Brimming with artistic excellence
It is to the credit of the famous Tanjore Quartet that the concert format of Bharatanatya performance got defined. This format has the potential of bringing out the aesthetic and artistic excellence of the dance form. This is popularly known as Marga. In this Marga, presentation of a pada varna occupies an important position. It is an all-pervasive item. Besides bhava, raga, and tala, the dancer's hard work, accomplishment, purity of tradition, hold over laya, the blossoming of nayaka-nayika bhava et al gets exposed.
Young dance-aspirant Manjushree, a talented disciple of Guru Prof. M. R. Krishnamurthy of Kalakshetra fame and the director of Kalakshithi, presented a neat and tidy Bharatanatya recital at the ADA Rangamandira which brimmed with all the above specialties. Notwithstanding a few misses between the nattuvanar and mridangist, Manjushree proceeded undaunted with her renditions. Her stage presence was laudable. Her recital began with a traditional Subrahmanya Kauthuvam (Nata) and trishra alarippu. I was rather surprised to see the jathiswara missing in the agenda.
The familiar Todi varna "Roopamu joochi" addressed to the Lord Tiruvarur Thyagarajaswamy (Shiva) was delineated in detail. The nayika enticed by the beauty and charm of her Lord. She beseeches Him to come to her and fulfil all her desires. Supported by beautifully composed music by Tiger Varadachar, Manjushree was able to capture the essence of the text and bhava of the song.
The nritta, nrithya and abhinaya segments had praiseworthy distribution and nothing was overdone. The dancer's confidence and expertise was remarkable.
She excelled in elaborating "Oorake pakkaku rammante vachchuna" set to Devagandhari raga. Her abhinaya matched some refined and melodious singing of the vocalist Hariprasad of Chennai. Jayadeva's Ashtapadi "Raase Haririva" was yet another match-winner.
Aranya Narayan (nattuvanga), Hariprasad (vocal), Dr. Natarajamurthy (violin), Mahesh (flute), R. Ramesh (mridanga) and K.C. Nagaraja Sastry (assistance) contributed positively to the success of the recital.
M. SURYA PRASAD
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