What strikes one about Bharatanatyam dancer Archana Narayanamurthy is her confidence.
She began the recital with the mallari, set in a combination of four ragas- Nattai, Gowlai, Arabhi and Sree. Her nritta was firm and clean, be it the tha dhin gi na toms or the tattu mettu sequences.
Prefacing items with introductions for the benefit of the audience, especially the lay rasika, is widely followed by dancers these days. Following this trend, before performing the popular varnam, ‘Mohamana En Meedhil’ (Bhairavi, Rupaka talam), she came on stage, took the microphone and explained the essence of the piece. She practised this routine after every composition.
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In the varnam, she juggled both nritta and abhinaya well. She played the indifferent Tyagesa and the anticipatory nayika with absolute ease. Certain portions, though, especially in the second half of the varnam, bordered on the theatrical.
The best of Archana's dancing was witnessed during the next piece: 'Choodare', a Kshetreyya padam. In this composition, Archana played the Abisarika nayika who goes to meet her lover in broad daylight. As she walks, other women in the neighbourhood gossip about her audacity: that she thinks she can walk to meet her lover and not worry about people talking! Tinged with humour, Archana's abhinaya beautifully captured the shock of these women. The concluding composition was from the Gitopadesam. Here again, her abhinaya was a little dramatic in parts but for the most part she effectively captured the mood and seriousness of the theme.
Archana was accompanied by Randhini Aravind on the vocals, Nagai Narayanan on the mridangam, B. Ananthakrishnan on the violin and Devarajan on the flute. As Archana held the audience's attention, one couldn’t miss the fascinating give and take between the violin and the flute. Randhini too sang beautifully. The choreography and nattuvangam for the entire recital was carried out by Pandanallur S. Pandian, Archana's guru.
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