An enviable performance
Smitha Madhav
CONSIDERING DR. Krishna Raman's recommendation of wooden flooring for dancers at this season's Natya Kala Conference, Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha's beautiful stages come as a bonus for those performing there. One such beneficiary was Smitha Madhav, a disciple of Rajeshwari Sainath and a law student from Hyderabad, who performed in the sabha's Bharatham Festival.
Smitha Madhav's dance performance at Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, proved that this tireless dancer, disciple of Rajeswari Sainath, has the potential for much more considering the benefits of good tutelage, an athletic form and an expressive face. Nevertheless, displaying good concentration and an easy familiarity with the items presented, Smitha kept her audience spellbound through out. A crisp Hamsanaadam opening penned by Kavi Kannan in praise of Lord Ganapathy gave Smitha an opportunity to display her talent.
On Lord Muruga
The varnam composed by Madurai T. (geetha) Sethuraman, "Aadum mayilmel varuvaan" in Sudha Dhanyasi ragam, Adi taalam, continued the brisk tempo and the devotional fervour, this time towards Muruga, with the two expert dancer-nattuvanars Amaram Geetha and Sangeetha steering the way.
Anecdotes on Muruga's persona and His life were outlined skilfully, notable among them being the battle with Soorapadman. In the Pallavi, "Thanthaike mandhirathai sonnavan," the imagery of Muruga locking Brahma up for not knowing the meaning of the Pranava - Om, and later explaining it to his father, Siva, as a guru would to a sishya, was possibly the best that evening. The vibrant theermanams accompanying these stories were characterised by excellent eye movements, good azutham, an enviable sense of balance, and an agility that allowed for easy execution of even the sarukkal and mandi adavus in a faster tempo. But Smitha's movements need to be more centred with respect to the overuse of the torso while the finishing in footwork requires more clarity. Natteri Narayanan on the mridangam was supportive throughout, while Pathanjali on the flute and Veeraraghavan on the violin provided fine melody. Murali Parthasarathy, the vocalist who could boast of good diction, was disappointing on many an occasion.
Despite this drawback, Smitha's delineation of Krishna's pranks, when he was a child, in the Ambujam Krishna kriti in Kapi ragam, "Chinna chinna paadam" came across with enough tenderness. A different composition, "Punnai mara nizhalil," composed by Lalitha in Anandavalli ragam, brought to life the mesmerising effect of `pokiri' Krishna's flute, as described to Radha. This talented dancer finished with a lively Chandrakauns tillana in Adi talam, a composition of Madurai Sethuraman.
RUPA SRIKANTH
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