Passion and perseverance
RUPA SRIKANTH
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Puja Allepalli impressed with her footwork and accurate timing.
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Photo: K.V.Srinivasan.
Puja Allepalli.
It is rather unusual for a well-trained and performing Bharatanatyam dancer to switch dance styles, and start all over again. It requires exceptional persistence and passion. Puja Allepalli is a dancer who has made the switch from the graceful and the rounded Vazhuvoor style to the more linear Kalakshetra style, as it is now called. Her gurus are Ratnam Janardhanan, Nagpur, and Adyar K. Lakshman, Chennai, respectively.
Puja re-learnt the adavus with the help of Pushpa Shankar, senior faculty in Kalakshetra. She was also guided by Bragha Bessell.
This conscientious effort was plainly visible in Puja's recital for Natyarangam. It was there in the proper completion of steps, in the accurate timing, in the impressive footwork and in the mature portrayals. Puja, however, should watch out for that unattractive frontal knee bend that comes from an erroneous stance.
Settled in Denver, Colorado, Puja has started a dance school as well, which will teach Kalakshetra style. With Guru Lakshman at the helm on the nattuvangam along with his son Babu Prasad (mridangam), Rama Rao (vocal) and T.K.Padmanabhan (violin) the music department was well taken care of.
Puja presented the traditional margam format starting with Thodayamangalam instead of the customary Alarippu. The invocation was followed by an enjoyable and crisp Vasantha Jatiswaram in Rupaka tala and a descriptive ragamalika Sabdam, `Tillai Ambalathil,' in Misra Chapu talam. One did wonder at the choice of a Sitaramiah composition, `Nitya Kalyani' in ashtaragamalika, Rupaka talam, in place of the varnam. It is considered a heavy piece on its own and as the fourth item of the evening, it might have been too demanding on both the dancer and the viewer. Its straightforward treatment circumvented the problem of time and length; the brisk and well-rehearsed nritta passages were impressive, but the ode to Goddess Parvathi, depicted without any elaboration or sancharis, was somehow incomplete.
The dancer closed with a dignified delineation of a Husseini (Rupakam) padam by Ghanam Krishnaier, `Netrandi nerathile' and a lively Mohana raga (Rupakam) thillana by Madurai N.Krishnan.
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