A medley of seasonal themes
LEELA VENKATARAMAN
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As Shivaratri took centre-stage this past week, Delhi dancers warmed up to the delights of spring too.
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Prathibha's presentation, with a nritta authority and punch, not seen for some time in her dance, was inspired in the Dashavataram and Narasimha avatar sequences.
ZESTFUL Shovana Narayan who performed in New Delhi. PHOTOS: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR, V. SREENIVASA
Evoking the Shivaratri spirit were dancers performing at the Chinmaya Centre under the aegis of Prasiddha Foundation, which has shifted base from Bangalore to Delhi. But the "Hymns to Siva" comprised one item for each dancer, after which each recital spun round other deities from the pantheon. For Bharatanatyam dancer Subhashini Vasant from Bangalore, trained under Guru Narmada and Kalakshetra Krishnamurthy, the Shiva emphasis lay in the very neatly rendered Tanjore Shankar Iyer's "Mahadeva Shiva Shambho" in Revati, with pneumonic and sahitya excerpts from Natesa kavutvam dexterously woven into the dance composition, flowing fittingly after each interpretative segment. Sensitively interpreted was the sringar nayaki/nayaka bhava based on a Nammalvar hymn wherein sunset and images of nature all round, subtly stir the erotic urges.
Negotiating two ends of the professional spectrum as a doctor-cum-yoga expert and Bharatanatyam dancer, Sridhar's recital had its high points in the interpretative number Uttareeyam and the finale based on T.V. Gopalakrishnan's tillana in Ratipatipriya raga. Anguished Ram finding a lone item from the abducted Sita's getup - the Uttareeyam (angavastram or veil) reminisces on how that wisp of cloth, from the time it was given during the marriage, by Janak, has played a role in all his interactions with Sita, during play, in the byplay of amorous exchanges, when a peeved
Prathibha Prahalad who performed in New Delhi.
Sita was gently drawn to his side, etc. The music in passing modes of Sreeranjini, Kanada, Khamas, Kapi, Kuranji, Darbari, etc. along with Sridhar's abhinaya impressed.
Nindastutis exploring the rarely used sentiment of laughter while poking gentle fun at the Gods, introduce much needed humour into a performance, and Sridhar's choice of verses showed Parvati somewhat ashamed of a husband who does little but beg for alms as a mendicant. Why not borrow a little earth, seeds, ploughshare, bull from deities like Kubera, Balarama, Yama, and practise some agriculture, she suggests to Shiva. Rendered to taped music without rhythm (viruttam) and coming after the earlier `Uttareeya' item, the over-stretched abhinaya in the latter part dragged, becoming pure mime more like an action song.
Balamurali's Bho Shambho in Viswambari along with the frozen moments and narrative passages needed counter-pointing with more articulated than subdued rhythm. The doctor has to work off the flab round the belly region.
Depleted auditorium
Far too late by the time senior dancers Prathibha Prahalad and Shovana Narayan in a Bharatanatyam/Kathak duet took the stage, they were faced with a depleted auditorium, despite the live music. Vidyapati's "Jayajaya Shankara" made a peppy start, with good coordination between the dancers.
The long varnam "Jagadananda Karaka Pranava roopam" offered homage to several deities other than Shiva in an episodic treatment. One wished that the two sets of musicians with singers Sudha Raghuraman and Madhav Prasad (Carnatic and Hindustani) in a `who is more heard' competition had not raised the decibel level to a point where the music became more noise than melody. Prathibha's presentation, with a nritta authority and punch, not seen for some time in her dance, was inspired in the Dashavataram and Narasimha avatar sequences. Shovana's usual zestful Kathak in the narrative passages was over-stated.
Kalashram's annual Vasantotsava began at the Kamani with the Kalakshetra performance of Sita Swayamvaram, one of the late Rukmini Devi's earliest productions. The scene in Janaka's court with actors placed as in a miniature painting comprised different levels of spaces, each level engaging audience attention at different moments, while the rest of the panorama remained frozen.
What stole the thunder was Mysore Vasudevacharya's music sung in sruti-filled melody by Mangalam Shankar and Jyothismathi. Barring the senior Balagopalan as Viswamitra and an experienced dancer like Sheejith Krishna as Ravana, it was a very young cast of Kalakshetra performers who have to grow into the roles with time.
But they could not be faulted in the clinically perfect technique, particularly the male dancers of whom one sees so few in the Delhi Bharatanatyam scenario.
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