Masterly moves
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Vasundhara Doraswamy's performance at the Kinkini Dance Festival was extraordinary
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CROWNING GLORY Comprehensive understanding of choreography and music
Kinkini Dance Festival 2010 commenced with a Bharatnatya recital by B.R Vindhya, winner of the Yuva Prathibha award. She commenced her recital with a sloka “Maha Ganapathi” set to raga Gambhira Nata in khanda chapu tala.
Gratifying
Moving onto a varnam from Tanjore Quartet set to raga Bhairavi in aditala, the dancer concluded her recital with a Devarnama, after a padam portraying an abhisarika nayika gratifyingly.
However, the best performance of the evening was by Vasundhara Doraswamy – one of the senior most dancers and a foremost exponent of the Pandanallur genre of Bharatnatya. Her precision and mastery in perfection of execution which is elicited with her methodical training in yoga will make a young dancer envious to the meticulousness with which she executes her performance.
The dancer commenced her recital with an unusual composition “Melaprapti” which after the initial invoking musical score in an aesthetic rendition of raga Revathi, moved on to raga Arabhi in sankirna chapu tala with the dancer executing adavus through an embellishment of critical jathis in an awesome manner.
Using the sound of an edakkya through rhythmical drum pads to incite a suitable rasa during the execution of raga Revathi, speaks of the dancer's engagement with music. Moving onto a padam “Maha Deva Shiva Shambho” of Thanjavur Sridhar Aiyer, the dancer's choreography of the jathis to bring out the tandava aspect of Lord Shiva with various poses of Lord Nataraja along with the “Ardha Lalatatilakam” one among the 108 karanas with the nattuvanar's awesome voice intonation and modulation to accomplish the desired rasa definitely requires a standing ovation.
Vasundhara's body and the kinetics are always in a tenacious control and her dance can be redefined as an “aesthetic art”.
Praiseworthy
The crowning piece of her Bharatnatya repertoire was the execution of Subbudu's Valachi varnam set to aditalam. Commencing with a lightning thunder from the charanam, the dancer's neat and finely drawn circular adavus, the teermanams, the charis cumulated with the various complex permutation and combination of the jathis, aesthetically interwoven keeping in mind the proscenium space is definitely praiseworthy.
The piece de resistance of the evening was Vasundhara's Varamu Thillana, a composition of Nagamani Srinath set to aditala befitting the grand finale of the first day's programme with the sahitya revolving around the story of Sri Kanakadasa's vision of Udupi Krishna.
Vasundhara had conscientiously used the stage décor to bring with efficacy Lord Krishna turning towards his bhakta.
Vasundhara's earnest desire to unite with the paramatma was so obvious that the desired rasa even engulfed the rasikas who were watching her performance.
PRABAL GUPTA
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