Mythological drama/ballets never get jaded for most Indians living in the suburbs. They are viewed with renewed enthusiasm every time they happen to be staged. ‘Shambo, Shivam Shankareem’ is one such Kuchipudi dance ballet that cut across all sections of viewers with its timeless appeal at the annual Vysakhi Nrityotsav 2014 at Visakhapatnam.
The array was star-studded with Manju Bhargavi playing Lord Shiva and Deepika Reddy as consort Sati and later Parvathi. The story is that of the familiar Dakshayagnam where Sati is reborn only to be united with her lord. Being Kuchipudi of the Vempati school, the characters like those in a drama, were decked in period finery with crowns, et al. The dialogues and narrative in verse form flowed with effortless ease though the language (Telugu) at times sounded colloquial rather than literary in keeping with the tale of the divine. DSV Sastry’s compelling nattuvangam/vocal on pre-recorded music emerged loud and clear.
Manju Bhargavi looked regal as Shiva though not really masculine as the Lord is made out to be but on the nritta front, she was not her sprightly self and fell short of vigorous footwork especially in the scene where Shiva is enraged. A thoughtful creation in the form of Veerabhadra (M Surendranath) compensated for this with a ferocious nritta and of course the sound and fury, curtsey background score! Deepika Reddy as Sati kept her dance in tune with that of Shiva, rather reined in her momentum, charmed her way with graceful dance movements. Her full potential came to the fore when she re-enters the stage as Parvati. The ‘pravesha daruvu’ (entry) gave a large scope for her to showcase her footwork capabilities which Deepika explored to the brim. It was so reminiscent of her guru’s impeccable style; elegantly worked out footwork with a fluidity that demarcates the Kuchipudi from its more rigid cousin the Bharatanatyam, with a lissome facial and gestural expression- these qualities seemed to have been imbibed by the artiste making her an archetype cast in the Vempati mould. Her abhinaya in the scenes where Sati is wrought by anxiety, love and hurt, first by her consort’s denial to permit her to go to her father Daksha’s yagna and later by the insults heaped by her parent was emotive and natural as could be within an artistic setting. Whatever be the theme of the dance that she undertakes, Deepika has evolved as an artiste who gets under the skin of the role she portrays, by which her dance escalates to a higher level and she’s able to dispel a joy among the viewers. She was the only one perhaps among the gamut of artistes who did not display discomfort with the weighty diadem, while with all others, their facial expressions got impaired to a certain extent with strenuous, balancing looks, thanks to the head-gears!
The other vital characters to this ballet, Manmadha and Rathi donned by Mihira Pathuri (also Brahma) and Pooja Reddy respectively, dazzling in off-white costume, proved to be energetic dancers with a good grasp of each other’s role and moved accordingly. In fact, the entire ensemble who danced their roles in twos and fours, exhibited perception and perfect sync. B Sudheer Rao as Daksha looked and acted the egoistic father /ruler role while M. Surendranath as Narada was glove fit. Tejaswini Butta as Vishnu, and Srinivas Sreya as Saraswati proved their dancing skills. Attention to colour scheme of the costumes by dancers representing different deities revealed the choreographer’s awareness to mythology.
If ever we were skeptical about the array of veterans put up on the invite to the Vysakhi Nrityotsav 2014 and their dance capabilities, our cynicism was made to bite the dust with the stupendous shows given by these maestros. We are bound to re-think and recast our mindset that age is of no consequence to those who have lived by dance and dance alone and have turned into virtuosos. Ranjana Gauhar’s Odissi solo was one such performance that instilled the norms of appreciating a dance form whose nuances are almost unknown to us. Whether it be the mangalacharan or the ode to Basanth rithu, Gauhar’s measured movements, her vivid hastha mudras, her languid gait that conveyed the tribhanga (tri-bend posture) in every nerve with precision to taal and her expressive face that emoted the most difficult of romance with utter elegance, had the audience eating out of her hand. We cannot imagine that a small invocatory verse to goddess Matangi (Saraswati) could carry so much import till we saw the artiste going through the prayer with deep devotion set to dance mode. The Mohan mohi Kishore… set to 14-beat taal was executed to the vilambit and madhyalay with arithmetic accuracy. Her abhinaya mirrored the archetypal Odissi where details are delved in depth even as the gestures vary to the refrain. The footwork patterns Gauhar displayed for the Basanth Rithu were a revelation to the viewers of the intricacies of this dance system.
Vani Madhav’s Odissi had all the ingredients required for the dance, but was lacklustre; the audience just trudged along since there was nothing faulty to begin with and nothing went wrong. The theme she took was elevated: Panchabhoota. And delineation of each of the five elements of nature was writ with extensive hastabhinaya. The facial expression was however taut and so was the gaze that seemed to go up and down or sideways as if through sheer habit. The Shivashatakam in raag Bhairavi was true to its content. The dancer, though strong in her art form did not exhibit any involvement or enthusiasm for her profound content to peter down to the audience. She left the stage as empty as when she came upon it. We had nothing to offer but the expected applause due to any performing artiste.
