The rasika is a connoisseur, a sahridya. When a dancer achieves a soul connect with this rasika, the experience for both of them becomes a supreme moment, which is described as rasanubhava. It was this shared experience that elevated Divya Sivasundar’s performance.
The energetic introductory Mohana Kalyani for a Muthaiah Bhagavatar kriti, depicting Lord Vigneswara, set the pace for the varnam which followed. Divya chose the Ponniah Pillai Ananda Bhairavi masterpiece ‘Sakhiye Inda Velayil.’ This varnam was a perfect amalgam of music, poetic language, bhava and swara patterns giving scope for expressive explorations and Divya’s dancing of this varnam in a leisurely pace lent scope for her to exploit it to the maximum. The varied sancharis of the heroine cajoling the sakhi, her anguish and agony at the separation from her lord, the wonder visualising the grandeur of the Rajanagar combined with grace in movement and nadai, cast a spotlight on her depth and talent. The choreography, notwithstanding some frivolous touches in music by the vocalist, maintained the classical mould throughout and the theermanams, which were short and crisp, blended seamlessly with the sahitya.
The mood intensified in the abhinaya segment with the song ‘Jagadhodharana,’ where the dancer’s transformation from depicting vatsalya bhava of Yashodha, to the viswaroopam scene, where the Lord is shown in His magnificent splendour (Bhagavad Gita slokas woven dexterously with the sahitya) was a portrayal of great intensity. A beautiful javali ‘Prananathan,’ composed by her guru, V.P. Dhananjayan, depicting the heroine’s lament at the betrayal by the sakhi followed by Ranganayaki Jayaraman’s ‘Nritya Angaharam’ was a fitting finale to an evening of reposeful natyam, which can be summed up in one word – ‘ saukhyam.’
Guru Shanta Dhananjayan wielded the cymbals heading the orchestral team consisting of Preeti Mahesh (vocal), Eshwar Lakshminarayanan (violin), Sruti Sagar (flute), Ramesh Babu (mridangam) and Lashminarayanan (tamboora).
