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chitra visweswaran's dasavataram - Perfect understanding between music and dance

Bharat Kalachar had always been a favourite platform for all those who are connected to performing arts. Just like one cannot imagine any sweet without sugar, one cannot think of Bharat Kalachar without Mrs. Y G Parthasarathy. Such is her commitment to encourage arts and artistes from any part of the globe! And this in turn brings out the best in the artiste too, as was evident in Chitra Visweswaran's presentation, Dasavataram.

The 75-minute item was handled with ease and efficiency. All the ten incarnations of Vishnu were elaborately dealt with. Jati-s, which are meant to exhibit nritta was utilized for episodic narration. Her orchestral ensemble requires special mention for giving her an excellent support. It was obvious that unlike the regular dance recitals in Chennai with set background music, hers was a extempore presentation. This facilitated her in bringing afore all her skill.

Dignity and Refinement

The performance of the Bangalore-based duo, Kiran and Sandhya Kiran, at Bharat Kalachar stood out for its dignity and refinement. It was a scintillating dance experience from both the dancers. The duo commenced their recital with a Mallari in Gambheeranata, a composition of Kiran himself. This was followed by an excerpt from Aditya Hridayam. Padam ‘Sringapuradheeshwari’ in Kalyani was performed by Sandhya who rendered it with poise and elegance. Lalita Sivakumar’s Padam ‘Kapalini Dayalini’ in Adi tala, Tisra gati was pinned with interesting sanchari-s. But it was the Varnam that brought their full potential. Ramya, a product of their school enhanced the recital by conducting it with perfect coordination with the dancer and the members of the orchestra. Vanathi who sang for them had a rich voice.

Well balanced performance

Preethi Athreya recently performed at the Raja Annamalai Mandram, Chennai under the auspices of Tamizh Isai Sangam. She started brightly with Ramalinga Adigalar’s ‘Petra taai’ instantly followed by the Tisra Alarippu. Varnam (Nrityopaharam) is a composite item that brings to fore the dancer’s ability to handle brisk jati-s and fine facial expressions. The dancer’s level of understanding of the two basic aspects of dance namely nritta and abhinaya can be judged in this number. Preethi chose to perform the Varnam ‘Swami naan undan adimai’ in raga Natakurinji that was a demonstration of her perfect understanding of the above said concepts. The gripping nattuvangam by the doyen guru, Shanta Dhananjayan, well supported by young percussionist Ramesh Babu was a bonus to the audience. The interlude ragas played at the initiation level of every number, sanchari-s, filler and following of the song supporting the vocalists were done by Kalaiarasan (Violin) and Sunil Kumar (Flute) with a level head, each playing their part without any overlap. In the second half of the show, an excerpt from Gopalakrishna Bharati’s Nandanar Charitram and a ninda stuti ‘Edukkittanai Modi’ were handled with refinement. Vocalist Neela gave solid support. The programme reached its momentum in the Behag Tillana.

Lakshmi V N

Posted on February 1st, 2002