Articulate mudras
NISHA M.
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Shobana’s Bharatanatyam recital highlighted her skills as dancer and choreographer.
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Expressive gestures: Shobana.
Virtuosity and boundless energy marked Shobana’s Bharathanatyam recital at Natanagramam, Thiruvananthapuram. Her rich expertise in the art form helped her make the event a memorable one for spectators who thronged the new open-air auditori
um of the Natanagramam. It was an aesthetic amalgamation of visual artistry and scholarship.
After an invocatory piece, a traditional composition in raga Gambeera Natta where the devotee invokes the blessings of the divine through simple adavu patterns, she moved on to ‘Gopalaka paahimam,’ a popular composition of Swati Tirunal in Bouli, set to chapu. Shobana maintained amazing flexibility and expressiveness throughout the presentation of the item. Her nimble footwork and articulate mudras were a pleasure to watch as she became the devotee seeking refuge at the feet of the lord who uses Garuda as his ‘vahana.’
Grace and skill
The next item, in praise of Lord Shanmugha, a composition of Madurai Muraleedharan set to Shanmughapriya and Roopaka tala, was proof of the dancer’s rigorous homework and involvement. She showcased her grace and command over the dance form right from her entry on to the stage. The piece was interspersed with simple jatis. This was set in Raga Shanmughapriya and Roopaka tala.
The actor in Shobana came to fore in a Sringara-based Natakurinji swarajathi in praise of Lord Vishnu, portraying dual planes of emotions – a lovelorn nayika and a devotee in search of the ultimate. The depiction of the nayika’s amorous imagination was aesthetically brilliant while the depiction of the devotee’s ardent wish to unite with the ‘paramathma’ tugged at the heartstrings of viewers as she requests the mediator or the ‘sakhi’ to bring her lord to her.
Next was a lullaby that Shobana raised to a different level with her superb abhinaya and innovative choreography. She showed Yashoda singing a lullaby to Lord Krishna, and she also narrates the story of Lord Rama.
She transported the audience to the world of the epics through her depiction of two incidents from the Ramayana. One was the episode of Sita Swayamvaram and the other was Ahalya moksham.
Shobana effectively laced abhinaya with humour to show the efforts of Sita’s suitors to lift the bow and string it in order to win Sita’s hand. The audience could not stifle their laughter as the princes’ bravado culminated in embarrassment and deflated egos.
Kavadi chintu, a brief but colourful folk dance-based item, was presented with fervour and elegance. Shobana completed the recital with a Swati thillana in Anandabhairavi.
Her accompanying artists complemented her recital. Revathy Kumar from Chennai handled nattuvangam and vocal. Vayala Rajendran (violin), Kannur Jayaprakash (flute), N.Ramakrishnan (mridangam), and Thrissur Krishnakumar (edakka) were the other accompanists. The programme was organised in connection with the birth centenary celebrations of dance maestro Guru Gopinath.
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