The success of a festival depends on the clarity of idea for hosting it and choosing artistes of calibre to translate the idea into an enriching experience. Suryakala Foundation for Arts and ARTery have been making an impact with their annual Ekam Festival, setting a high standard of creativity. This year’s performances at Rukmini Arangam, Kalakshetra featured four performances by five artistes. Each added to the larger theme with a well-curated concept.
At the inaugural performance, Srikanth structured his repertoire on ‘Aadal — joy of dance’, ‘Anubhavam — internal experience of the artiste’ and ‘Anandam - joy of communication.’
Verses from ‘Nataraja Pathu’ by Sirumanavur Muniswamy Mudaliar, a poetic description of the manifestations of Siva came alive with the imaginative expressions of the dancer. The verse goes as... ‘You are the life-giving force, you are the beginning and the end, you are the ardhanaari , you are darkness and light, who else can I go to and share my plight.’ Combining his skills in nritta and abhinaya judiciously, Srikanth not only gave a free reign to his imagination but also sculpted out the form of Siva, giving it the finesse of a bronze icon.
Srikanth Natarajan performing at Ekam festival at Kalashetra in Chennai
The Nattakurinji varnam composed by K.N. Dandhayudhapani Pillai which followed, focused on a devotee’s entreaties to the Lord to cast his benevolence on him. Stories like the one on Banabattar, who is challenged for a musical contest, excerpted from Thiruvilayadal Puranam, were taken up as sancharis. Srikanth’s delineation of the various forms of life from the small ant and butterfly to the bird, deer and powerful animals for the lines of the song ‘Sakala Bhuvana’ was masterly.
‘Gandhari Vilapam’, a Malayalam composition, on the anguish of Gandhari when she sees her sons’ bodies in the battlefield was portrayed in an evocative manner. His maturity as an artiste was seen in the little touches that he lent to the characterisation, seen in sequences like the one where she remembers the gambiram of her son’s personality as she sees his shattered body.
The thillana in raga Poorvi brought forth Aananda. Ashwathy Nair wielded the cymbals. Srikanth Gopalakrishnan sang soulfully accompanied by K.P. Nandini on the violin, Nagai Prabhu Sriram on the mridangam and Sujith S Naik on the flute.
‘Adhara - sustaining the flow’, symbolising the river — a flow of tradition in the form of collective personal experience was the premise on which Indira Kadambi, an artiste of merit, chose to present a lengthy exposition of the varnam ‘Yenthanee Ne Telupudura’, a composition of Subbarama Dikshitar in raga Khamas set to Adi Talam.
Indira took us on an extensive guided tour of the architectural space of the temple, with details of every shrine, the deities in each, the sacred tree and Kamalalayam - water tank, thereby drawing the viewers into that temple arena to experience the feelings of the nayika who is besotted by the beauty of Tyagaraja Swamy of Tiruvarur.
Having learnt this varnam years ago from guru Adyar K Lakshman, Indira retained the jathis and swaras choreographed by him even while embellishing it with her artistic experience, to express the varied nuances of the heroine’s feelings with great conviction. The transformation from the young girl hearing stories of the Lord to the young maiden besotted by him was brilliantly portrayed with little details like childhood games, adorning herself, excitement of seeing his image and the blossoming of love. To convey the ‘Thaapam - torment of love’, her sancharis used imageries such as fish out of water, wilting lotus and torment of Kamadeva’s arrow.
Using the musical notes of a Mallari, she visualised the temple procession, beautifully depicting various instruments like nadaswaram, thavil, talam, dancing girls and the palanquin carrying the deity.
T.V. Ramprasad’s musical expressions resonated with Indira’s nuanced bhavas. He was accompanied by K.H. Vineeth on the mridangam, Vivek Krishna on the flute and Vishnu Ramprasad on the navtar. Madhumanti Banerjee conducted the recital.
Srikanth and Indira have a way with theermanams in varied kalapramanams and it was evident once again in their performances. However, Indira’s lengthy jathikorvais sometimes seemed to dilute the mood of the songs. Also, the frequent dimming of lights during both the performances was disturbing.
Kerala-based Rajashree Warrier, rarely seen in chennai, chose the theme ‘Prana — life force.’ She began with the composition ‘Vata Vriksha’, an abstract piece on eternity and the sprouting of a banyan tree.
Bhagavathi Chindu was based on the idea of a village waking up to a girl missing, and the whole village going in search of her and finally realising that the girl is none other than Goddess Bhagavathi. Through the story, Rajashree looked at the whole gamut of the daily chores of common women, be it a fish or fruit seller, a farm worker or a homemaker. She focused on their all-pervading energy.
With an attractive stage presence, fine grip over laya, graceful movements and an expressive face, she was able to effectively capture the little details of the lives of these women.
The ideas conveyed were interesting visually, but the underlying concept didn’t get communicated well. Frequent use of mirror image for each movement impacted the momentum of the performance.
A beautiful poem of Perumal Murugan, ‘Nee mattume en nenjinil nirkiray’ about the union of two souls was ideally suited for abhinaya, and Rajashree portrayed the emotions in a sensitive manner.
Melodic musical support from Dr. Sreedev Rajagopal on vocal, accompanied by Vinod on the flute, kalamandalam Sreerang on the mridangam and Neelamperur Suresh Kumar on the nattuvangam were an asset to the performance. Lighting design was by Sivan.
Jayanthi Subramaniam performing at Ekam Festival at Kalakshetra in Chennai
The finale of the festival with the caption ‘Chiththa Vritthi - Ossilations of the mind’ focused on the varied shades of human emotions that were expressed by Jayanthi Subramaniam and Nityakalyani Vaidyanathan. Padams and javalis in ragas like Varali, Khambodi, Kalyani and Ashtapadis like ‘Kshana Madhuna’ and ‘Kuru Yadu Nandana’ made for visual and aural treat. Backed by years of experience and maturity of both the artistes, it was a masterclass in abhinaya with different emotions flowing seamlessly. It was a moment of revelation to see the role the ‘Door’, an intrinsic part of the scenario being a witness to the coquettishness, expectations, rejections, taunts and anger that each of the nayika expresses.
Nithyakalyani Vaidyanathan performing at Ekam Festival in Chennai
Singing and playing for padams and javalis are not easy tasks, but the team of musicians - Radha Badri on vocal, S. Vijayaraghavan on the violin and Nellai B. Kannan on the mridangam sailed through with ease. Janaki Ganesh did the nattuvangam.
Divya Devaguptapu’s introductions and summations were lucid and insightful.
