The traditional Bharatanatyam repertoire (margam) wrapped up with an almost extinct form of temple dance genre (alaya sampradaya nrityam) ‘Simhanandini' which derives from the name of its tala (Simhanandana).
Vyshanavie (disciple and daughter of Rajeswari Sainath), now a danseuse in her own right, was able to handle these two distinct dance forms with aplomb. Despite minor creases, the presentation in the first half was for most part, flawless. The stark stage lit with a pair of brass oil lamps beside make-do pillars gave an ambience to what followed. Stepping aside the regular traditional compositions, the artiste chose new lyrics (penned by Swami Ganapathi Sacchidananda of Mysore) known for their alliterative quality and innate rhythm. Pari pari nee paadame in Hamsadhwani, an invocation to lord Vinayaka was presented with footwork precision and graceful movements depicting the lord as an obstacle eradicator with an elephant head through gestures.
Then came the varnam in Simhendra Madhyamam Sri Krishna Paramatma … wherein incidents culled out of Bhagavatam were dealt with in a periodic manner beginning with Krishna's childhood. Vyshnavie's agile footwork for the jati pattern that preceded the ‘Kaaliya mardhanam' incident, was superb.
Her deft movements and expressions were something to write home about, especially as Yashoda playing around and pampering little Krishna.
However, at this juncture, it may be suggested that the abhinaya for the lines, Devaki ashtama garbha could be dealt with a little more aestheticism since realistic expressions are not always suited to artistic medium. The Govardhana giri and later Bhagavad gitadhyana verses were portrayed with skilful footwork to swaram.
The Abhang, a devotional piece from Saint Namdev, yehi o vittale bhaktajana seemed too mature for the young dancer to handle, not in the abhinaya as one is bound to conclude, but in dancing with abandon as a God-intoxicated devotee.
Simhanandini was an entirely different kettle to handle. The prelude by Guru Voleti Rangamani, an adept in this style notwithstanding, the tala which is the longest in Carnatic music (37th of the Ashtottara talas comprises 18 angas, 128 kriyas/beats and 512 aksharas) was no where visible in the nattuvangam. The guru reeling out rigorous series of jatis (to which tala) found no corresponding footwork at the dancer's end.
Neither was the intricate drawing of a ‘lion' (Simham) with the feet on a canvas sprinkled with red chalk powder and covered with a white, semi-wet sheet pinned tight at four corners, visible to the eye.
The placement of the stage being such, the audience though agog with excitement were unable to make out the emerging of a figure through the dancer's feet.
All we could see was Vyshanvie moving sideways and obliquely with her two feet held together.
She seemed busy with ‘figuring' out the ‘simham' which she did with kudos. Had the dancer been staged at a lower level, the audience could have actually watched the shaping up of the figure from mere coloured dust!
However, the slokas preceding the working out of the design enthralled the audience with the dancer depicting the Mother Goddess in all glory. She seemed to fit into the role, perfect.
Rayaprolu Sudhakar's veena wafted like a cool breeze on a midsummer evening prior to the commencement of ‘Simhanandini' Vocalist Sangeetha Kala provided the right tones throughout the performance while Venkatesh on the flute and Chander Rao on the violin were quite pronounced.
Karra Srinivas on the mridangam was up to the mark.
Rajeswari Sainath's nattuvangam for Bharatanatyam had clarity and coherence.
The dance presentation was at Ravindra Bharati under the aegis of Abhyudaya Foundation and Sruthi Laya Kendra Natarajaalaya.
