A grand spectacle
RUPA SRIKANTH
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Music stole the show in Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala's "Krsna Madhurym."
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SEAMLESS: Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala. Photo: R. Shivaji Rao.
Dance is nothing but visual music. Music is central to any dance presentation and deserves the pride of place. And this is where the Bharatanatyam ballet, "Krsna Madhurym," scored. The production was a grand spectacle with superb music composed and compiled by L. Vaidyanathan and Hariprasad. Dance and stills were only second to the music.
But the flip side of a multimedia presentation is that with so much going there is no room left for artistry. The choreography of Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala and Renjith Babu was restricted to a couple of group dances and to a seamless event flow, which they achieved. In particular, the Karaharapriya composition, "Vandeham," by Professor Ramarathnam and the Kalinga Narthana episode including Oothukadu Venkatasubbier's Gambhira Nattai tillana were visual treats. The Raas Leela was perhaps the most energising group choreography, the simple steps and formations offset by beautiful costumes and lighting.
Parvathi's biggest achievement was her ability to carry the audience with her. The opening note of piety led to Krishna's leelas and from there on to the love between Krishna and Radha before finally returning to devotion and spirituality. Every stage was played out with sufficient depth to appropriate music culled from many sources such as Annamacharya, Kanakadasa, Narayana Thirtha, Bharathiyar, and the Bhagavad Gita.
The introduction of pictures, something an artiste can do without, was done aesthetically and without being intrusive. The quality of pictures , procured from ISKON, made all the difference. The sound balancing and recording were excellent and they brought out the best from the musicians: Hariprasad, vocal, J. Padmanabhan, percussion, L. Nagaraju, violin, A.N. Srinivasan, flute, Bhavani Prasad, veena, and P.R. Venkatasubramaniam, keyboard. Harikatha was by Girija Ramaswami and narration by Jayanthi Subramaniyam.
Parvathi handled her responsibilities on stage and off it with admirable commitment. She was assisted by a supportive group of good dancers. Srikanth adapted himself well to suit the different shades of Krishna's character. Amongst the many roles he performed, Renjith Babu with his acrobatic skills was most striking as Kalinga. The other dancers were: Swarna, Mathura Viswanathan, Preetha Babu, Niranjana, Nalini, Renuka, Divya Prabhakar and Thakshaini.
Justice K.S. Bakthavatsalam, who generated the concept, can rest assured of the success of its dramatisation.
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