Contrary to the usually colourful and dramatic ensemble dance presentations was Mohiniyattom dancer Pallavi Krishnan’s group performance that was monochromatic, slow and serene. While the attributes are generic to the dance style that is lasya-oriented with flowing torso movements, dips and undulating levels, set to a slow tempo, not going beyond madhyama kala, and where even the expression of emotion is stylistically tempered, credit must go to Pallavi for retaining it in its purest form. The recital was at The Music Academy.
Pallavi comes with impressive credentials that include academic and practical training. She studied Kathakali and Mohiniyattom at the Viswa Bharathi University, Santiniketan, under Guru Kalamandalam Sankaranarayanan and at Kerala Kalamandalam under Guru Kalamandalam Leelamma, besides being guided by Guru Bharati Shivaji and Guru Kalamandalam Sugandhi.
The group, consisting of Pallavi, Sheena Sunil, Manju, Shalini and Aiswarya, opened with a melodious Ganapati stuti (Puranir, Adi, Kavalam Narayana Panikkar) that however raised a question about group choreography. Mohiniyattom had been designed as a solo art form, and often group presentations simply have the dancers replicating the same adavus at the same time, as it happened here.
Fortunately, Pallavi has the artistic ability to go beyond that. The best that evening was ‘Maya Mohana Krishna’ (ragamalika, talamalika, Kavalam Narayana Panikkar). The composition spoke of Krishna’s leelas as he comes to the rescue of Draupadi, Gajendra, the elephant from the Bhagavata Purana, and Arjuna, who loses heart when asked to fight with elders of the family in the Kurukshetra war.
It commenced with a vision of Krishna, unveiled from behind a tirai curtain, a clever idea borrowed from Kathakali or Kuchipudi. Neat entries and exits, with the dancers alternating roles with perfect timing, brought the episodes alive subtly. An interesting twist in the first was the disrobing scene when Draupadi is seated in surrender, rather than the usual standing position, with Dussasana going around her until he collapses from exhaustion. And when one would have expected Draupadi’s thanksgiving, we have an angry princess wowing revenge. It was all by the book, just presented unusually.
The choreography, however, turned literal when presented with the abstraction of Kundalini yoga. The theory is that the Kundalini or energy centre is awakened from the base of the spine, the Mooladhara Chakra, and moves up through the five chakras in which the five elements reside until it reaches the Sahasrara Chakra, at the top of the head, when a human being experiences the Ultimate Truth.
‘Panchabhuta’ presented each part – the union of Siva and Shakti, the five elements and the journey of the Kundalini in well-timed sequences that were more symbolic than artistic. This piece could have done with some depth.
The excellent musical score was by Palakkad Suryanarayana and Nedumpally Ramohan and the verses from Adi Sankaracharya’s Soundaryalahiri and Taittriya Upanishad were compiled by Prof Sundaraksaran. The lighting (Jose Koshi) was inadequate and unimaginative.
