Moving enactment of Meera's tale
Srekala Bharath
FOR ABOUT 70 minutes, Srekala Bharath brought the audience of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Kalapradarshini under her spell by telling the moving story of Bhakta Meera Bai in a beautiful dance narrative that left every rasika in an ecstatic mood. The storyline had been formed with the songs composed by Dr. Rukmini Ramani, daughter of the illustrious Papanasam Sri Sivan and herself a musician. The songs revealed a deep emotional quality that was apt for the underlying element of Bhakti and the solo dance concept, exquisitely handled by Srekala.
It requires enormous insight on the part of the solo presenter to visualise the entire theme to be conveyed in an effective manner, like on this occasion. Srekala was very successful in achieving this. The amount of hard work that has gone into this work and her total commitment deserve to be applauded. Apart from the songs of Rukmini Ramani, Srekala had aptly chosen the songs of Meera Bai and Kalki Krishnamurti to enrich the situations. The story dealt with the early chilhood of Meera, her deep devotion to Lord Krishna, Meera as Maiden, her marriage with the ruler of Mewar, her steadfast surrender at the feet of the Lord and the developments thereafter and the final scenes of the ruler accepting the Supreme devotion of Bhakta Meera, all linked up beautifully. Srekala's strength to sustain and live through the theme was extraordinary. She portrayed the different roles with great acumen and exhibited her years of training in the varied aspects of Natya. There was never a dull moment in the dance narrative. With the songs coming one after the other so swiftly, it was visual poetry. Srekala's depiction of Meera as a maiden (Paruvam-Behag) and as a prisoner (Tavachalai-Siraichalai-Begada) were especially noteworthy for it was a fine example of the blend of the three wings of Tamizh — Mutthamizh.
Chitrambari Krishnakumar played a vital role with mellifluous singing. Even the rendition of the Bhajans and ``Katrinile," the evergreen melodies of M. S. Subbulakshmi were exact in quality and melody. Latha Shamsuddin, the young lady in charge of Nattuvangam, has tremendous potential to shine with her crystal clear approach to recitation of the rhythmical patterns that were inter-woven beautifully to the dance narration. Muruganandam (violin), Ramesh (flute) and Dhananjayan (mridangam) enriched the production to a great extent.
Chaste Vazhuvur style
A vibrant performance by Lavanya Ananth, senior disciple of K. J. Sarasa, brought out the striking features of the Vazhuvur Bani, captured in all its beauty and splendour. Lavanya is a talented dancer with a charming stage presence, and an expressive face. Firm footwork, result of hard work, and composure in approach were on display that evening.
After the invocatory piece, the dancer proceeded with the masterpiece, the Useni Swarajati about which the debate is on — with regard to its lyrical content (one version addressing a patron king and the other the deity of Unnatapuri-Melattur, Sri Varadaraja), and the What, however, came as a sort of surprise was Lavanya's announcement attributing to Rukmini Devi, the incorporation of the Sahitya addressing the deity in the place of the patron king (as per the version of Melattur Venkatrama Sastri). Also, the deity Sri Varadaraja, and the place Achyutaabdhi, already exist in the version of Melattur Veerabhadrayya, forerunner for the Useni Swarajati format. Lavanya presented this composition with ample skill. Her sancharis glorifying the deity, the all-compassionate Vishnu with apt episodes and lively narration revealed dedication. The ringing Ri-Ri section came out beautifully in the choreography of Sarasa, with Lavanya dancing with vigour. The Arudis were spirited and gave a fitting conclusion to the vibrant Charana swaras. Sarasa, assisted by her student Ramya, rendered excellent support, assisted ably by Girja Ramaswamy (vocal), M. S. Kannan (violin) and solid accompaniment from Dhanajayan (mridangam).
The post-varnam section had a lively Padam and the Kanada Tillana of Poochi Iyengar, revealing Lavanya's penchant for abhinaya and Nritta. Thottu thottu pesa,
(Padam) and the enchanting Tillana beautifully highlighted the choreography of the veteran Vazhuvur Ramiah Pillai, reminding one of the brilliant performance of these pieces by the renowned Kamala Lakshman in the past.
NANDINI RAMANI
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