| NEWS - VIEWS - REVIEWS |
| Dance treat to the great composer |
| In connection with the birthday of the great composer Tyagaraja, one among the celebrated trinity of Carnatic music, which falls on Bahula Panchami, people offer their homage all over the world. The celebration is unique as musicians join together and sing the Pancharatnas of the master-composer. These celebrations have inspired many gurus in the dance field too. Recently guru Krishnakumari Narendran paid her tribute to this divine lyricist and music composer. By her wonderful choreography of the selected compositions of Tyagaraja, she thrilled the packed audience at the Music Academy Mini Hall, Chennai. Various compositions of Tyagaraja were beautifully woven into a mini-thematic presentation titled ‘Natya Samarpanam’ performed by her disciple Nritya Jagannathan. ‘Sri Ganapatini' in raga Sowrashtra was the first number in the day’s agenda, where Nritya briskly entered with a brisk jati. Lilting compositions such as ‘Nagumomu’ (Abheri), ‘Tavadasoham’ (Punnagavarali) and ‘Endaro Mahanubhavulu' (Sriragam) were handled with great care, pinned with apt sancharis. Not only the choreography but the reverberating nattuvangam and lively compering by Krishnakumari need special mention. The apt orchestration with experts like Girija Ramaswamy (vocal) and Radha Bhadri (vocal), Srinivasan (flute), Nagaraju (violin) and Padmanabhan (mridangam) made ‘Natya Samarpanam’ a real audio-visual treat to the rasikas. Due credit to both the vocalists for the clear diction in singing those numbers. Srinivasan and Nagaraju also share the credit for their perfect following of the song plus their solos during the sancharis. Nritya rose well up to the expectations of the guru as well as the rasikas in bringing forth the desired expression of the composer live in the form of dance. The well-defined part played by each member of the orchestra added colour to the show in entirety. Lakshmi V N |
| Posted on 20th February 2001 |
|
|