense of timing, but the style of dance she practises is uninspiring. The theermanams are mostly in the madhyama kaala and the steps keep the dancer in one place. To make it visually interesting, there has to be more energy and space covered… in other words, more drama.
When there are veteran artists such as Vyjayantimala Bali and Professor C.V. Chandrasekhar, and seniors like Alarmel Valli who are so fit and lively and are leading the way, there is no reason why younger dancers should slow down before their time. Of course, it is not only the energy factor of a dancer that counts; it is also the depth of his or her emotive strength.
Emotion quotient
Priya was able to convey Krishna's miracles in saving Draupadi in the Durvasa food episode and in saving Gajendra from the crocodile in the varnam, but an experienced dancer has to go beyond the basics of story-telling. Similarly in the padam, though a Guru Kalanidhi choreography, the quick padartha-abhinaya treatment only skimmed the surface of the emotions. Priya also looked uncomfortable in the postures of the love-lorn nayika. Maybe performing in someone else's language did not suit her. The repertoire was rather off-beat -- a Swati Tirunal varnam in Khambodi, ‘Sarasijanaabha' (Khanda jaathi Ata talam), a Thodi padam (‘Yaar Poi Solluvar,' Ghanam Krishna Iyer, misra chapu) and a gati-bheda priya ragamalika thillana (Adi, Dr. Balamuralikrishna). The musicians were of high calibre with B.V. Raghavendra Rao (violin), Girija Ramaswamy (vocal), Vijayaraghavan (mridangam) and Dr.Saraswati (nattuvangam). Not surprising then that the music was more inspiring than the dance.
