A week of music and dance
Apoorva Keshav excels.
YOUNG ARTISTE couple D.S. Srivatsa (a vocalist) and Sowndarya Srivatsa (a Bharatanatya dancer) deserved all praise for their effort in successfully holding a weeklong festival of music and dance entitled Sangeetha Nrithya Ganga 2004-05 at Dr. H.N. Kalakshetra. Besides local artistes, outstation artistes were also given an opportunity to exhibit their talent at the event.
After the formal inauguration, the students of Sowndarya Srivatsa brought laurels to their guru with their neat performances. Though they performed in groups, one could assess the individual talents of the dancers.
The Nata raga Pushpanjali brought to the fore the dancers' nritta. The ragamalika shabda accounted for their histrionic skills. In his Sri Shiva Panchakshari stotra, Sri Shankaracharya praises Lord Shiva. Sowndarya's delineated all the characteristics of Shiva in her dance composition. Srivatsa proved his mettle as a composer of songs too.
A Kannada krithi with Dashavataras as its theme done by him was choreographed into a beautiful dance piece by Sowndarya and another talented Bharatanatya dancer Praveenkumar. The 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu were portrayed with some fine nritta interludes. Dwaraki Krishnaswamy's Valachi tillana marked the conclusion of the group presentation.
Student dazzles
It was yet another feather in Sowndarya Srivatsa's cap when her disciple Apoorva Keshav dazzled in her Bharatanatya at the same venue. Papanasham Shivan's varna ("Nee inda maayam", Dhanyasi) was the major item of her recital. The three-tiered exposition of the varna, involving nritta, nrithya and abhinaya, was excellent. Her anga shuddhi and right understanding of the laya were convincing. The nritta had a variety of aduvus and demanding jathis which were ably negotiated by Apoorva. "Gummana kareyadire" (tillang) by Purandaradasa is all about child Krishna who pleads to her mother Yashoda not to call gumma and that he would obey his mother. The enactment established an immediate rapport with the audience.
Young talent
In the 40-day Nadajyothi Sangeetha Nrithya Navaneetha series being held at Sri Kannika Parameshwari Temple's R.P. Ravishankar auditorium, Malleshwaram 8th Cross, young dancer R. Rashmi gave a creditable account of her talents. Trained by veteran guru Radha Sridhar, Rashmi danced to a recorded music with good results.
She had selected a good number of Devi krithis for her presentation. Her satwikaabhinaya, while sketching the greatness of the Devi on the basis of various compositions, was impressive. The way she used and danced to the recorded rendition by Dr. M.S. Subbulakshmi of Purandaradasa's "Jagadodharana" (Kapi) and Jayadeva's Ashtapadi "Jaya Jagadeesha Hare" were enthralling. Though she seemed to be tired in the nritta portions, her abhinaya was appropriate. "Kanjadalaayataakshi", "Swagatham Krishna" (with gathi bedha and nritta saddled with swaras), "Marakathamanimaya", and Thyagaraja's "Sogasuga mridanga", drew special attention.
M. SURYA PRASAD
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