A mong the different ensembles that mark the landscape of classical dance in Bengaluru, the young Shivakami ensemble, comprising students of Revathi Narasimhan, can surely claim a place of its own. The group recently performed at the 33rd Kinkini Nrithyotsava to an auditorium that was spilling out into the street. And this was hardly surprising.
The Shivakami ensemble is full of dancers whose energies are remarkably in sync with each other. They began with a simple Pushpanjali and then proceeded to present a group varnam which was the highlight of the evening. Subbudu’s famous composition in Valachi, Anname Aruginil Va has traditionally been performed as a solo piece. At Kinkini, it was announced that it was the late Subbudu’s wish that the composition be rendered by a group. Having taken up the project, Revathi Narasimhan deserves credit for beautifully imagining the piece as a group choreography.
In the piece, the nayika, Devayani, is angry about Muruga’s relationship with Valli, who she feels has used devious means to win Muruga’s affections. It was a treat to watch the dancers take turns to externalise this khandita Devayani’s mind.
The varnam certainly looked different, for it was being performed by seven dancers instead of one. But in terms of doing justice to the piece, its elaboration and execution, the Shivakami ensemble did not leave any stone unturned.
Further, what mainly contributed to the distinctiveness of this varnam was Narasimhan’s own choreographic touches-- whether it was the interesting use of multiple dancers to show a scene within a scene or the ingenious ways in which she broke the monotony of sangatis and jatis.
Particular sequences stood out in this respect. For instance, the lines of the charanam- Varattum Varattum roughly translate to “ Let him come to me, I will teach him a lesson...” During one sangati, the dancers used their eyes alone to portray this sentiment. That all of them are excellent dancers was of little doubt by this point but this sequence showed that their abhinaya too was on par with their nritta. As they stood next to each other speaking to the audience purely through their eyes, what was also on display was their ability to function as a cohesive unit.
The strength of Shivakami ensemble, therefore, is two-pronged: a strong central imagination of a teacher that is able to look at a group creatively and a group of fine dancers who are able execute their teacher’s vision well. The other sequence which stood out was when Narasimhan used the circle as a formation to externalise Devayani’s recurring thoughts about Muruga. Here, Narasimhan depicted Devayani’s mind not just through abhinaya but through form too.
Shivakami ensemble ended their performance with a Purandaradasa kriti followed by a Swati Tirunal piece on Shiva. For the traditional dance connoisseur, both these pieces were deeply satisfying, for they packed in vibrant and vigorous nritta (especially in the piece on Shiva) and subtle and nuanced abhinaya. By the end of their performance, one got to see a gamut of talent, a variety of pieces, creative choreography and some fantastic dancing.
