Amutha Dhandapani's disciple M. Hamsika presented her Bharatanatyam recital in Margam style on the fourth day of the 26th dance festival organised by Pollachi Tamizhisai Sangam.
If the Pushpanjali in Gambhira Nattai made people sit up, the Abhogi varnam, ‘Vadivelane' showed the choreographic skills of the guru and the disciple's ability to emote well. ‘Yaadhumaagi Nindraai' and ‘Chandrasekhara' were delightful.
The Kalinganarthana tillana by Oothukkadu Venkatakavi gave an impressive conclusion to her pleasing performance.
Pozhakkudi Praveen with his powerful voice gave excellent vocal support. Amutha Dhandapani's crisp nattuvangam, Venkatesh's mridangam, Sivaramakrishnan's violin and Raghunathan's flute came together, to present a pleasing orchestra.
Ashrita Keshav from Chennai won the hearts of the spectators with her vibrant performance.
With rigorous training by guru Kishore Mohali Kandi of the Vempatti Chinna Satyam school of Kuchipudi, she blended elegance with speed.
Remarkable commitment
An ardent student of Carnatic music, Savitha Venkatapathy exhibited remarkable commitment in her Bharatanatyam performance. Guided by the able nattuvangam of guru Lakshmi Ramaswamy, she began with the lively Mayil viruttam in Shanmukhapriya. The compositions from Silappathikaram (sabdam), the Thanjavur Quartet (varnam) and Thiruvaranga Kalambagam (tillana) were appropriate and impressive.
Odissi has always found a place in the Pollachi dance festival and this year was no exception. Guru Prativa Panda from Bhubaneswar presented an admirable and graceful classical dance form Orissa along with her team of talented disciples. They began with the mangalacharan and moved on to ‘sthayi' that portrays the beautiful sculptural postures found in the temples of Orissa. ‘Dasavatar' portraying the ten incarnations of Mahavishnu was the highlight.
S. Vaidehi and Binesh Mahadevan, disciples of Ranganayaki Jayaraman, regaled the spectators with their separate performances on the sixth day. After Vaidehi's enjoyable solo Bharatantyam recital, Binesh presented the spectacular show ‘Rudra Dasakam.' With his majestic stage presence and the admirable team work of his well-trained students he easily stole the show.
Veena Ramakrishnan's Srinritya Dance School gave a colourful finish to the dance festival with its dance ballet ‘Madhuravalli Meenakshi Thirukalyanam' that depicted the various stages of Meenakshi's life such as ‘Sengeerai, Ammanai and Ambuli,' based on the Pillaithamizh.
Besides doing the nattuvangam with great spirit, Veena herself acted out some of the important roles. As Kurathi, who foretells Meenakshi's future, she was endearing. Her disciples impressed the spectators with their involvement and enthusiasm.
The orchestra, with Roshini Ganesh (vocal support), S. Balaji on the mridangam, T.K. Vijayaraghavan on the violin and Nataraj on the flute, was pleasing.
