Male Bharata natyam dancers were under the spotlight as they took the stage at the annual Nartaka Festival 2015, at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
K. Sarveshan , disciple of Savitri Naidoo, Sandhya Murali and Darshana Rama in South Africa, and gurus Shantha and V.P. Dhananjayan in India, is a credit to his teachers. He is talented, hardworking and focussed, with outstanding technical grounding and clarity of movements in the faster speeds, excellent timing and good stamina. A spontaneous and natural dancer, he is as yet a bit inexperienced.
Rhythmic fireworks resounded in Sarveshan’s recital, like a Diwali-come-early show. Colours and lights bounced off Guru Shantha’s dignified yet piercing nattuvangam and Shivaprasad’s intuitive fillers and emphasis on the mridangam, as the dancer revelled in his gurus’ bright and crisp choreographies. The ensemble made essentially good nritta into an electrifying show.
The repertoire was mostly devotional, starting with a brisk invocation ‘Gajamukha Vandana’ (Hindolam, Adi, Karaikudi R. Krishnamurthy) and going on to a varnam ‘Ninne Ne Nera’, adi tala nrityopaharam in Atana raga, composed by Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sharma. The plea to Krishna for grace or rather ‘a small bit of space at His feet’ was couched within gems of rhythm — the vilamba, tisra and ‘drukudu thaka’ jatis.
Sarveshan kept the sthayi as a devotee going, without getting carried away by the overriding rhythm. The retelling of the Gajendra episode was clear as well, and the charana swaras carried glimpses of Krishna’s escapades without sacrificing the pace and rhythm; skilful choreography this.
The portrayal in the devotional Saveri padam ‘Muruga muruga endral’ (misra chapu, composed by Periasami Thooran) was sincere but literal.
M.K. Rajesh (vocal) who had provided soul to the Atana piece, could not quite capture the legendary M.S. Subbalakshmi’s evocative rendition as the artists aspired to do; it was a big ask anyway. Sunil Kumar (flute) and Rijesh (violin) provided enjoyable melody throughout.
Arun Mathai
With his long limbs, impressive physique and intense, smouldering eyes, Arun Mathai could well have been the poster-boy for the Nartaka Festival 2015. His recital was a mixed bag of highs and lows, throwing many surprises along the way.
He has been tutored by many artists: Sundara Swaminathan in the U.S. and K.P. Yasodha, Bragha Bessell, Rama Vaidyanathan and Hari Padman in India. One could see the varied influences that have shaped him from the repertoire that covered a wide spectrum – that included a traditional Kalakshetra-inspired restrained choreography by Guru Krishnaveni Lakshmanan, ‘Swami Naan Undhan Adimai’ (varnam, Nattakurinji, Adi, Papanasam Sivan), the silence of an involved Guru Kalanidhi - style choreography by Bragha Bessell, ‘Kshana madhuna’ (ashtapadi, Dwijavanthi, Jayadeva), and a dramatic, nritta-dominated, contemporary interpretation by Rama Vaidyanathan, ‘Shivoham’ (Charukesi, G.S. Rajan).
Given the promise of Arun’s sculpted, agile body, his nritta was disappointingly soft, lacking energy and a strong spine, the root cause being an incorrect araimandi stance. He was, however, well-rehearsed. The varnam korvais were handled with experience and skill by Hari Padman (nattuvangam) and Ramesh Babu (mridangam), the most exciting being the charana jathi with sollus in usi and steps in samam.
The varnam lyrics envisage a nayika pining for Nataraja, the poet showing his devotion as nayika bhava, both in first and third person. But this did not pose a problem for Arun with the muted interpretation emphasising bhakti rather than sringaara. There were surprisingly more sancharis than expected, one of which was unclear- in the pallavi, ‘Tamadam..’ that was elaborated with the killing of Kamadeva.
Arun’s restraint with expressions is commendable and the ashtapadi brought out the best in him. As Krishna courting Radha, he switched roles seamlessly and delineated a seemingly intimate moment with subtlety and finesse.
The accompanying music was most delectable, with Sai Shankar (vocal), T. Sashidhar (flute) and Rijesh Goplalkrishnan (vocal) providing hauntingly beautiful melody. Ramesh Babu’s beats too were soft and suggestive.
As the dramatic finale alternated between frenzied nritta and a meditative slowness, Arun, Hari Padman and Ramesh Babu went into overdrive. Their excellent timing and coordination won the day.
Parshwanath Upadhye
Parshwanath Upadhye is a boyish-looking dancer-teacher from Bengaluru, who has trained under Guru Ravindra Sharma in the Mysore style of Bharathanatyam, and continues advance training under Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran.
He is a powerhouse of talent, with impressive credentials -- energy, clean lines, good footwork, confidence and mature storytelling ability. His performance had two stars -- Parshwanath and his guru, Kiran, on the nattuvangam. Kiran’s rhythmic mastery, remarkable flow and an aggressive rendering style make him both a powerful guide and a dominating accompanist. Often during the show, one didn’t know whom to watch.
Besides the high-energy performances, there was drama in the choreography as well. Each jathi korvai in the Charukesi varnam on Ganapathy (Adi, D.S. Srivathsa) had a ‘Ganapathy, Ganapathy Ganapathy’ prelude set in varying beats; the second jathi had a single- phrase sollu, ‘tha dhi tharikita tharikita tharikita tharikita jham jham’ that was repeated non-stop, to great effect; the fourth korvai was the crowning glory with changes in tone and gati and sudden introduction of the off-beat rhythm adding to the dramatic potpourri.
There was one casualty and that was the composition of steps. They felt repetitive without enough variety. One also felt Parshwanath being agile, is capable of more. The dancer showed his experience in the abhinaya segment - for example, in the story of how Ganapthi got an elephant head, when Siva revives Parvathi’s son, the boy is wary for a moment until he understands that Siva is no more the enemy. Similarly, when Ganapathy is told he has to go around the world to acquire the fruit from his parents, he looks at his vahana, the mouse, with a comic sense of apprehension.
Harsha Samaga (mridangam) impressed with his sarva lagu in the invocation, and rose later to keep up with Kiran’s fiery delivery. And during the non-rhythmic segments, he was sensitively quiet.
On the long bansuri was the sole accompanist Jayaram Kikkeri, whose melody enhanced G. Srikanth’s enjoyable music, both bravely contributing with commitment in a high volume, rhythm-dominated programme.
