For five days in succession, young dancers impressed the audience in Thrissur with their dance moves.
Nirmala Paniker’s disciples Sandra Pisharody and Parvathy Sreevallabhan performed Poli, Kurathi, Esal and Mookkuthi with élan. Polika, polika, Bhagavathiye... was an invocation to the goddesses to bless the three worlds with their presence. ‘Kurathi’, a solo by Parvathy, depicted a member of the hill tribes adept in fortune-telling.
‘Esal’ had two Kurathis disguised as Parvathy and Lakshmi. Their arguments, each accusing the other’s husband of various faults or drawbacks, entertained the audience. Finally, the two realise the futility of such an endless quarrel and become good friends. This is represented by a pure dance in union. The nritta sequences interspersed between the dialogues was flawless.
Mangalam was preceded by ‘Mookkuthi’ (nose-ring). Engu poyi en mookkuthi... was a search for the nose-ring of the dancer that was lost irrecoverably. Description of its gorgeousness by Sandra was interesting. As Parvathy joined her towards the end, the message became clear that Moksha is more valuable than the mookkuthi.
Graceful presentation
Bhagyalakshmi Sivaramakrishnan opened her Bharatanatyam recital with a rare composition of Shatkala Govinda Marar. Thunga pinga jada... is a picturesque narration of Siva and Bhagyalakshmi portrayed it in a graceful manner. A slower pace would have bought out the niceties more elegantly.
Bhagyalakshmi Sivaramakrishnan
She followed it with the famous Lalgudi varnam in Charukesi, Innem en mannam ariyadavar... . Bhagyalakshmi’s abhinaya in delineating the emotional mood was remarkable. Various adavus were performed with finesse and her sense of rhythm was commendable. The sancharis involving childish antics of Krishna gave the dance lots of opportunities to exhibit her abhinaya. The dancer vividly described the virahothkhanditha Nayika of Swati’s Alasara paritapam.... The Suruti piece could have been more effective, if the tempo had been lower. She concluded the recital with a thillana in Des and Adi.
Anjali Nath’s Kuchipudi began with Aananda nartana Ganapathim... , a composition of Oothukkadu Venkata Subbaiyyar in Gambheera Natta and Adi. Annamacharya’s kirtana Deva Devam bhaje divya prabhavam... in Hindolam and Khanta chap anchored mainly on the interpretation of ‘Shanakarachita Janaka chapa dalanam’.
Anjali Nath
Sancharadaradhara sudha madhura dwani... , the fifth Ashtapadi, was presented in ragamalika. Vachenu Alamelu manga... of Annamacharya describes the beauty of the consort of Vekatesa and how Rambha and other celestial dancers worshipped her while seeking her blessings. Even as Anjali portrayed the lines in her recital, one felt that repetition of Hindolam in the repertoire could have been avoided. She concluded with a javali. Both the nritta and abhinaya of Anjali left enough room for improvement.
Intricate footwork
Kathak by Rithima Bagga was mainly an exposition of nritta in the dance form. The intricacies of footwork were demonstrated in a piece in Taal Shikar with 17 matras. Distressingly, the microphones provided to pick up the footwork failed, but for which the intricacies of the rhythm could have been better enjoyed.
Ridhima Bagga
Her histrionic talent manifested in a short Dhumri on Krishna that described Radha’s intense longing for him. A tarana in Taal Basant of nine matras was the last piece.
Odissi recital by Vinda Chadha opened with an invocation to goddess Saraswathy through a Kalidasa sloka ‘Manikya vinam upalayamthi’ rendered in Mohanam and Triputa Taal. Krishna’s charm and exploits formed the leitmotif of ‘Sangi Ni Re Chahan Benu Pani’, an Oriya poem. The composition in Kalawati and Taal Jati began in a low tempo and gathered momentum as it progressed.
Vrinda Chadha
The Pallavi was in Misra Sankarabharanam and Ek Taali. Vrinda concluded with the famous Ardhanarishwar composition of Sankaracharya. It was composed in the rare raga Mallika, taal Mallika. Choreography by her guru Ranjana Gauhar was brilliant.
‘Nrithyathi 2017’ was organised by Navaneetham Cultural Trust.
