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Reaching for the stars
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Arunima Kumar showed promise as a Kuchipudi danseuse during her recent concert
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Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
Zestful Arunima Kumar in her Kuchipudi performance last week.
Arunima Kumar’s Kuchipudi performance the other day at New Delhi’s India Habitat Centre revealed an enthusiastic dancer who while remaining under the watchful guidance of her gurus — Vanashree and Jayarama Rao — is finding her
path as an artiste with individuality. While the dance compositions chosen for the recital were traditional, composed by her gurus, she gave her own introductions that gave a glimpse into her own understanding of the art.
Sure of rhythm and full of zest, Arunima has the basic essentials for a successful journey as a classical dancer. Beginning with a Ganesha stuti in raga Arabhi, Arunima, who trained under Swapnasundari before coming under the tutelage of her present gurus, depicted the story of how Ganesha got his elephant head. Next she took up Ardhanariswara, based on the verse “Chaampeya gauranga”. Here her confidence and poise lent grandeur to her still postures.
Abhinaya was represented by two aspects of devotion to Krishna. One was the ashtapadi of Jayadeva, “Sakhi He Keshi Madanamudaaram”, while the other was a Meera bhajan, “Main Saanwaron Ke Rang Raachi”. The abhisarika nayika, who leaves her house to meet her lover in secret, was emphasised in the ashtapadi, in which Radha recalls her first meeting with Krishna one rapturous night in the forest when he banished her fears. Adding a touch of overt drama, Arunima used a shawl and a lighted lamp to depict the quintessential image of the abhisarika, who drapes herself in dark colours and walks dark pathways to reach her lover. While, strictly speaking, these props were not required, the presentation was neat. The manipulations with the shawl and the carrying and setting down of the lamp were accomplished without fuss, and the musicians took care to coordinate with the movements. Thus the props added to visual aesthetics.
Technically striking
The most technically striking item was the Shiva Tarangam, in which Arunima impressed the audience with her abilities while dancing on the rim of the brass plate. It was interesting to observe how she occasionally stepped off the plate to perform the complete footwork for the jatis and then stepped back on it to bring out the same rhythmic patterns using the plate. Usually, one finds Kuchipudi dancers, once they have stepped onto the plate, do not descend till the end. Her speed on the plate showed good command, but when going backwards, by bending forward so much from the waist, she detracted from the beauty of the posture.
Elsewhere in the nritta, if Arunima were to introduce more of the ardhamandala posture into her footwork, it would probably suit her height and form better. Also, one felt the upper body at times was held tight, seeming at odds with the flowing grace that characterises Kuchipudi today.
Guru Jaya Rama Rao on nattuvangam was ably supported by the mellow-voiced singer K. Venkateswharan, along with Thanjavur R. Kesavan on the mridangam, VSK Annadurai on the violin and Vinay on the flute. The flute was not as audible as one would have liked in compositions associated with Krishna. However, it was a great feeling to see an orchestra entirely focussed on the dancer without fear of being ‘ignored’ by the audience.
The two youngsters who made periodic announcements need to work on their pronunciation, especially Sanskrit.
ANJANA RAJAN
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
