Audio-visual treat
A. RAMALINGA SASTRY
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The multifarious contributions of Visweswariah were portrayed.
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ODE TO A SCIENTIST An instance from `Visweswara Vijayam'.
Two ballets - Visweswara Vijayam and Andhra Kalaavilaasam were presented in Kalabharathi by the pupils of the Kuchipudi Kalakshetram, Visakhapatnam an offshoot of the Kuchipudi Art Academy of Vempati China Satyam at Chennai.
They were part of the celebrations of the jayanthi (Engineers Day) of the all time great visionary in the firmament of engineering, Sir Mokshagundam Visweswaraiah, Bharatratna and the 20th anniversary of the Kalakshetra. The function was organised by the Visakha chapter of the Builders' Association.
The chief guest of the evening, director, Centre for Policy Studies, Prof. A. Prasanna Kumar addressed the gathering. He gave an annalistic account of the ingenuity with which many an engineering marvel was accomplished by Visweswaraiah. There was no region in the undivided Indian sub-continent that did not receive the touch of his genius, which in turn opened many a vista for further development. Eloquently quoting records including a few anecdotes, he virtually brought out the full story of the scientist. The ballet scripts by Rani Sadasiva Murthy neither reflected appropriate conception of story line nor conceptualisation of even the main character, Visweswaraiah in the first ballet. Similarly, the second turned out to be a very fanciful concept of the art and artistes.
Nontheless, thanks to the music set by Ravi Shankar (the dancer-son of the Kuchipudi maestro, Vempati) and his flautist, G.K. Nagarajan and the melodious renditions of D.V.S. Sastry and R. Vanaja Dinakar, made the listening pleasant. Similarly, the fine blend of nritta, nritya and naatya designed in the choreography by Ravi Shankar and the principal of the Kalakshetram, Hare Ramamurthy, and its impeccable execution by all the participants provided a visual feast. All the same, the need for more discreet selection of scripts by Ravi and Murthy who are supposed to be the torch bearers of the Vempati tradition in ballet production cannot but be underscored.
Ravi Shankar excellently supported by L.S. Suryakanth on the mridangam, N. Phanikumar on the pakawaz, G.K. Nagarajan on the flute and Balasubrahmanyam on the violin provided expert nattuvangam. Make-up by Surya Rao and Sudha was an asset. The solo (Marakatamanimayachela) presented in between by Sumathi, was a good change. The Kuchipudi maestro Vempati China Satyam, Padma Bhushan recipient, was profusely honoured and felicitated by Nedunuri Krishna Murthy, Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Prasanna Kumar on behalf of the Vijayanirman Co. Ltd. S. Vijayakumar, the vice-president of the Kalakshetra organised the entire programme.
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