Beginning her performance with salutations to the lord of dance, young dancer Jagyaseni Chatterjee, presented Margam with a quiet confidence. Her performance for Narada Gana Sabha was featured as part of Natyarangam. Lord Siva’s attributes explored through the rendering of Rudrashtakam was followed by a Hamsadhwani kavuthuvam, written by S. Raghuraman. It captured the image of Siva with suggestive detailing.
The eagerness of a nayika for the darshan of her Lord was the essence of a Thanjavur Quartet (Ponniah) Swarajathi in raga Khambodi. It was interesting to see the dancer convey the emotions of the pining nayika with mukhabinaya for the pallavi lines, ‘Kaana Avalanen.’
Well-explored sancharis
The caressing breeze, the glow of the moon and the chirping of the birds take on a different dimension, tormenting the nayika as she is pierced by Manmadha’s arrows — the mood was communicated by Jagyaseni with conviction. The magnificent Mount Kailasa, Ganga’s turbulent descent and Siva containing the river in his matted locks were some of the sancharis that were explored.
The jati korvais composed by Vedakrishnaram was appealing and were handled competently by the dancer. The Kshetrayya padam ‘Nanne Penladu,’ a ragamalika composition, speaks of the heroine’s possessive nature, claiming her stake on Lord Krishna, when she sees him with other gopis. Jagyaseni’s abhinaya of the nayika chiding Krishna, not to be carried away by other women was delightful.
Ambujam Krishna’s ‘Aravinda Padamalar’ (Kapi, Adi) is a composition which speaks of a devotee’s yearning to be touched by the lotus feet of the lord. The dancer delineated the idea in a narrative manner, but she needs to work on it more. greater depth to portray bring out the depth of a devotee’s angst. The performance concluded with a Swati Tirunal thillana in Bhoopalam set to tune by Balamuralikrishna. The entire margam was devised to explore both nritta and abhinaya at a leisurely pace and it was refreshing, but it is also important to plan the repertoire in such a manner that at least one composition is fast-paced to break the monotony.
Lakshmi Ramaswamy wielded the cymbals accompanied by Murli Parthasarathy on the vocals, Vijayaraghavan on the violin, Vedakrishnaram on the mridangam and Sashidar on the flute.
