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Innovative choreography: Kalamandalam Hymavathy widened the Mohiniyattom repertoire in the lullaby category.

‘Tharaattu Thrayam,’ choreographed and staged by Kalamandalam Hymavathy at Koothambalam of Kalamandalam Deemed University for Art and Culture, was a successful attempt to widen the Mohiniyattom repertoire in this category.

The choreographer’s ingenuity was discernible from her selection of poets and their works. Balamani Amma’s ‘Thottilattum jananiye,’ Irayimman Thampi’s ’Omana thinkal kidavo’ and Vallathol’s ‘En kunjurangikkolkente thankam’ were the poems that were choreographed by the danseuse.

‘Thottilattum Jananiye,’ with which the recital opened, has a near-theatrical touch as it portrays the antics of a toddler as his mother tries to put his baby sister to bed. The little boy rushes home after play to see his baby sister. He wants to rock the cradle and fondle the baby. He is annoyed when his mother prevents him. The poet asks the mother to console the child and accede to his request. Finally, the boy gets his way and the baby is put back in the cradle only after he is allowed to hold his baby sister.

This recital was followed by the mesmerising verses of ‘Omanathinkal kidavo.’ Irayimman Thampi’s lines describe the charms of a new-born baby by comparing it to the most beautiful things in the world. Although the child is being rocked in the cradle, not even once does the word ‘sleep’ occur in the poem. Hymavathy has made the best use of this by interpreting the lyrics through bewitching abhinaya.

The last piece depicted Vallathol’s ‘En kunjurangikkolkente thankam,’ which is the only poem of the lot that actually talks about helping a baby to sleep. The choreography was noteworthy as the three poems were skilfully dovetailed to convey a sort of continuity. While the first poem was invoked to bring in an element of drama, the second one described the beauty of the baby in the cradle and the third one gently helped the baby to sleep.

Eight dancers did an excellent job of supporting Hymavathy. The solo interpretation of the lyrics was captivating. The music, scored and aesthetically rendered by O.K. Ambika, included ragas such as Anandabhairavi, Hamsanandi, Sindhubhairavi, Kalyanavasantham and Madhyamavathy for the first poem. Thampi’s verses were scored in Kurinchy itself. The third poem was essayed in Neelambari.

Rajivkumar (vocal), Krishnakumar (mridangam), Vayala Rajendran (violin), Muralikrishna (veena) and Unnikrishnan (edakka) were the accompanists. The dancers included Lakshmi, Lathika, Manju, Nimmi, Raji, Ramya, Soumya and Tina Raj, all students of Kalamandalam.

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