Visakha Art and Dance Association (VADA) which has been in the forefront in the promotion of classical dance, particularly Kuchipudi, conducted a grand dance fest on the eve of World Dance Day at Kalabharati, Visakhapatnam. On this occasion, artistes of substance, presented a string of pieces in Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam and Odissi with verve. Though the slot allotted to each one was limited, each essayed well to bring out the splendid aura of respective dance styles. In a way, it offered a mélange of diverse styles in a nutshell. Mythology and classical dance make an abiding blend providing a wide range for expression and movements in portrayal of different moods or rasa bhavas.
The artistes chose different pieces based on the various mythological episodes. Of all, themes related to Lord Krishna and Lord Siva take pride of the place in the dance repertoires and most of the pieces presented in this fest revolved around those two aspects. Yet they stood refreshingly pleasant in their expression looking nowhere similar in any performance. Childhood pranks of Lord Krishna and his divine play or leela that baffled the folks around to no end and his divine grace that helped the devotees safely sail to the shores of liberation in mundane life, his seemingly romantic serenades replete with spiritual and philosophical import formed the themes for some of the pieces that the participants presented with panache. One dealt with the attributes of Goddess Maha Lakshmi and ways to worship her to have her benedictions in abundance for a comfortable life here. The piece for this was Namastetu Mahamaye Sripeethe Surapujite a composition in praise of Goddess Lakshmi. When a performance is on hand can the mandatory invocatory numbers be far behind and invariably in a warm up measure invocatory hymns particularly in praise of Lord Ganesh were performed well. These pieces, in a way, served as perfect launching pads for the artistes to showcase their artistic best in the pieces that followed and sprightly tillana rounded it off on a vivacious note. No Kuchipudi performance is complete without Sathyabhama, the star persona in the pantheon of its diverse characters and ‘Prevesa daruvu’ from ‘Bhama Kalapam’ was the highlight of the event.
Chennai-based Chandralekha, Hyderabad-based D Choodamani, M Tanoogna and Sita Lakshmi Prasad besides Neha Varma performed in the event. Each of them gave out their artistic best. The VADA on this occasion conducted a works shop on dance and music and also warmly felicitated noted danseuse Bala Kondalarao and presented her its award ‘Aacharya Choodamani’.
