Poetry in motion
RANEE KUMAR
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Swapna Sundari's recital was full of abhinaya' and `ahaarya'.
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TWINKLE TOES Swapna Sundari
The zest and zeal to save the ancient temple dance from total extinction like that of its practitioners is what makes Swapna Sundari a class apart from the rest of her tribe. The Vilasini Nrityam as she terms it, is not some loose dancing style with lewd overtones. On the other hand it is a highly intricate, cast in the classicist mode with rich repertoire of song/verse, footwork, gestures and emotive expression. And underlying this is the deep sense of dedication--more spiritual than mundane in nature.
A brief on the ritualistic mode of dance like the choornika followed by the pallavi set to a raga and varied rhythm structure (taala gati), Swapna Sundari went through the Pushpanjali, which in itself was simply marvellous. She is a dancer who can sing in the most melodic tones which is no mean achievement as is continued her footwork. The entire lot of hastha mudras (dance gestures) were displayed in quick succession to swara-based jatis.
The artiste was full of swing and grace with beautifully carved out teermanams.
The statuesque stances were reminiscent of murals in motion.
Swapna Sundari dances with ease and ιlan. Even the erotic sense takes a spiritual dimension in her delineation through song and movement.
The lengthy varnam (one of the five varnams popularised by temple dancers of coastal Andhra) was a superb recreation of old world charm.
It had all the inputs of the temple dance-the use of exceptional abhinaya (gestures and eye language) to depict an emotion with varied meanings in myriad ways, the compact yet complex footwork running through all the speed cycles, song set to classical Carnatic format, slightly exaggerated ahaarya, super fine body kinetics that can take in diverse talam (beat) with equal dexterity.
Dotting the length of song and dance with a series of unique jatis gave an added edge to the presentation.
The dancer was able to recreate this highly aesthetic and esoteric dance form in all its finesse that at the end the audience is left with a sort of inner joy (rasaanubhoothi in art parlance) that stays on long after the show is over.
Epithets fail to assess the nature and beauty of Thanjavur Kesavan's nattuvangam.
He was brilliance personified. His command over the long complex jatis was superb. K.V. Mohan was melodic on the vocals.
Sreedharacharya could not keep pace to the expertise of the dancer though in his own right he is a perfect mridangam player. Murali on the bamboo and Shiva on the violin were just fine.
The presentation staged at Sundarayya Kala Bhavan was Swapna Sundari's tribute to her guru, late Smt Maddula Lakshmi Narayana (a temple dancer), which in itself is commendable.
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