The third edition of Naatya Kousthabh Nrithyotsav, a three-day dance festival in Kochi, featured a variety of classical art forms of India.
The highlight on the first day was a Kuchipudi performance by Manju Bhargavee and her disciples. After an impressive invocation number presented by Vaidehi Kulkarni and Lekha Satheesh, the members of the troupe presented ‘Dasavatharam’. Choreographed by Vempati Chinna Satyam, ‘Dasavatharam’ portrayed the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu through the depiction of important events of each avatar. The dancers, Veena Nair, Dhanya Nair, Lekha and Vaidehi, captivated the spectators with their graceful movements and expressions.
‘Thri Murthiham’, brilliantly choreographed by Manju, was the main item of the repertoire. Although Manju appeared only in certain portions of the performance, she captured the spectators’ attention with her confidence, liveliness and grace.
It was followed by an impressive Kuchipudi recital of Annamacharya’s composition, ‘Radha Chinnanna….’ by Swathy Narayanan.
The highlight of the second day was a Bharatanatyam recital by R.L.V. Anand and Jaya Anand. The dancer couple, along with their daughter, Alagananda a.k.a. Kalyani, started the recital with Vinayaka stuti. Alagananda captivated the spectators with her neat foot work and apt expressions in the Ashtapadi. The varnam, the main item of the evening, presented by Anand was a long composition by Janaki Rangarajan on Lord Ayyappa. The amazing dancing skill and physical endurance of Anand was well received by the spectators.
Kavadi chindu ‘Madu Meykkum Kannee…’ was evocatively presented by Alagananda. The young dancer brilliantly portrayed the interaction between a mother and daughter through the piece.
A Kathak recital by Pinkey Chowdari from Delhi on the second day saw her impress the spectators with her footwork. Methil Devika’s Mohiniyattam performance was the main event on the final day. She presented three items that she had choreographed. Beginning with Muthuswamy Dikshitar composition ‘Hiranmayim Lakshmi…..’ in raga Lalitha, Devika beautifully depicted the appearance of Goddess Lakshmi who presents all her ornaments to Dikshitar’s wife.
In ‘Anaswaram’, the second piece, a padam by Swati Tirunal, Devika portrayed the predicament of a woman who fails to win over Lord Padmanabha. ‘Paradevatha’, the third item Devika presented, was based on a composition of Irayimman Thampi. An Odissi recital by Saritha Mishra, which followed the Mohiniyattam recital, captivated the spectators. She presented ‘Panja bhootha’ choreographed by Aruna Mohanty, which depicted the power of the five elements of nature.
Students of Satyanjali Academy of Kuchipudi Dance performed on all the three days. Meenu Jose, Aiswarya, Aswathy and Arathy presented ‘Brahmanjali’ on the first day while Architha Mahesh and Aiswarya took to the stage on the third day.
The event was organised by Satyanjali Academy of Kuchipudi Dance, in association with Ernakulam Karayogam.
