With great promise
|
Sathvika's involvement in her repertoire reflected her love for dance, says RANEE KUMAR
|
GRACE PERSONIFIED Sathvika Ranganathan was at her creative best with excellent `abhinaya'.
From the time she took to the stage, Sathvika seemed an engrossed artiste. Be it the prayer on the three aspects of Devi-Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Parvathi or the lengthy Swati Tirunal composition, the young dancer was able to absorb the essence of the verse and express, with an inborn slant for artistic emotion.
This strain was visible throughout her performance, which was staged at Ravindra Bharathi recently.
The Bhavayami Raghuramam piece in seven cantos with appropriate briefing of the chain of events (Ramayana) by Guru Hemamalini Arni, was an aesthetic experience in more than one way. This winding number showed that Sathvika scores on abhinaya with sweet sanchari bhavas at their creative best. The credit for the choreography goes to her guru.
Agility and lithe movements were the artiste's forte for she was able to take up the stage space with ease and ιlan. She graced through complex footwork patterns effortlessly but in executing them seemed to have overlooked certain basics like her arai mandi (at least in certain postures that do call for such a stance).
The composition had brilliant abhinaya sequences like the varied expressions for the line Janaka sudha pranesham, the Maaya Shoorpanaka episode (canto 3) where Sathvika resorts to just eye and body language to convey the coquetry and the Mareecha scene which was marked by fleeting footwork.
Captivating glances
Her sweet upward glances as Hanuman in the later sequence were captivating. The entire Bhavayami went brilliantly but for the absence of a Padmanabha mudra towards the tail end of the song, which was conspicuous by its absence.
Though the word is a signature line of the poet, surely the underlying dedicatory note to the Lord Padmanabha (Kerala's ruling deity) is evident enough to all artistes who chose to sing or dance this piece
Intelligent choice
The Javali in Kamas was an intelligent choice going by the young dancer's experience.
Sathvika in a beautiful magenta and cream costume looked and acted like the impish girl in mock anger, now bashful, now covetous, now in awe and later in devout happiness. Her mobile countenance could mirror varying moods with conviction. The next piece in Yaman Kalyan reiterated her grasp of abhinaya. This is not to say, that Sathvika excelled only on the expression front.
She was equally fast paced and dexterous when it came to footwork though in the course of her teermanam for Bhavayami, the three little jumps working towards the finish certainly marred on the aesthetics.
If Sathvika is bestowed with talent and staying power, Hemamalini Arni's brilliant choreography only served to enhance these traits. Nattuvagam by N.C.H. Raghunandan was feeble while Swetha on the vocals was good as long as she kept herself to the middle octave. Varanasi Bhanuprasad on the mridangam with percussion support by Sridharachari was like compliments to the rhythm. Sai Kumar on the violin and Ravi Kiran on the flute were at their usual best.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
