Pavitra Bhat in a red dhoti and angavastram made a strong impact, establishing the aesthetics and the physicality of the art, dancing an alarippu after an invocatory melaprapti.
Clarity and geometry marked this slim dancer’s movements, while his footwork was powerful.
Effortlessly moving on to depict Siva, Pavitra delineated his attributes and adornment to a rendering of the Shiva Panchakshara stotram.
Krishna became the focus in the Ritigowla varnam, a narrative that dealt with episodes from Krishna's life such as Vasudeva story, Pootana Moksham, lifting of Mount Govardhana, and so on.
His portrayals had some beautiful moments such as the transformation of Pootana into a pretty woman with an elegant turn of the body, or capturing the drama that unfolds when Vasudeva carries the child to safety. Since the scope for emotional expression was limited, the varnam was more a visual experience.
The nritta interludes dotted with brisk theermanams were danced with vigour and precision. But the dancer needs to be restrained while covering the stage with his fast-paced movements.
For the Gopalakrishna Bharathi song, Pavitra captured the essence of the bhavas with subtle expressions. A ‘Sumanesa Nandini’ thillana composed by Nagavalli Nagaraj brought the curtains down.
Jitesh, after some initial nervousness, did a commendable job in conducting the performance, aided by Hariprasad (vocal), Kalaiarasn (violin), Shashidaran (flute) and Ramshankar Babu (mridangam).
