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DANCE EXTRAVAGANZA IN CHENNAI
Only Leela Sekhar could organise a two day extravaganza insuch a way that the entire dance world turned up to perform as well asparticipate. This programme was a joint venture of International Dance AllianceLimited (IDA), The Music Academy, Madras, and Association of BharatanatyamArtistes of India (ABHAI). Titled Nritya Mala, it was a true integration of performing artistes irrespective of the inhibitions ofbani and dance forms. There were no solo presentations and each group was offered only eighteen minutes to showcase theirtalent. Dancers from various corners of the nation thronged the TTK Auditoriumof Music Academy, Chennai. After a crisp inaugural ceremony, themuch-awaited moment came.
The artistes of Chidambaram Academy of Performing Artsdirected by Chitra Visweswaran were the first to appear on stage. The themewas ‘Gnanadata Tvam Vande’ which was a wonderful choice to commencethe programme with.This was a finest mark of reverence for the Guru. The choreography by theartiste was worthy of appreciation and she was well supported by the team comprisingRVisweswaran (Vocal), Kousalya Srinivasan (Nattuvangam), Sudhaman (Mridangam),Saravanan (Flute), Veeramani (Violin) and Parthasarathy (Special effects).
Bangalore Padmini Ramachandran's Natya Priya was the next totake the stage with their theme ‘Navarasa Nayaka’, listing the episodes fromthe Siva Leela that led to the emergence of the Navarasa-s or the nineexpressions from the cosmic dancer. Navia, Shilpa and Kirti did full justice tothe piece. The Varnam ‘Aadavane’ singing the glory of Surya the SunGod, a composition of Madurai R Muralidharan was performed by students ofNrityakshetra. It was in raga Revati, set to the unusual Chaturasra jati DhruvaTala. It was unique in its own way, highlighting the splendour ofSurya, the source of heat and light for the entire world, whichultimately means life itself.
Then the students of Ganesha Natyalaya presented Sivananda Natyam, which comprised aPuspanjali, the song ‘Bho Shambo’and a Swaramala as the concluding piece. The dancers could have useda better quality of tape, which would have given their performance an extraboost. The journey to the heavens by Swarnamalya Ganesh and troupe was enjoyednot only by the knowledgeable but also by the common mass. The male dancers in her troupe did areally good job. It was a perfect blend of the Carnatic and Western music.
The last slot of the first day was offered to Sreejith Krishna, Kavitha Ramuand others. The slot was titled ‘Iduvum Aduvum’ with lyrics written bythe multi talented Revathy Sankkaran of TV fame. The concept of pairs in everyaspect of life like joy-sorry, man-woman, white-black was presented by them. It was noted that in allthe presentations, except the firstand the final, the dancers used only recorded music.
The second day began withthe title ‘Triumbike’, a Jugalbandi featuring Sailaja (Bharatanatyam), UmaMurali Krishna (Kuchipudi) and Roja Kannan (Mohiniattam). The very thought ofjugalbandi made the audience look forward to a blending of all three styles butthough all three dancers were perfect in their respective styles the programmeturned out to be a mere shared solo presentation. Except in the beginning and atthe end, the rasikas could not see them together on the stage.
‘Talattu’presented by the students of film actress Shobana was a sharp contrast to theearlier slot. In this presentation, the audience could witnessed youngdancers (right from tiny tots to grown ups) in a number greater than thestage could actually accommodate! Thanks to her senior students for trainingthose kids. She carried the audience to the key episodes in Ramayana such as ‘Tataka Vadham’, Ahalya Shapam - vimochanam, Seeta Kalyanam and so on,but there was hardly any content to justify the title, Talattu (lullaby).One felt that just ‘Ramayana’ would have sufficed.
‘Sadbhavana and Aakar’featuring Madhu Natraj Heri, Shabari, Mysore Nagraj and others was a combinedeffort of Maya Rao and Madhu. Amit Heri’s music blending jazz and classicalmusic for the two items ‘Aakar‘ and Tarana gave enough scope for thedancers to choreograph items using martial arts, yoga and Kathak.
Dancers fromBharatanjali under the able direction of Anita Guha presented ‘Tathastu’which was a touch of class. The unmatched choreographic skill of AnitaGuha was worth appreciating. The swaras for Sani had the notes Sa and Ni, whichrightly insisted on the importance of the character Sani (Saturn). All dancers didwell but Medha Hari, the youngest of all, as Muruga, gained unanimousappreciation for her neat presentation of the nritta piece offered to her.Thanks to the lyricist and music composer P R Venkata Subramanian for the aptchoices for this presentation.
‘Chandrodayam’ by Manjari and troupebrought out the beauty of the moonrise. The music score for the piece was doneby C V Chandrasekhar. Shri Jaya Aruna Dance troupe performed the Tillana, whichwas a fitting finale of the day and the fest as well. The composition of TanjaiUpendran was handled with care.
A MOTHER-DAUGHTER DANCE FESTIVAL?
Bharat Kalachar has always been the favouriteplatform for both upcoming and established artistes. They are known for theirinnovative and unique ideas. The recent Janani - Putri fest organised by themwas the talk of the town. The fest was aimed to bring the mother-daughtercombination on the same platform. The final day was shared by Uma Sriram(Mother) and Gayatri Kannan (daughter), disciples of Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam.
Commencing with the invocation to the Gods, theymoved to present ‘Paadaaravindame en Aadhaaram’, a composition ofMeenakshi Subrahmanyam in raga Sriranjani. The Dasavatara Varnam remained themainstay in which the incarnation of Vamana and Narasimha were dealt withelaborately by Gayatri and Uma respectively. Both mother and daughter broughtthe characters live on stage. The ninda stuti ‘Ettaikandu Icchai Kondaai’(Kalyani Tamil Padam) and the song ‘Munnam Avarudaya Naamam Kettal’were a real treat for the day. The choreography mirrored the maturity of the dancersin abhinaya. Both the numbers were about Lord Siva wherein, the nayika ismocked for having chosen a man who is a beggar, who wears snakes as hisornament, and a river on his head. A Dhrupad instead of the usual Tillana wasgave the right finishing touches for the day and for the fest as well.
Both the dancers have imbibed the matchless style(Bharata Nrityam) of their guru in all its grandeur. Their careful way of handlingevery movement demonstrated their devotion for this divine art. Dr. PadmaSubrahmanyam's Nattuvangam was yet another treat to the rasikas of Chennai. Evena heavy downpour did not deter people from attending the programme in largenumbers. Along with Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, Vijaya and Lakshmi (Vocal), Sudhaman(Mridangam), Kannan (Ghatam), Babu (Violin), and Tyagarajan (Flute) formed anexcellent orchestral ensemble.
On the first day Roja Kannan and her daughterJanani shared the stage while on the second day it was the turn of SundariSantanam and her daughter Harini Santanam. Seeing an overwhelming response, Mrs.Y G Parthasarathy announced that the Janani-Puthri Fest would be an annual eventhereafter!
Lakshmi V N
Posted on 3rd August 2001
