A Kuchipudi dance event, ‘Angika’, by Amritha Jayakrishnan had the dancer paying obeisance to the dance repertoire itself. Amritha presented it in two parts, and the first half had two acclaimed works of Vempati Chinna Satyam. In the latter portion, she did two items choreographed by her guru Anupama Mohan.
The less-than-an-hour performance with four pieces was more of a miniature Kuchipudi recital, lacking some of the essentials like a tarangam, a shabdam or even a thillana. On the whole, it was like a warm-up event for the artiste to go for weighty attempts. However, the pieces that Amritha presented had enough content and variety to show her mettle.
Agile performer
Right from the opening ‘Brahmanjali’ in ragamalika, Adi tala, Amritha was agile, and her manoeuvres had the grace of the Vempati school. She continued with the pravesa daravu excerpt from Bhama Kalapam , a magnum opus of Vempati Chinna Satyam’s. Satyabhama introducing herself as the primary consort of Sree Krishna being the context, its interpretation by Amritha was appealing.
The second half had compelling numbers with a rather modern approach. It began with ‘Mayagopabala...’, a composition of KC Kesava Pillai’s in raga Kapi, Adi tala. It touched upon several instances of Sree Krishna coming to the rescue of his devotees. Amritha certainly had the constraint of not having a live orchestra, but it was all too rushed for the viewers to get a grasp of the sancharis. A little more of an involved approach would have made the narratives captivating.
Although recorded tracks give the flexibility of adding more instruments and sound effects, it becomes more of a distraction if not done well, as was the case here with the tracks used in the latter half. Other than that, the compositions were beautifully sung and well-arranged.
The concluding item was ‘Maheshwari’, hailing goddess Durga, set in raga Shivaranjani, Misra Chapu tala. The focus was on the fierce aspect of the goddess, the one who killed the demon Mahisha. Amritha brought in the required anger, vigour and liveliness in the character, which altogether made it a delightful watch.
The presentation was under the aegis of Soorya, at Ganesham, Thiruvananthapuram.
