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MUSIC ACADEMY

Photo: V.Ganesan

DEEP UNDERSTANDING: Alarmel Valli (left) and Madhavi Mudgal.

Very different from the rather tame first duet of the dancers witnessed some years ago, the frequent uniting of shared minds has evolved into deep understanding of each other’s art. Coincidentally, the dancers in height and figure are a perfect match.

In an aesthetically conceived recital, starting from the tastefully designed complementing costumes (mustard and maroon and later a black and white), to the superb organisation of the music ranging from Carnatic to Hindustani and Odissi, the evening spoke of unstinting attention to detail.

Right from the Prithvi Suktam invocation based on verses from Atharva Veda, levels in stance were used as counterpoint and to highlight near similarities in movement. Valli and Madhavi portrayed the bounty of Earth — one becoming the Earth to the other’s Sun, one portraying the serpent and the deer to the other’s darting fish, sharing the joy in mnemonic syllables drawn from the Alarippu “Tam Dhitai,” or an Odissi ukkuta phrase.

Images like the drone of the bees and the tree branches swaying with the breeze were evocatively woven.

Never has one experienced the khandita nayika of a lyric like ‘Indendu Vaccitivira’ in Surutti (Valli’s exuberance offset by Madhavi’s muted mukhaabhinaya) so intelligently shared by a duo. One dancer became a quiet unobtrusive presence with back to audience while the other interpreted the musical line through sancharis, both alternately and collectively scornful of the fish-eyed other woman in whose web the Nayaka, now seeking a reunion, had got entangled.

Scathingly sarcastic about ‘Mandaragiri Dharudaina Rangesha’ straying into the ‘wrong’ house on a moonlit night, the item provided solo space within a shared experience.

Balamurali’s Kadanakuthuhalam Tillana was a delight of sharp mei adavus of Bharatanatyam in company with the softer geometry of Odissi, the footwork showing the strong layakari of both dancers. And how well the vocal support was shared between Latha Ramchand and Purna Chandra Majhi and Manikuntala Bhowmik! Manikuntala’s exquisitely melodious rendition of the Ashtapadi ‘Dheera Sameere’ raised to another level the item rendered by Madhavi, even though this critic would have preferred a slower tempo.

If the sakhi’s urging of Radha not to let her desire-filled body languish while Krishna waited for her, (‘Nakuru Nitambini Gamana Vilambana Manusara Tam Hridayesham’) was evocative in the dance, the music in the line ‘Patati Patatre Vichalati Patre’ in its hushed tones suggested Krishna’s expectation of Radha’s gentle footstep even in a falling leaf touching the ground. Srinivasa Satpathy’s flute and Mohammad’s dulcet sitar made excellent accompanying instruments.

Valli’s corresponding solo set to Pillai Tamizh, portrayed with involvement the devotee as mother urgently calling out to Goddess Kantimati Amman with no response. The Goddess responds only when he as child calls out to her as mother.

Samanvaya had a fitting conclusion in an imaginatively designed nritta item exploring through pure dance the subtle textures of rhythmic overtones in the two dance forms, the evocative, taped score by Madhup Mudgal aided by Prema Ramamurthy and O.S.Arun, with the helping hand of mridangam Lalgudi Ganesh .

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