Nataraj Music and Dance Academy (NMDA) conducted its regular three-day dance fest as part of World Dance Day celebration at Kalabharati Visakhapatnam.
A host of dancers from across the country participated and presented their artistic talent in different dance forms, like Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Manipuri and Chhau. Each artiste presented a few numbers from their respective dance styles. The event being an amalgam of an array of styles catering to the tastes of cross section of dance lovers, evoked warm response. It featured solos and ballets taking up a variety of strands for themes.
A ballet on the third day by the artistes of the academy was the highlight of the event. Titled ‘Vaidyo Narayano Hari’ the ballet sought the origin and cycle of birth in the womb for its theme. The theme centred on this point formed the crux of age-old Gollakalapam, wherein a Gollabhama – milk maid — enters into a dialogue with an erudite scholar. Known as ‘Indaprakaranam’, it elaborately discusses the origin and development of foetus and in the process, evolution of life and its various flowering stages. A century ago, it was this Gollakalapam that formed the star piece of Kuchipudi repertoire for its informative and educative merit and given the little or less understanding of the common folk about the matters medical and biology in those times, it truly served a great purpose in enlightening the common folk on this count. In this ballet a few alterations in the narrative of Gollalkalapam were made to include even the contribution of Dr. Mariyan Swims in 1903 in the realm of gynaecology.
Earlier, US-based Madhavi Reddy opened the closing session with her captivating Bharatanatyam. She seems very much involved in the presentation of chosen piece. With clear grasp of the emotive contours of the characters being portrayed, she essayed a few numbers that brought out her artistic acumen to the fore.
