Commendable footwork
T.K. GANAPATHY
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Artists presented a colourful package at the 10th annual dance festival organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Coimbatore Kendra.
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Photos: M. Periasamy
Lucid depiction: (Clockwise from left) Narthaki Nataraj, Adayar Lakshmanan being honoured with Nritya Ratna award, students of Shree Natya Niketan; Guru Manoranjan Pradhan and his troupe from Bhubaneswar and Shrijit Krishna.
The inaugural dance recital of Shweta Krishnakumar and Sneha Krishnakumar, disciples of Amudha Dandapani at the 10th annual dance festival organised by the Coimbatore Kendra of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan began with ‘Bharathikkoru Bharathanjali,&#
8217; a programme dedicated to Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati. The performance was a visual treat with intricate movements.
The opening Mahashakti vandanam was a lucid depiction of the Nation’s urge to achieve freedom. The portrayals of V.O.Chidambaram Pillai and Tiruppur Kumaran, with total command over movements, rhythm and emotions, were classy.
Bharatiar’s song, ‘Aaduvome Pallu Paaduvome,’ visualising freedom and attainment of equal status for women in public life, made the dance buffs reminisce its rendition by the late D.K. Pattammal.
Dressed aesthetically in bright costume, the artists’ description of the events and the sculpturesque poses added elegance and beauty to the dance.
Their well-centred nritta, timing and footwork were commendable. Their sprightly theermanams to the tune of exceptional nattuvangam of guru, Amudha Dandapani, Praveen’s singing, Dhananjayan’s mridangam and Sivaramakrishnan’s violin were all in excellent form.
Award ceremony
The recital was followed by a glittering award ceremony honouring Adyar Lakshmanan with the Nritya Ratna award, in recognition of his varied roles — as a choreographer, composer and nattuvanar — for several decades.
The award ceremony was followed by Narthaki Nataraj’s breezy dance performance entitled ‘Thamizhamudhu,’ a challenging number combining both nritta and abhinaya.
A disciple of Thanjavur Kittappa Pillai, her opening item, Sollukkattu, a eulogy on Lord Muruga compelled admiration. Her execution of the varnam in praise of Thiruvarur Tyagaraja flowed smoothly with perfect precision depicting the union of jivatma and Paramathma in typical Thanjavur style.
The Madhurabhakti item in Ragamalika was highly evocative. There was perfect integration of her body with the rhythm of the song. She handled the hymn, ‘Karpooram Naarumo’ with élan and its performance had nritta, nritya and abhinaya in good measure. Her recital had strong support from Anuja (vocal), Mahadevan (nattuvangam), Kalyani Sankar (violin), Dhananjayan (mridangam) and Patanjali (flute).
The students of Shree Natya Niketan, run by Guru Mridula Rai, presented Dasavatharam through the Dwadasa stotram of Madhwacharya’s ‘Devaki Nandana.’
The invocatory song in praise of Lord Krishna was done by Mridula Rai with neat adavus and effective abhinaya in portraying the effulgent glory of the Lord.
The ten avatars at the end revealed the artists’ ability to establish the sthayi bhava and their leaps with the jatis gave an added beauty to the items.
Kishore’s confident delivery of songs, Sivaramakrishnan’s violin, Viswanathan’s deft handling of the mridangam and Vasanth’s contribution on the flute produced the right ambience of music.
The dancers were Srinidhi, Shantha Sakunthala,Uma, Lakshmi Sachit, Abhinaya Priya, Shruthi, Shwetha and Sriraksha.
Medley of emotions
The dance buffs were transfixed by the hypnotising dance of artists - Guru Manoranjan Pradhan and his troupe from Bhubaneswar in their well-researched presentation of Odissi. The Mangalacharan in praise of Lord Krishna from Gita Govindam struck the right chord. The pallavi in Aarabhi performed by Minoti Pradhan, Siksha Patnaik and Mamta Upadhya stuck to the pure nritta structure. Ardhanareswara number (choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra) by Manoranjan Pradhan and Minoti with beautiful Oriya music in the background underscored the soft appeal of jathis and rhythmic movement of the dancers. Manoranjan’s presentation of the devotee’s pleas to take away all his sorrows evoked a medley of emotions especially in episodes like ‘Gajendra Moksha,’ Draupadi’s ‘Vastrapaharanam’ and Hiranyakasipu.
The concluding item from traditional Oriya story depicting the defeat of King Purushothama (a devotee of Lord Jagannath) at the hands of the Kanchi King in Tamil Nadu was a tour-de-force. The most memorable was the heightening of the dramatic quotient with the sounds of the galloping horses of the King’s army and the King rewarding the milkmaid, Manika.
Penchant for nritta
Combining in himself various facets like choreographer, nattuvanar and a percussionist, Shrijit Krishna has come a long way by sheer hard work as a dancer. His performance on the final day of the festival was a clear demonstration of his penchant for shuddha nritta. Grace and elegance marked his recital throughout. The opening Kalabhairavashtakam (Adi Sankaracharya) showcased the deity - Kalabhairava. The adornments of Siva with the Damaru in hand, the shape and course of the Ganga, the mridangam carried by Nandi, to mention a few, were described with rhythmic sequences to the singing of Deepu Nayak with clarity of diction.
The hymn of Jayadev’s Ashtapadi in Darbari Kaanada was soaked in devotion. ‘Bhaja Bhaja Manasa’ portraying the Sethubandhanam and slaying of Ravana by Rama was a good effort by both the musicians and the dancer alike especially in displaying varied emotions with abhinaya. The rasikas were spellbound in the final shuddha nrittam played by the troupe. The artists included Vidya Gireesh, Gireesh, Karunasagari and Gayathri. The orchestra included Deepu Nayak (vocal), Srihari Padman (Nattuvangam), Mahesh (mridangam), Ananthanarayanan (veena) and Iswar (violin). Earlier the students of Koothambalam Academy of Fine Arts entertained the audience with their dance.
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