Makes a point with abhinaya
ANJANA RAJAN
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Aparna was sprightly, Bhargavi's strength was her footwork and Rajeswari Sainath explored multiple themes.
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Photos: R. Shivaji Rao.
SPIRITED PERFORMANCE: Aparna Ramaswamy.
Young Aparna Ramaswamy, a disciple of veteran Bharatanatyam dancer Alarmel Valli, gave a sprightly performance at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium. Her presentation of "Om Shambho," the famous poem by Swami Dayanand Saraswati set to Revati raga by Maharajapuram Santhanam, was impressive. Later she went on to "Mohamaaya," a varnam in Bhairavi. With her guru on the nattuvangam, Aparna did a neat job of the Roopaka tala jatis.
The javali in Khamas, in which the mugdha nayika — the innocent one — complains to her friend that everyone is censuring her just because she went up to the terrace of `his' house to get a better view of the temple festival, went down well with the audience. The dancer spiritedly depicted the initial excitement of the nayika, her exasperation at being suspected and neighbours making snide remarks. But this is a javali rich in possibilities, and under the guidance of her guru, who is known for her involved abhinaya inlaid with minute details, Aparna is sure to blossom. Aparna's lithe arm movements give a fine sweep to her adavus. Her footwork, while strong on rhythm, would benefit from a better and equal turnout of both legs. Besides guru Valli on the nattuvangam, Aparna was accompanied by Lata Ramchand (vocal), Shaktivel Muruganandam (mridangam), N. Srinivasan (flute) and R. Kalaiarasan (violin).
Bhargavi Gopalan, a disciple of senior Bharatanatyam guru K.J. Sarasa, is blessed with a charming stage presence. She went through the programme in an easy manner, unruffled by the briskness of the jatis in her Adi tala varnam, a Sivanandam Pillai composition in Ananda Bhairavai raga, "Sakhiye Inda Vela Jaalam Seiyyade," depicting the nayika in separation.
Bhargavi Gopalan.
While Bhargavi displayed strong footwork and clean lines, she seemed to completely refrain from bending at the waist.
The dancer displayed an alluring subtlety in her abhinaya, a quality in short supply in these times of overkill. Thus the padam in Saindhavi raga, a Swathi Tirunal composition, "Itu Saahasamulu," despite its references to Krishna's naughty ways with the gopis, was full of simple charm.
With Guru Sarasa's imposing nattuvangam, the orchestra was a well-coordinated team.
Rajeswari Sainath.
Vocalist Preeti Mahesh has a fine timbre that is appealing on the mike. On the mridangam was Dhananjayan, on the violin Muruganandam and on the flute Ramesh. Assisting the guru in nattuvangam was K. Shanmugasundaram.
The closing performance was "Prapancha Vichitram" by Rajeswari Sainath. Based on the concept of the five elements of life the solo choreographic work was a marathon effort.
Using slokas from various sources and Tamil verses by R.K. Murthy ("Kavi Kannan"), the dancer sought to put across a number of themes, like the divinity of each element, the myths associated with it , as well as a contemporary angle emphasising the necessity of respecting nature. In all, the audience enjoyed a rousing show in which the dancer's awe-inspiring stamina and resounding footwork were in prominence. Plenty of storytelling kept the pace going, though the script itself was somewhat loosely strung.
Fine singing by S.R. Veeraraghavan, mridangam by Nagai Narayanan, nattuvangam by Srinivas, violin by Kalaiarasan, flute by Muthukumar and a range of effects by Parthasarathy were assets to the show.
The English narration was the weak link. Since there was a pleasing attention to pronunciation in both Sanskrit and Tamil, it might have been better to include someone who could deliver English in a proper theatrical manner to match the rest.
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