Senior Kalakshetra alumni, Haripadman and Divya, who have spent more than 25 years in Kalakshetra, as faculty and as repertory dancers, presented a Bharatanatyam recital for the Kalakshetra monthly series concerts. Haripadman is well-known for his characterisation of Hanuman in the Ramayana dance drama series, rising as he did to fill the shoes of the legendary C.K. Balagopal.
The couple are mature and ‘thinking’ dancers; they explored new ways of presenting a pair, besides new themes and new choreographies. The repertoire comprised of unusual pieces: an invocation to the Kalakshetra founder, Rukmini Devi, ‘Srimati Rukminidevi divya sundara vigraha’ (ragamalika, khanda chapu, lyrics by S.Sarada, music by M.D.Ramanathan), a sringara padavarnam (‘Mohalaahiri konden Swamy’, Todi, Adi, Thanjavur Vadivelu), a pathos-filled Karna Vilapam — Kathakali padam, (‘Enthiha man maanase’ , Hindolam, Adi, lyrics by Mali Madhavan Nair), Navarasa Maayan — navarasas based on Sri Krishnaleelas (lyrics by Professor Raghuraman, music by Jamaneesh Bhagavatar) and the rhythmic thillana (Sindhubhairavi, Adi, vidwan Lalgudi Jayaraman).
The dancers’ discomfort was visible in the ‘sringara’ (romance/ eroticism) varnam; Kalakshetra ‘bani’ is a sanitised version of the devadasi tradition of ‘sadir’ that was renamed Bharatanatyam, by its founder Rukmini Devi and eminent revivalist E. Krishna Iyer. While the ideas in the sahitya were expressed clearly, one felt the sthayi bhava of longing could have come through stronger. In certain places, in the anupallavi for example, the vastra haran sanchari etc could have been more dramatic.
The dancers alternated in both nritta and abhinaya sections, and when they emoted together, it was interesting when both showed the same ideas differently. Divya has an arresting stage persona and depth in free-flowing abhinaya, Haripadman on the other hand, given his experience in Kalakshetra, has a more structured or methodical approach. His nayika bhava was suitably understated.
The nritta (jathis and steps) by veteran Professor C.V.Chandrasekhar was most enjoyable. The first and second jathis ‘Jaim jaim tharita’ had similar sollus as the second was the traditional koraippu of the first. With similar treatment of a duo segment followed by solo segments and coming together for the final theermana adavus, they even looked alike. K.P.Rakesh (nattuvangam) and Karthik Ramanathan (mridangam) anchored the rhythm with finesse.
When Krishna meets Karna just before the Mahabharata war (according to some texts) and reveals his identity to win him over, Karna is overwhelmed by confusion, anger, bitterness and sorrow. Haripadman’s deep involvement, his ability to tear up and hold expressions for long periods of time brought out the protagonist’s confusion regarding his identity and his yearning to see his parents in the soulful Hindolam padam.
Another novel piece was ‘Navarasa Mayan’ that was the best choreography in the repertoire. Krishna leelas enacted by the duo in quick succession brought out the various emotions in Krishna, though one tends to laugh off his childhood sentiments. The musical score was especially beautiful.
Haripadman and Divya concluded their exhaustive programme with the dramatic thillana, giving credence to the beat within the sollus and extending its appeal. However, one felt there were too many ideas in the thillana that fell through in execution in the end. Lighting was a disappointment throughout. Special appreciation for the full-bodied melody provided by Deepu K Nair (vocal), Rijesh Gopalakrishnan (violin) and Sruthi Sagar (flute) is necessary.
