Bhakti bursts forth in all its hues
RUPA SRIKANTH
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Through Daasa Bharatam dancers captured the devotion saint poets poured out in their compositions.
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PHOTOS: R. RAGU, R. SHIVAJI RAO AND K. V. SRINIVASAN.
ARRAY OF EMOTIONS: Jayanthi Subramaniam
`Daasa Bharatham' organised by Natya Rangam at the Narada Gana Sabha Hall recently was a five-day journey through the sacred texts of saint poets from different parts of India. Devotion maybe the same in any language, but its expression acquired a `technicolour dreamcoat' in the hands of the dancers.
While each session was a unique tapestry of poetry, music and dance, some were woven with more creativity.
Mythili Prakash
Sheejith Krishna's presentation on the compositions of Poonthanam in Malayalam, was a well-thought out work with a good balance of dance and drama. ``Kuchela Vruttam" was especially riveting. The adaptation of the `Jnanappana' style of singing with the refrain, ``Krishna Krishna Mukunda Janardhana" punctuating the verses was a masterly stroke that transformed a poignant dramatisation into a powerful one. Sheejith's character change from Kuchela to Krishna only for their encounter was unexpected, hence so impressive.
Short and sweet
The nritta passages enunciated by the hardworking K.R.Lokesh Raj were short and sweet, and fitted into the context well. The orchestration led by the sweet-voiced Jyothishmati was rich and tuneful with Anilkumar, percussion, providing the much- appreciated backing. The other supporting artists were: Bhavaniprasad (veena), Sashidhar (flute), Eshwar Ramakrishnan (violin), Mahesh (edakka and chanda) and Murugan (lights). The resource person was K.S.Latha. The presentation was so evocative, that by the end of his one and a half hour slot, in the concluding `Jnanappana,' Sheejith had the entire auditorium join in the keerthana, `Krishna Krishna.'
Abhang groups were present in large numbers to enjoy the Marathi compositions of Tukaram and Namdev and Uma Namboodripad Sathya Narayanan gave them enough reason to be happy. Dressed aptly in a Nawari sari, complete with a traditional nath on her nose, Uma kept up the devotional quotient in her presentation by punctuating it with well-thought out sancharis of Panduranga. Nandini Anand's sincere intonation and melodic vocalisation made all the difference to the experience. She was supported by skilful artists such as Seetharama Sharma (violin), Devaraj (flute) and Jain (tabla). The resource person was Tukaram Ganapathi Maharaj.
Urmila Sathyanarayanan,
`Anathacha Naatha' composed by Sant Namdev and sung in a haunting Charukesi (Adi), took the pride of place. The music was deeply moving and lent credence to the depiction of Krishnaleela. The lighter style of nritta that she employs suits the racy pace of the bhajana padhathi well, but when it comes to theermanams there ought to be greater grounding. There are also some superfluous mannerisms that come in the way. Vijay Madhavan, nattuvangam, showed his expertise in this piece.
The challenge in studying the works of different poets also lies in the grasping and conveying of their style. In the case of Telugu-poet Pothana, it is the pause in narrative that affects the performing aspect. Urmila Sathyanarayanan, with the help of the resource person, D.Pappu Venugopala Rao, and with her penchant for the dramatic handled this well without losing the thread of the tale. Gajendra Moksham was a descriptive piece, where the setting was as detailed as the characterisations. The scene in swargalokam was especially interesting as everyone stops what they are doing to investigate Lord Vishnu's haste. Urmila's uninhibited role play and Swamimalai Suresh's sincere rendering brought alive these scenes dramatically. The Krishna-Narakasura piece was most notable because of its unique theme. but the celebration of Deepavalli at the end of the fight was overdone with sound effects and sparklers. The latter can be dangerous as well. Urmila's orchestra consisted of: Suresh (nattuvangam and vocal), Kalaiarasan (violin), T.Sashidharan (flute), J.Shankar (mridangam) and Parthasarathy (special effects).
Sheejith Krishna
When taking part in a festival such as this, one is required to ponder over the theme and the expectations. In Mythili Prakash's case, one felt a sense of disappointment simply because such a talented dancer did not give herself any room to explore the bhakti rasa in Narsi Mehta's Gujarathi works. Her presentation was crisp, energetic, lively and beautifully executed, but it needed more silence.
The opening number was a stunning combination of `Vaishnav Janatho' in Misra Khamas and a Sankarabarnam Pallavi, a composition of the late Kelucharan Mahapatra, choreographed as alternating waves of spirituality and rhythm. The music was also sensitively tuned by Harikrishna Kalyanasundaram and sung with feeling by Hariprasad. Adit Narayan (nattuvangam), was subdued where necessary. From the wings, Mythili had the support of G.Gurumurthy (mridangam), T.Sashidhar (flute), Bhavaniprasad (veena), M.S.Kannan (violin) and Aditya Prakash (lights). Saralaben Trivedi was the resource person.
Shijith Nambiar
There were some up and coming dancers who did well under the arc lights. One was Shijith Nambiar, a dancer and a faculty member from Kalakshetra. His offering on `Narayeenam' by Narayana Bhattadri in Sanskrit, tuned by S.Rajaram, was a lesson on sincerity and focus. Under the guidance of the resource person Neelabala Sarma, the dancer and his team of young musicians, Adit Narayanan (nattuvangam), Deepu Nair (vocal), Sheejith Krishna (mridangam), Sashidhar (flute), Bhavaniprasad (veena), Eashwar Ramakrishnan (violin) and Mahesh (chenda and edakka), worked well together in a crisp dramatisation of Narasimha avataaram, Vaamana avataaram and Krishna avataaram.
Obliging the organisers after a last minute hitch, Aishwarya Nityananda, a young collegian from Bangalore and a disciple of Radha Sridhar, presented the Kannada compositions of Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa, with the help of Dr.R.Ganesh. She is a petite, bright-faced dancer, an ideal student with talent and commitment that every Guru would wish for.
Leisurely exploration
The experienced orchestra headed by Radha with Ananth (nattuvangam), Ramesh Chadaga (vocal), Chandrasekar (mridangam) and J.K.Sridhar (violin), took the viewers through a leisurely exploration of some well-known compositions. There was no need for any special effects, because the music and dance by themselves were special. Aishwarya portrayed Lord Siva's feats and Lord Vishnu's miracles graphically in `Chandra chooda,' a composition of Purandarasdasa in ragamalika, Adi talam, and in `Yelliruvano Ranga,' a composition of Kanakadasa in ragamalika, Adi talam. But her portrayal of a mischievous Krishna in Purandaradasa's `Gummana kare yadire' was a highpoint. The recital concluded with the famous `Baro Krishnayya' by Kanakadasa in ragamalika, leaving behind the memory of quiet devotion and dedication.
Chitra Chandrasekhar Dasarathy
Without the help of a resource person, Chitra Chandrasekhar Dasarathy's research and presentation of Kabirdas and Surdas' compositions in Hindi must have been a phenomenal effort. `Vagartha' afforded a glimpse into about seventeen devotional hymns, expressed through simple and lucid abhinaya. Though similar topics had been grouped together, it required a tighter weave or the introduction of a thread or a narrative that could bind the compositions cohesively.
Chitra is a deeply involved dancer with an in-born style, but she limited her scope with the token padartha abhinaya. In this case, less is certainly not the best way. Her musicians helped capture the Hindusthani flavour in the songs. They were: Shankar Shanbogue (vocal), S.P.Balakrishna (mridangam), Fayyaz Khan (sarangi), Jayaram (flute) and Rajeshwari (nattuvangam).
Aishwarya Nithyananda
Though some of the most intense moments in the five-day festival occurred during this presentation, Jayanthi Subramaniam did not bring out her full potential in the handling of the Azhwar and Nayanmar's paasurams and Thevaram verses. With the help of the resource person, M.Vaidyalingam, who had tuned the Thevaram hymns in the original `pann' as well, and K.Hariprasad who had tuned the paasurams, Jayanthi presented the devotional literature with involvement and authority. These devotional songs are no doubt difficult to present, but literal translation can remain only literal. To move audiences, one needs to take the portrayal further. The music department was excellent with: Nandini Anand (vocal), Kalaiarasan (violin), Bhavaniprasad (veena), Nellai D.Kannan (mridangam) and Roja Kannan (nattuvangam).
Uma Namboodripad.
The Natyarangam committee comprising R.Krishnaswami, Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, K.S.Subramanian, S.Janaki, S.Viswanathan, S.Kannan, Kalpakam and Major Gen. A.Balasubramanian, need to be felicitated for their untiring efforts. They had given the dancers new avenues to explore and the rasikas, rich content to enjoy. The introduction of lighting design by Sheejith Krishna was a welcome move, but it was not enough to salvage the tacky stage dιcor.
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