Mohiniyattom fete makes a mark
G.S. PAUL
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The second edition of the five-day Mohiniyattom festival at Irinjalakuda was a grand success.
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VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCES: Recitals staged as part of the festival were a treat to the audience. Photo: K.K. Najeeb
Among the institutions teaching dance in Kerala , Natanakaisiki, Irinjalakuda, has been a trendsetter since its formation in 2005. Last year, the organisation had conducted a festival of Mohiniyattom. The second edition of this festival, which was held last week, had many interesting features.
Noteworthy features
Natanakaisiki invited the troupe of the Ernakulam-based Dharani School of Dance for performance and discussions on the dance form. Led by the director of Dharani, Shyamala Surendran, a team of young performers, including boys, spent the whole day at Irinjalakuda discussing, demonstrating and presenting their own choreography.
`Thathwamasi' by Dharani was noteworthy. Choreographed by Shyamala, it portrayed the story of Ayyappa. Apart from the choreographer, the dancers included Anitha, Neema, Soumya, Rajesh, Sunil, Sujith and Midhun.
Another notable attraction was the presentation of `margam' that is almost extinct on the Mohiniyattom stage. The original format of cholkettu, jathiswaram, padam, kirtanam and tillana presented in that order was a novel experience to the audience as it could bring out the elegance of the dance form and the artistry of the dancers as well. In this connection, the cholkettu staged by the French dancer Corinne Mathou was a treat to the eye. Her virtuosity in the delineation of the subtle movements that is unique to this feat and a keen sense of rhythm were evident during her performance.
A praiseworthy aspect of training at Natanakaisiki is the emphasis it lays on folk dances. The syllabus includes a detailed study and practice of Thiruvathirakkali. In the past, only the best danseuses were permitted to perform Mohiniyattom. The others performed a Thiruvathirakkali towards the denouement of a Mohiniyattom recital. Students moved on to the classical art form from this folk dance.
On the third day of the festival, students of Natanakaisiki presented major traditional folk dance forms, including Ganapathy, Saraswathy, Kummy, Kurathi and Vanchi. Umadevi, Sandhra, Anaghasree, Sangitha, Anagha, Sudharma, Paevathy, Prafulla and Iswarya participated.
`Kamadahanam,' an earlier choreography of Nirmala Panicker based on Kalidasa's `Kumarasambhavam,' was also staged on the last day.
Sneha Sreekumar and Corrine attempted only the `Baala kreeda' of this saptham.
Musicians like Kalamandalam Jayaprakash (vocal), Kalanilayam Prakasan (maddalam), Sree Visakhan (flute) and P. Nandakumar (edakka) also contributed to the success of the festival.
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