Who said novelty and classicism can’t go together? It was such a perfect blend of both in the dance presentation of the sisters, Priya Dixit and Prabha Dixit, prominent disciples of Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy for close to three decades. They presented a spell-binding production ‘Tris-tridha, Myrmidon of motif, myth and mysticism’. Well-trained, highly articulate and tastefully dressed for every sequence were Priya and Prabha, who performed under the auspices of Vipanchee.
An innovative and elegant presentation, they had brilliantly woven the navarasas with different aspects of the Mother Goddess. The portrayal of Hasya by Prabha in the episode of Tenaliraman and Raudra by Priya as Kali proved their capacity and understanding of the art. The other rasas such as Bhibatsa in Karumari, Sringara in
Parvathi, Shanta in Goddess Saraswathi and Karuna in Mahalakshmi were also appreciable.
The usual episode of Mahalakshmi coming out of the parkadal was presented briefly which was sufficient to convey the story and essence of the lyric in Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Mahalakshmi Jaganmatha’ in Sankarabharanam.
Priya’s eloquent eyes could convey any emotion while Prabha, with her agile movements and nimble feet, was a powerhouse of energy.
The apt choreography, fast-paced scene changes, scintillating music (Vidwan Madurai N. Krishnan, Nandini Anand and Sharanya Krishnan) kept the audience riveted. The Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu songs were well placed and used.
Priya and Prabha were ably supported by multi-faceted orchestra. Sharanya Krishnan sang with confidence and had superb control of her voice. Bharat Vishwanath, making his debut for dance, blended well with the orchestra. Priya Murle and Sashirekha on the nattuvangam and special effects were assets, though rendition of the shlokas in between could have been more clear, probably using a male voice. Dhananjayan on the mridangam,
Satish on the violin and Sashidharan on the flute gave able support.
