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IMAGINATIVE CHOREOGRAPHY BY ANITA GUHA
    

The students of Bharatanjali recently presented a dance feature titled 'Sarvam Saktimayam' at the Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai. The theme, extracted from Kenopanishad that treats Goddess Adiparashakti as the prime power, was presented in a very neat manner.

The scene opens with the pompous entry of the Devas along with Indra, who see a flash coupled with a voice from heaven asking them to give up their pride and boastfulness. They treat the voice as their invisible enemy and get ready to fight the same. The enemy sends a blade of grass and challenges them. Vayu, Agni and Varuna individually give a try to destroy the blade grass sent by the unknown creator but they fail. The final try happens to be a joint venture but they land up facing only disappointment. Fitting music bits for the above sequences were real treat. Satvika and Medha Hari were at their best in their presentation. The unknown enemy then emerges and reveals herself as Goddess Adiparashakti. The appearance of Adiparashakti with multiple hands, as also the emergence of  the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara) along with their consorts were brilliantly represented. Charanya Narayanaswamy as Indra proved to be an excellent choice.

Sarvam Shaktimayam by the students of Bharatanjali
    
The second half of the feature included interesting dance sequences by Goddess Saraswati, Goddess Lakshmi and Shiva-Parvati. The Shiva-Parvati (Ardhanari) dance sequence was the most exclusive one with two dancers sharing every dance movement. Their perfect sync added beauty to the entire sequence. The choreography of this sequence proved the genius of guru Anita Guha. The whole feature stood on the solid base of simple yet sweet Tamil lyrics coupled with musical interludes to suit the situation. Kudos to the keyboard artiste P R Venkatasubramanian for his lively lyrics and music. The 60 minutes' play was a wholesome feast for the eyes and ears of the rasikas.

All participants (especially the tiny ones playing smaller roles) did a good job by bringing out the imaginative choreography of their guru live on stage. The credit of staging and conducting a 30-plus member team of young dancers goes in entirety to guru Anita Guha. Her vocal rendition, with bhava and clear diction, added to the success of the show. She was well supported on the vocal by Girija Ramaswami. J Padmanabhan (mridangam), Sankaranarayanan (flute), P R Venkatasubramanian (keyboard) and Revati Sankkaran as compere were the others who share the credit.

Lakshmi Kannan
    

Posted on May 9, 2003
    

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