Suryanarayanamoorthy has carved a space for himself in the Chennai dance arena as a soloist of merit. Simultaneously, he has also been training and imparting his knowledge to young children. He and his students recently presented a thematic programme titled ‘Navagraha’ for Kartik Fine Arts.
Visual treatThe show began with a group of six dancers depicting episodes from the Dashavatara shlokas of Jayadeva’s Gita Govind which was followed by crisp dance sequences delineating the attributes of each of the Navagrahas. Suryadeva arrives in all his splendour, riding the seven horses, in a beautifully choreographed movement and the depiction of the Kala chakram, signifying the importance of the Sun in our lives, was captivating.
The visualisation of the sthala for Angaranayakan – Vaideeshwaran Koil -- marriage sequence, Annam vahanam, ,and other tableaux held the interest of the viewers.
However, the most dramatic portrayal was of the snake dance for Ketu where the girls coiled their arms around one another in snakelike fashion.
The use of an angavastram in the colour attributed to each planet, was a sensitive touch. The synchronised sounds of the thatti mettu of the dancers belonging to different age groups, highlighted the sincerity, commitment and good training imparted by guru Suryanarayanamoorthy.
He needs to tone down the speed of the movements to make it more appealing and also try to choreograph using permutations and combinations of two or three dancers in different formations, rather than all the dancers appearing on stage for almost all the sequences.
The dancer used pre-recorded music of ‘Navagraha’ tuned by Veeramani Kannan, with lyrics by Varashri coming alive in the powerful voice of S.P. Balasubramaniam.
It is indeed commendable that this dancer has taken the initiative to work on the theme of Navagraha, something that’s not frequently attempted.
