Diya Gopalan from Singapore wowed spectators with her sprightly Bharatanatyam at Arutchelvar Dr. N. Mahalingam Auditorium, Pollachi, during the 29th dance festival of Pollachi Taimizhisai Sangam.
Endowed with large eyes and a lithe figure, young Diya has been carefully groomed by Gayathri Sriram of Singapore. The extended teaching from Minal Prabhu (her guru’s guru), has added class to her performance.
Diya’s recital began with a sloka from Lakshmi Nrusimha Karavalambam. She portrayed the fury of Narasimha with powerful facial expressions, making people forget it was a delicate girl who danced on stage. Narasimha Kavuthuvam, composed by G. Gurumurthy and Balasubrahmania Sharma, gave her ample scope for emoting.
Graceful movements‘Saama Gaana Priyaa,’ the varnam in Kharaharapriya depicting various episodes from the life of Lord Siva, was impressive with crisp jatis and graceful movements. The brief but picturesque episode of Goddess Meenakshi was a fine example of visual narration. The interesting jatis interspersing the varnam brought out Guru Minal Prabhu’s great choreographic skills.
While Diya’s nimble footwork unfolded the geometry of Srichakra in ‘Sri Chakra Raja Simhaasaneswari,’ by Agasthiar, her expressions and movements poured out her devotion contained in the ragamalika composition.
The javali in Khamas, ‘Sundari En Soppanathil,’ that describes the dream of the nayika, proved that the young dancer could portray sringara rasa with equal ease. Her scintillating thillana in Sumanesa Ranjani, dedicated to Lord Rama had intricate jati patterns and firm, captivating postures.
Her rigorous training enabled her to change into difficult postures with incredible agility. One would marvel at her stamina as she ran back to the stage for the padham on Lalithambika with a smile, after performing the brisk jatis under the demanding nattuvangam of Minal Prabhu for the varnam.
She was vocally supported by R. Raghuram and on the violin by Vasuki. G. Gurumurthy, the composer of the visually appealing varnam and a few other numbers, gave her excellent support on the mridangam. The costume and make up added to her elegance.
