Friday Review
Bangalore
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Classical portrayal
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Be it nritta, nrithya or abhinaya, Manasa Rao was able to negotiate it with ease and confidence
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Young Manasa Rao, for me, represented one of the finest examples of Nupura’s Guru Lalitha Srinivasan’s strain of Bharatanatya. At her Bharatanatya performance at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, Manasa, with her intelligence and sensitivity, caug
ht the tones of Bharatanatya, both in the physical and in the interpretative dimensions.
Though on a couple of occasions she seemed to be shaky in striking single-leg postures which tended to take away from the full impact of the karanas and deflection of the body, Manasa compensated them with well-honed nritta and abhinaya. The Shiva stuti pushpanjali made for the right beginning. Annamacharya’s popular Bhowli krithi on Lord Vishnu (“Srimannarayana”) was a classic portrayal. She presented Dashavataras in a capsule form while delineating the line “Paramathma paramaanuroopa” quite elegantly. In knitting movements in various permutations of rhythm into the Neelambari jathiswara refrain, and in maintaining the ardha mandalis while the heels stomp out the rhythm patterns, Manasa was an expert.
Her presentation of the familiar Shankarabharana varna “Manavi chaikonnarada” brought out the best in her. Be it nritta and nrithya or abhinaya the dancer was able to negotiate it with ease and confidence. She successfully answered the calls of her Guru on the nattuvanga. The varna by the Tanjore Quartet addressed to the Lord Brihadeeshwara depicts a virahotkhanthita nayaki who pines for her reunion with the Lord.
Her histrionic talent glowed forth in the portrayal of a Jayachamaraja Wadiyar krithi “Kamakshim Varalakshmim vande” set to Vasantha raga and the Khamach Javali (“Varija mukhi”).
She proved once again that she has understood the subtleties of abhinaya by depicting the demanding ‘nindaastuti’ on the basis of a Devaranama “Elyaadi bandeyo helayya” (Athana).
Guru Lalitha Srinivasan (nattuvanga), Mythili Anantharaman (vocal: she could have been more authentic in singing), Natarajamurthy (violin), Shankararaman (veena) and Narasimhamurthy (flute) were the lively accompanists. Narayanaswamy’s mridanga support was lucid and inspiring. H.N. Suresh’s stage décor and Srinivasan’s lighting were purposeful.
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A delightful flute jugalbandhi by the seasoned Praveen Godkindi (Hindustani) and M.K. Pranesh (Carnatic) greeted audiences on the first day of the three-day music festival held under the aegis of the M.A. Narasimhachar Music Foundation at Bangalore Gayana Samaja.
The duo rendered the Abhogi varna in a lively pace. Pranesh exhibited his mastery over the flute by rendering “Pranamaamyaham” (Gowla) with a crisp swaravinyasa.
Praveen was sensitive and serene in sketching Rageshri in a systematic development encompassing madhya laya roopak and drut teen tals. An instrumental composition in that spirited Kadanakutoohala raga by Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma provided the flautists an opportunity to show their grip over laya.
Raga, tana and pallavi in Hemavathi, which suited the instrumentalists was the highlight of the concert. The nom-toms and sargams vibrated well with tana and kalpanaswaras of Carnatic music. A disciplined approach, good understanding and matching vidwath made the jugalbandhi a grand affair.
Shivu (mridanga), Madhusudan (tabla) and Arunkumar (drums) enhanced the beauty of the evening’s performance.
M. SURYA PRASAD
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
