 Sai Nrutyotsava
11
- Mysore Nagaraj,
Bangalore
e-mail: articulateindia@gmail.com April 10, 2010 April first
was no fools day. In fact, Sai Nrutyotsava-11 heralded the arrival of spring,
as the world celebrates the riot of colors and freshness of the fruits
of nature. Amidst the green canopy, blooming flowers on the trees, Seva
Sadan in Malleshwaram, Bangalore, witnessed young dancers celebrate through
dance and music, an evening of Bharatanatyam and Kathak. A devotional
performance:
Under the
guidance of Dr.Sarada, President, Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning,
Bangalore, their performing unit consisting of Srinivasan R, Ujwal J, Deepa
CR and Revathy Shankar, commenced with an obeisance to Ganesha in raga
Natai and Adi tala and proceeded to an Alaaripu in Mishra jathi before
concluding with the feature "Siva Ramana." The silver line that connected
the three dance numbers in Bharatanatyam was seeing Ramana, the Maharishi
of Thiruvannamalai, as Ganesha through the Sanskrit shloka "Shuklambharadharam…"
as a divine entity bestowing peace and finally as Dakshinamurthy, bestower
of knowledge to the seeker of truth. Little dancing
angels:
Guru Satish
Babu of Natyeshwara Nruthya Shala, Bangalore, presented his 8 disciples
Anusha V Udupa, Vaishanavi HR, Sonia K, Vishaka S, Madhushree S, Amudha
S, Harini K and Anu in a crisp and neat Bharatanatyam recital. Without
a moment wasted, a very junior group of five little angels and three juniors
performed 6 dance numbers, neatly fitted in a 30 minutes slot. The clarity
of movement, understanding the rhythm and being in step by these dancers
was a delight to watch. Their chosen repertoire was a pushpanjali in Ragamalika,
Ananda Naratana Ganapathy, a Chaturashra Alarippu, "Bho shambo" in raga
Revathi, a Kannada composition "Yadavaraya" in Ragamalika and finally the
padam, "Indendu Vacchi Tivira" in Surati raga and all of them set to Adi
tala. A mature
presentation:
Kiran Rajagopalan,
a magna cum laude from Boston University with a BA in Behavioral Neuroscience
has balanced his profession and passion with élan. Currently a senior
disciple of A Lakshman in Chennai, Kiran presented a pushpanjali in Ghambira
Nata, a Muthuswamy Pillai composition on Ganesha, "Chitike vesithe" set
in Kalyani raga, a male perspective padam by Sarangapani and a Tillana
in Kadanakuthoohalam composed by Dr. M Balamuralikrishna. Without much
strain in his first and third number and with much restrain in his padam,
Kiran took the audience on a smooth and aesthetic ride. A lively
act:
Keerthana
Ravi, trained by veteran Guru Padmini Ramachandran of Natyapriya, Bangalore,
gave a brisk Bharatanatyam recital and wove the well known keerthanam of
Gopalakrishna Bharatiyar "Natanam Aadinaar," a varnam "Nee inda maaya saida
nyayama" of Papanasam Sivan and a padam "Adhuvum solluvaal" into her fabric
of dance. The delight of seeing the cosmic dancer in Chidambaram, the plea
of a bhakta seeking a glance of the lord, the jealousy a woman feels when
her lover showers more attention on another woman, was expressed with elegance. Proving
the belief that Kathak is bereft of abhinaya:
Natya Stem
Dance Kampni members Ramya Nagaraj, Ponnamma Devaiah, Janardhan Raj Urs,
Keerthi Kumar and Vineeth Kumar Nigam presented three dance numbers. A
composition of Ibrahim Adil Shah II where he feels the divine presence
of Ganesh and Saraswathi in nature around him, was the opening number.
Kannada poet Da Ra Bendre's well known poem 'Nalku Tanti" describing the
relationship between Man and Nature was the second to be presented. A Tarana
in Raag Jhinjoti was the concluding item. The first two dance numbers were
performed by the performers flamboyantly sans any emotion. The lyrics of
two of the greatest poets of the Deccan, though separated by centuries,
are impregnated with beautiful meaning. For very emotive music, the lyrics
have been well adapted by Guru Dr. Maya Rao, but the dancers seem to emphasise
more on popular technical nuances, making satwika bhava a casualty, proving
the popular assumption that Kathak is bereft of abhinaya.
Mysore B
Nagaraj is the Artistic Director of Articulate, that promotes performing
arts and takes social responsibility of the visually challenged. |
