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Sheer Grace Alarmel Valli weaving her magic

As homage to T. Muktha (granddaughter of Veenai Dhanammal and the last of that legendary family to leave this world on March 11 this year), Alarmel Valli’s performance in the packed IIC auditorium in New Delhi comprised padams and javalis from the great musical bani that the Brindamma/Mukthamma sisters represented, which found its greatest visualised dimension in the abhinaya of Balasaraswati.

A demanding tradition to emulate, the music of the Dhanammal school in its measured mellowness combined uncompromising classical purity with clarity of diction, and melody modulating rich emotional overtones — the totality enmeshing with the dance to create an aural/visual experience where the music painted images in the mind’s eye and the dance became sheer music.

Savita Narasimhan’s delightful vocal support combined exquisite melody with an austere sophistication in keeping with the Brinda/Muktha style.

Without any fussy fulsome introductions, the recital began to the melting notes of Charukesi singing “Anaittum nee”, from the paripaadal of Madhurakavi, the dance portraying that unifying, divine cosmic principle manifesting in every aspect of the cosmos — the heat of the fire, the brightness of the sun, the essence of the Vedas or the virtue in valour.

The sringar representation began evocatively with the defiant tones of raga Begada in “Yaarukkaagilum Bhayama”, the nayika contemptuous of societal gossip about her unorthodox liaison with the valorous chieftain, the enduring relationship ‘not brittle like the drumstick branch’.

In the Dharmapuri Subbaraya Aiyar javali in Paras, “Smarasundaranguni sari evvare”, light brushstrokes of nritta illustrated beautifully the confident swaadheenapatika basking in the assured love of a smitten lover. Very different and moving in its ability to hold each loaded moment in time/space, was the Kshetrayya padam in Kambodhi, “Adi Okka Yugamu”, the haunting slowness of ati-vilambit music/dance expressing the agony of anticipation in the now jilted nayika harking back to those halcyon days.

The least convincing number for this critic was the Kalyani “Entati Kuluke”, the nayika disapproving of the crude behaviour of the nayaka. The fitting ragamalika finale in Pillai Tamizh “Kantiamman” saw the devotee’s motherly yearning for Kantiamman transform to the child’s call for the mother “Varuga Varuga.”

Different from the usual Krishna adoration, it was Kuchipudi with a Siva focus by Payal Ramchandani performing under the Baithak series of Legends of India, at the IIC. Now under the training of Jaya Rama Rao and Vanashree Rao, the dancer was foot-sure whether in the khanda jati gait in Shivashtakam or in the 9,7,5,3,4 rhythmic combinations showing Madana’s entrance in Madana-dahana or in the “Shiva Shiva Bhava” tarangam in Surutti with the plate dance.

One sensed an inner tension at times. Greater internalisation with more stylised than realistic expressions is what Payal’s dance needs.

Despite K. Venkateswaran’s strained vocal cords and Guru Rama Rao’s odd forgetfulness amidst perky nattuvangam, the music was competent.

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