It needed honed skills to combine sketching with dancing, as was seen in ‘Simhanandini - the dancing lion,’ a distinct part of the Kuchipudi repertoire, which was performed at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan by Lasya Mavillapalli, daughter and disciple of the Narasimhacharis. It was a tribute to her father on his first death anniversary.
Being part of a traditional ritualistic dance, the programme began aptly with a prayer and puja to goddess Kanakadurga. Entering the stage with a Kuchipudi pravesha daru movement, Lasya delineated a mishra chapu tala composition ‘Narasimham Bhajeham’, composed and choreographed specially for this occasion by her mother, Vasanthalakshmi.
The various musical instruments were depicted with beautiful postures, and her portrayal of Navarasa, with short, quick expressions, was convincing.
A lucid introduction by Vasanthalaksmi gave insight into the intricacies of this composition set to the complex Simhanandana tala. The choreography was divided into three segments starting with verses extolling the devi, moving on to jatikorvais, and finally culminating in a Durga Gayathri mantra.
The narrative unfolded in an aesthetic visualisation using karanas, charis and rhythmic patterns. It was commendable that Lasya held the audience’s attention with graceful movements and evocative abhinaya as Vasanthalakshmi demonstrated the complicated tala pattern.
The dancer then stepped on to a white screen stretched on a frame, placed over coloured powder on the floor. Keeping pace with the tala, Lasya sketched an image of a lion on the screen with her feet. Within one avartana of the Simhanandana tala, lasting 16 cycles of the adi tala of two minutes, the dancer completed the picture with ease.
As a grand finale, Lasya sat on a pedestal in a red costume lit by a spotlight to evoke a picture of the goddess, which was effectively done.
It was heart-warming to see that this rare dance piece, was being revived, and propagated through a DVD.
