Synchronised movements
AMBILI RAMNATH
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Kalamandalam Leelamma and Krishna Priya blended expertise and aesthetics to present a memorable Mohiniyattom recital.
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Graceful recital: Kalamandalam Leelamma is guru to many dancers.
Kalamandalam Leelamma is guru to many performing artistes of Mohiniyattom. And to watch a guru perform is no small treat. A Mohiniyattom recital by Kalamandalam Leelamma and her daughter Krishna Priya was held under the joint auspices of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Swati Tirunal Sangita Sabha.
As per tradition, the recital began with the invocatory cholkettu in a raga-tala malika, set to music by violinist Vayalar Rajendran. For the main piece, the varnam, Leelamma chose ‘Suma sayaka,’ a well-known composition of Swati Tirunal.
Right balance
This composition gives ample opportunities for exploiting the nritta and nrithya aspects of dance. This version, choreographed by Kalamandalam Sathyabhama, was indeed a piece where pure dance and abhinaya struck the right balance.
In ‘Yahi Madhava,’ the 17th Ashtapadi, eighth sargam, Radha is shown as a Khanditha Nayika. This was what Krishna Priya chose to portray, in the solo number presented by her that evening.
A depiction of Narasimhavataram automatically brings to mind images of ferocity. Yet to seamlessly blend it into a dance form that has lasya as its hallmark, calls for no mean expertise. And at the end of it all, the emotion that was evoked was bhakti. A rare occurrence in a Mohiniyattam repertoire, the piece referred to is ‘Sreeman Narayana,’ a kriti of Annamacharya in Bauli ragam and set to Adi tala. ‘Omana thingal,’ the celebrated lullaby by Irayimman Thampi, followed.
The last number of the evening was a thillana of T.K. Govindaraj, performed by the mother-daughter duo. In Sindhubhairavi raga and set to tisra eka tala, this piece saw perfect synchronisation of movements by the two performers.
The excellent pakkamelam contributed to the success of the recital. Most of the members are senior faculty members of Kalamandalam.
Vocal music was rendered by Kalamandalam Rajeev Kumar. Sivadas on the mridangam, Suresh Namboothiri on the violin and Krishna Kumar on the edakka completed the ensemble.
Nattuvangam was provided by Kalamandalam Nikhila, herself a student of Kalamandalam Leelamma. Held at Karthika Tirunal Theatre, the performance was part of the ICCR’s Horizon Series, which aims at promoting young and promising dancers.
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