Ever since the Dhananjayas have established their sway, dancing duos have been a phenomenon in the world of Bharatanatyam. N Srikanth and Aswathy V Nair have carved a space for themselves in the field by means of their prowess and perseverance. Their recital at the TDM Hall, Ernakulam, was a treat for the audience.
The couple began their concert with the Purandaradasa composition, ‘Gajavadanaa veduve’, extolling the features and distinctions of Lord Ganesha. Each padartha (word meaning) like ‘pasankusadhara’ (one who holds these weapons), ‘paramapavithra’ (the most sacred) and ‘munijanaprema’ (one who loves the sages) contributed to the dominant mood, bhakti (devotion). For the varnam, the dancers chose the all-too familiar Pancharatnakriti of saint Tyagaraja, ‘Jagadananda kaaraka’, in raga Natta. Although its sahitya (text) has references to Lord Krishna and Vishnu, the kriti, overall, is in praise of the countless virtues of Lord Rama. There is little scope for sanchari (improvisational segment) in it. Yet the dancers, through their stylish execution of hand gestures and measured movements of the torso and the limbs, conveyed the spirit of the pallavi, anupallavi and charanams, much to the contentment of the audience. The non-textual dance supported by the jathi and swaras carried ample geometrical grace.
MD Ramanathan's composition, ‘Saagarasayanavibho’, in raga Bagesri, followed. Srikanth unfurled the many different manifestations of Lord Vishnu in the visualisation of this padam. He briefly touched upon Gajendramoksham as sanchari. Again the principal sentiment of bhakti prevailed throughout the presentation.
Afterwards Aswathy took up a padam of Gopalakrishna Bharati to bring out the pangs of separation of the nayika from the nayaka, who is none other than Lord of the Chidambara temple. Beginning with the anupallavi of the padam, Aswathy fluently shared the nayika's longing for reunion with her Lord. The Lord's sympathy towards his devotees is infinite. As the nayika, Aswathy cited the story of Kannappanar who poured a mouth full of water on the Sivalinga which he took from the river, Swarnamukhi. He gave the Lord whatever meat he could gather from hunting. The Lord did not see any impropriety in all these since he was aware of the depth of devotion of Kannappanar. Aswathy could convincingly portray this anecdote that indirectly highlighted the nayika's Premabhakti (love-soaked devotion) towards the Lord.
The duo concluded their recital with a brisk thillana in raga Amritavarshini, composed by Guru Sadasivam. Backed by forceful nattuvankam, alluring vocal music, dexterous fingerings on the mridangam and sterling notes on the violin, Srikanth and Aswathy danced with gay abandon. BEAME, an Ernakulam-based cultural forum, organised the event.
