The third and final evening of the Music Academy Mid-Year Dance Festival 2016 presented under the auspices of the M.N. Subramaniam Endowment, saw the young and graceful Bharatanatyam dancer, Priyadarshini Govindarajan.
A student of dancer- teacher A. Lakshmanaswamy, Priyadarshini’s quiet confidence enhanced the soft, lasya-filled movements and emotions. She was supported by Anilkumar (mridangam) and Ananthanarayanan (veena), with K.P.Nandini as the vocalist and a young, proficient Mathangi (nattuvangam).
The final performance was that of Mohiniyattom artist Methil Devika. It is a pity that a senior artist of such calibre is not seen more in Chennai. The elegance behind the understated style reflected artistry at its best.
Devika’s subtle expressions and beautiful movements, the soulful music and captivating stories created magic. A sense of restraint pervaded every aspect of the performance. Her entries and exits were quiet; so was the pure dance. Her style is dominated by graceful swaying of the torso, like a figure of ‘8,’ with stamps to highlight the tala cycle; the effect in the opening Cholkettu (Anandabhairavi, Adi, Surya Narayanan) was one of ethereal grace.
It was followed by the Muthuswami Dikshitar kriti, ‘Hiranmayeem’ (Lalitha, Rupaka).
The dancer explained the legend behind the song: Dikshitar’s wife, desirous of jewellery wanted him to sing for the king and earn wealth. The poet-composer refuses and composes ‘Hiranmayeem’ in which he says he will worship only the golden Goddess Lakshmi. The bejewelled goddess appears that night in his wife’s dream and asks if her ornaments were enough for her. The wife realises her folly of wanting wealth instead of the goddess’s grace and apologises to Dikshitar.
With this background in mind, Devika tailored the visualisation.
Commencing with ‘Namosthu Devyai,’ a Kanakadhara sloka about Lakshmi on a lotus, she described the conversation between Dikshitar and his wife. The song began almost like a reaction to the poet’s refusal, in a wave of crescendo-building music and akaara in the madhyama kaala anupallavi, ‘Chiratara...’ In the charanam, when the goddess is described as adorned with ornaments (‘Maataramaabja..’), the dream plays out, after which the charanam continues. Though the sequence was non-traditional, the music retained its sanctity since the core was untouched. It was a masterpiece in visualisation skill.
Another highlight was the Nataraja Sthothra in Mohiniyattom, an anomaly because there is nothing masculine in the dance form. Legend has it that the ‘Charana Sringa Rahita’ sloka (Punnagavarali, khanda chapu) was composed by sage Pathanjali in Chidambaram, when Nandi refused him entry. Hearing it, Siva is supposed to have come out and performed the ‘Soumya Tandava’ for it. With a stiff torso and a masculine bearing, Devika showed vigour in her movements.
The Swati Tirunal padam, ‘Alar sara parithaapam’ (Suruti, misra chapu) and the Todi Irayiman Thampi composition, ‘Paradevate’ brought out the dancer’s emotive strengths.
Devika’s talent is intuitive; she has the dramatic maturity to allow dance to be greater than the self on stage. In addition, is her meticulous planning of the music and dance composition.
The orchestra was her back bone: Srikrishnapuram Madhu (vocal), Madhu (nattuvangam), Surya Narayanan (flute), Baiju Rajeeth (veena), Unnikrishnan (mridangam, maddalam) and Arundas (edakka, chenda).
