Abhinaya steals the show
KAUSALYA SANTHANAM
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DANCE Swapnasundari presented `Vilasini Natyam,' dance of the Telugu Davadasis, in captivating style.
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EXPRESSIVE: Swapna Sundari
Her abhinaya held the audience spellbound. Through her finely nuanced performances, dancer Swapnasundari made audiences in Chennai experience ``an art form that retains its purity as it had remained frozen in time and the memory." Swapnasundari, well versed in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, has been deeply involved for the past 10 years in researching the dance of the Telugu devadasis. Seeking out its traditional practitioners, she learnt about it in depth and has adapted it to the concert format. The late poet-historian, Dr. Arudra supported her efforts and named this style of dance ``Vilasini Natyam."
On April 6, she performed at the Narada Gana Sabha mini hall. The programme was presented by Natya Rangam, the dance wing of the sabha which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The recital was preceded by a crisp video presentation that explained the genesis of the form and Swapnasundari's uncovering of the various aspects of a once vibrant tradition that came under a cloud after the abolition of the dedication of Devadasis to temples in 1947. The genre had a vast repertoire that encompassed the temple, court and the public entertainment (theatrical) traditions.
Before the performance, Swapnasundari said it took months to comprehend the abhinaya methodology. She also pointed out how the devadasis retained their mellifluous singing and how the various moods of conjugal love find frank expression in their art. Explaining that the lines of sahitya are broken up not by musical phrases but by images suggested by the words, she added that manodharma is vital and there is no planning at all. The attributes of a nayaka are taught, and stored as ``artistic arsenal" to be used appropriately.
She went on to perform a padam that has not been notated but is present only in the oral tradition. The khandita nayika flays the nayaka with her eyes and expressions when he knocks on her door at an unearthly hour with tell tale marks of betrayal and asks him to go back to his beautiful beloved.
Padams are done seated by the dancer while the javali is performed standing and is embellished with snatches of nritta, said Swapnasundari following the authentic format.
The next padam ``Oka saari ke" was much more explicit. The dancer pointed out how bhakti and rakti are dealt with equal passion and abandon by the devadasi and rati hastas are used freely. She used some of the 45 rati hastas during the course of the song.
In ``Aasa paduku po ra," the javali that followed, the woman, presumably a devadasi, berates the man who is trying to lure her through wealth and his personable looks. But she is foresworn and will have none of it. Her abhinaya was enjoyable when she described the consequences that would befall the suitor if the one she was promised to, came to hear of it.
The last song, ``Atthavaaru nannu piluva...," offered more familiar ground for the viewers.. ``This is the most popular javali in the Telugu devadasi tradition," said the dancer. It expressed the anguish of the gopika who was married as a child and has to now leave her playmate and beloved, Krishna, to travel to the home of her in-laws. The vignettes of child marriage woven into the song by Swapnasundari captured the innocence and the playfulness of the young bride. Swapnasundari's abhinaya throughout the evening was at once subtle and captivating, the expressions chased across her face in kaleidoscopic splendour.
The next day's performance at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan presented by the Bhavan's Kala Kendra and Kala Pradarshini in collaboration with the dancer's Kuchipudi Dance Centre, Delhi, dealt mainly with the bhakti compositions. Swapnasundari explained how the rounded softness of the movements, the use of the wrists, the double stroke of the heel and the kinkini sound are characteristic features of this form. She performed an elaborate varnam in Bhairavi dedicated to Lord Siva. ``Parijatham" provided a fitting finale to the programme in which the vocal support came from Shweta with Thanjavur Kesavan on the mridangam, Mohan Vaidya (nattuvangam), M. S. Kannan (violin) and Bhagyalakshmi on the flute. A remarkable aspect of the programme was the manner in which the dancer sang mellifluously while performing.
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
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Thiruvananthapuram
