As most of the senior dancers excelled in prime slots, ‘Nishagandhi Festival 2017’ also saw some young dancers proving a point with their miniature recitals in a segment meant for ‘Upcoming Talents’.
Sanjana Arun
Bharatanatyam recital by Sanjana Arun in the 'Upcoming Talents' segment of the 'Nishagandhi Festival 2017'
A disciple of V. Mydhili, she opened her Bharatanatyam recital with ‘Bhajamanasa...’, Thulasivanam’s Ganesha stuti in raga Bahudari. She certainly showed a flair for the art, but whether it really matched the grandeur of the stage was somewhat doubtful. Swati Tirunal’s ‘Janani Mamava...’ and ‘Kanavendamo...’ in praise of Lord of Chidambara were the other pieces that she presented.
Sonu Satheesh Kumar
Kuchipudi recital by Sonu Satheesh Kumar in the 'Upcoming Talents' segment of 'Nishagandhi Festival 2017'.
A Kuchipudi recital by Sonu, a disciple of Vasanth Kiran and Geetha Padmakumar, was marked by liveliness and spontaneity.
She was on her toes right from the start as she started off with ‘Kuchipudi Salaam’, bringing different flavours of the repertoire together in one piece.
The pining heroine asking her sakhi to quickly go and bring her beloved - Lord Padmanabha, in ‘Poonthen Nermozhi...’ would have been better if the dancer had focussed on the emotive aspect of the nayika as well, rather than emphasising on interactions with her sakhi alone. Sonu bettered herself in ‘Sarasamukhi...’, in praise of Goddess Chamundi. She did well in utilising stage space, balancing the postures, presenting her footwork with clarity and dancing skilfuly on the brass plate.
Aparna Ramachandran
Mohiniyattam recital by Aparna Ramachandran at the 'Nishagandhi Festival 2017'
The dancer had a sincere approach to her dance. Trained under Kalamandalam Prateeksha Gopinath, Aparna’s Mohiniyattam recital reminded spectators how beautifully one could perform by just doing the basics right. It was possible to sense an air of comfort, as she opened with the Ganesha stuti.
Aparna ably portrayed the character of Kubja in the varnam ‘Marasaramettu...’. How she ended up as a hunchback and how she was redeemed from her curse by Krishna being the main plot, the story of Krishna’s birth and his entry to Mathura after killing the giant elephant Kuvalayapida were linked to it. Swati Tirunal’s ‘Dhanasri’ thillana was the concluding piece. The three dancers had the live support of a wonderful set of musicians with their gurus in the lead as nattuvanars.
Regatta Cultural Society
Ambili Devi of Regatta Cultural Society performing at ‘Nishagandhi Festival 2017’
It was a disappointment for the audience to learn that Malavika Sarukkai would not be making it to the event that evening.
The organisers banked on Regatta, the dance school that used to present the choreography for the signature song for many years at the festival’s opening ceremony.
The young dancers might have rehearsed and presented the pieces in the past but getting the act together on short notice, that too on a stage like Nishagandhi Festival, is no small feat. And it was there that the dancers scored by doing it in style.
Credit goes to Girija Chandran, who trained the students by making them confident enough to perform even in situations like this. The group started with Natyanjali followed by ‘Ananda Natanaprakasam...’, presented by Praveen. ‘Bhavayami Raghuramam...’ was the main piece and the group danced with precision, making their coordinated entries and exits in time and nicely bringing those sancharis.
Ambili Devi impressed with a combination of quick dance phrases and some well-placed stand-still postures in the dance depiction of ‘Kalabhairava Ashtakam’. The group concluded with a Behag thillana in praise of Lord Guruvayoorappa. The Dhananjayans were given the credit for the choreography of different items.
