BHARAT KALACHAR
Beckoning Krishna
ANJANA RAJAN
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Dancers trained in various genres came together for `Krishna Nee Begane Baro.'
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Photo: R. Shivaji Rao.
AESTHETIC TABLEAU: Meenakshi Chittaranjan, Srilatha Vinod, Uma Muralikrishna and Gopika Varma.
It seems a healthy trend that dancers from different backgrounds, trained under different gurus, come together to present programmes. The other day, Meenakshi Chittaranjan, Uma Muralikrishna, Gopika Verma and Srilatha Vinod presented `Krishna Nee Begane Baro' as the inaugural performance of Bharat Kalachar's Margazhi festival at the YGP auditorium.
The first presentation was based on the famous composition `Krishna Nee Begane Baro.' While Meenakshi and Srilatha presented Bharatanatyam, Uma represented Kuchipudi and Gopika, Mohiniyattom. The dancers took up a stanza each for elaboration in their own style. Aparna Chittaranjan, Meenakshi's daughter, played the role of Krishna. With an aesthetic tableaux and music of the traditional piece arranged for a group presentation, some of the potential of the piece was lost due to harsh amplification.
This item had earlier been presented by the dancers as an 80th birthday gift to Mrs Y.G.Parthasarathy. The programme at Bharat Kalachar was a result of her suggestion to expand the concept. The rest of the programme comprised solo presentations by each dancer.
Meenakshi presented extracts from `Gita Govindam,' beginning with Radha's disappointment at Krishna's not coming at the promised time, where after a nightlong vigil she collapses with grief. When Krishna arrives, she rebukes him in the Ashtapadi verse "Yahi Madhava." The final reconciliation was depicted in "Priye Charusheele." Meenakshi showed restraint in the abhinaya, and some of her postures were evocative. Uma's Bhama Kalapam stood out for vivacity of presentation. She combines speed with poise in an attractive package.
Gopika's presentation of Meera bhajans was more like a dance-drama. Not making much use of nritta, she brought out the typical Mohiniyattom touches in parts only, as in the use of the eyes.
Srilatha danced to Nachiar Thirumozhi, in which Andal describes how she dreamt of her wedding to the Lord. Choreographed by the Dhananjayans, it had music composed by Sujatha Vijayaraghavan. A personable dancer, Srilatha's agility is an asset in the jumping movements. Also, her kitataka tarikita thom adavu is a pleasure to behold.
Meenakshi was accompanied by Pandanallur Pandyan (nattuvangam), Bhawani Kishore Kumar (vocal), Dhananjayan (mridangam), Srinivasan (flute) and Sikhamani (violin). The team remained the same when Uma danced, except that the nattuvangam and singing were taken over by Kishore and Roshni respectively. Among others, Suresh Kumar played the edakka in Gopika's presentation. The sound system was not conducive to listening pleasure. One was too busy shielding the ears to appreciate the finer points of the compositions.
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