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CAPTIVATING Rasa Sanje had enthralling performances

The two annual dance festivals Rasa Sanje 2008 and Samskruthi was conceived and presented by veteran dance Guru Radha Sridhar and seasoned dancer-choreographer and teacher Sathyanarayana Raju respectively at the ADA Rangamandira. The lovers of dance had a sumptuous treat of dance on all the days of the festivals. The curtain of Rasa Sanje 2008 rose with a neat and tidy Bharatanatya recital by Ranjani Iyengar, a prized-disciple of Guru Radha Sridhar. Attractive physique, sincerity of purpose and unending zeal to perform made her rendition of the traditional Todi varna (“Roopamu joochi”) addressed to Lord Brihadeeshwara. She was good in negotiating the artistic and technical elements of the varna.

An NRI and adept exponent of Bharatanatya Indrani Parthasarathy is subtly trained by her mother-Guru Radha Sridhar. Indrani excelled not only as a choreographer par excellence but also as a merited dancer in her dance feature entitled “Neela Madhava”. The feature revolved around the tale of Lord Krishna. Compositions of Annamacharya, Purandaradasa, Uttukkadu Kavi and verses drawn from Jayadeva’s ashtapadi and Bhagavadgita provided the base material for the elaboration. While Indrani was at her best as Yashoda (“Jagadodharana”), young and skilful dancer Ishwarya Nithyananda shone forth in Uttukkadu’s composition. Backed by a rich orchestral support the other dancers Deepa Srinath, Aparna Sastry, Shwetha Nirmal, Ishwarya and Indrani enriched the feature with their sound and seasoned artistry.

Well honed and seasoned artistry of Keerthi Ramgopal made her Bharatanatya recital on the second day of the festival a successful one. A rare “Andala Kauthuvam” (Hamsadhwani) and the explication of the Navaragamalika varna on Shiva brought out the skill and craft of the dancer. Basing on a Tulasi bhajan (“Thumak chalath”), Keerthi drew an enticing picture of child Rama, his beauty and his playfulness.

The well trained disciples of Guru Dr. Maya Rao, Madhu Nataraj Heri, Ramya Nagaraj, Ponnamma Devamma, unfolded the Ganesha Pancharathna shloka in an admirable Kathak vocabulary. The grandeur of the Kathak dance was neatly emphasised through a vachana by Basavanna (“Nadapriya” by Ramya and Janardhanaraja Urs) and the delineation of the teentaal (Kedar, by Deepika Anand and Lakshmamma). Madhu Nataraj Heri was a class apart in enacting and underlining the “Duvidha” (conflict of two minds) of Siddhartha’s wife Yashodhara on the basis of Masti’s poem “Yashodhara”. The programme concluded with a tarana in Des raga.

On the third day of the festival the students of Guru Radha Sridhar evoked the patriotic feelings and graphically presented the glory of Karnataka. Their dance feature expounded the greatness and grandness of our State with textual support drawn from the famous Kannada poem “Enu cheluva naadu”. At the outset, Deepa Srinath and Ishwarya Nithyananda’s unblemished art of Bharatanatya laid a solid foundation for the feature. The other participants Aparna, Divya, Varsha, Supriya and Amoolya changed roles in quicksilver succession in throwing light on the history of Karnataka. Shantharasa’s poem “Rakshisu Karnataka Devi” was a powerful stuff to communicate. The performance by Bhushan-dance-couple from Mysore accounted for mixed results.

The concluding programme of the “Rasa Sanje” dance festival was a highly communicative and befitting Kuchipudi natya by the renowned artiste Kala Krishna. One was dumbfound at his acting-prowess as he impersonated Satyabhama. His personality, looks, beautiful make-up, graceful movements and sensitive abhinaya brought the character of Sathyabhama alive. Accompanied by enriching vocal support from Ramaa Jagannath, Kala Krishna covered the entire stage in exhibiting the intensity of emotions of a pining Sathyabhama yearning for reunion with Lord Krishna.

M. SURYA PRASAD

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