Dance lovers had a great time appreciating Odissi performances at the Alliance Française during the Dance DISCourse held on Saturday under the stewardship of writer and scholar Ashish Mohan Khokar. The fact that Bangalore has also become an abode of other dance forms like Odissi, Manipuri and Chau besides Bharatanatyam was amply proved with two leading dancers of the Odissi who have made the city their home participating directly or indirectly in the evening’s deliberations.
If seasoned Odissi dancer Madhulitha Mohapatra gave a creditable account of herself in her abhinaya for an Ashtapadi, Sharmila Mukherjee’s disciples did her proud.
The traditional repertoire was unveiled in a praiseworthy manner. The Odissi-odyssey began with a Mangalacharan by the students of Madhulita Mohapatra Vivekini Das, Aasma Mohammed Naveedh, Devika R, Aditi Verma and Krishna Daga. This traditional item Nagendra haaraaya in praise of Lord Shiva was based on Shiva Panchakhara stotra by Sri Adi Shankaracharya. The nritta was also intact.
Again in the Battu nrithya Vandana Supriya and Shwetha Krishna etched Lord Shiva in His Batuka Bhairava form. The pure dance sequences were ornamented by sculpturesque poses reminding one of the temple sculptures of Orissa. The Arabhi Pallavi based on the raga Arabhi was the central piece of the programme. Following the melodic development of the raga the rhythmic progression was also registered in lyrically beautiful dance forms.
The hand and body movements ran parallel with rhythmic syllables sung musically. The dancers Argha Chatterjee and Maya Krishnamurthy (students of Sharmila Mukherjee) did extremely well in their communication.
With an intensive saatwikaabhinaya Madhulita Mohapatra excelled in her abhinaya of varying moods of Radha who was eagerly waiting for the arrival of Krishna on the basis of a popular Ashtapadi Yahi Madhava from Geeta Govinda of Jayadev. Her depiction of Radha as a khandita nayika was profound and impressive. The recital concluded with the rendition of Moksha, a connotation of spiritual liberation by the students of Madhulita Mohapatra — Madhura Sarkar, Sonalika Padhi, Meghna Das, Anjali Raj Urs and Soumya Sikta Sahoo which was marked by an enjoyable fast pace. The Shanthi sookthi was welcome.
These Odissi dances were followed by a panel discussion on Odissi with Chiranjiv Singh and Utkal Mohanty as panelists.
Consummate artistry
Young Anjana Parashar’s Kuchipudi natya performance at the ADA Rangamandira on Friday was an eloquent display of consummate artistry and admirable talents. Endowed with sweet looks and mercurial dance body, Anjana won laurels for her Guru Lakshmi Rajamani who has trained her in the rigours of the dance form.
The young dancer’s involvement and dedication was rewarding. Happily accompanied by her Guru Lakshmi Rajamani (nattuvanga), Chennakeshava (vocal), Maragadavalli (vocal), Somanna (violin), Tangavelu (mridanga) and others, she saluted the Goddess BalaTripurasundari in her crisp dance and abhinaya. Various names of Lord Ganesha were delineated along with a shloka for Ganesha stuti.
A rare but traditionaShabda with Sri Raama pattabhisheka as the theme was a noteworthy selection. Various episodes from Sri Raama’s birth to his coronation were artistically enacted by her. As usual Tarangam based on Narayana Teertha’s composition was done with precision and perfection. Her dancing on the brass plate with a pot full of water on the head drew allround applause.
The rhythmic command, exceptional felicity of the limbs and face, fine singing, the level of involvement and intensity lent a special flavour to it. Yaare Rangana(Hindola) describing the attributes of Baalakrishna was impressively communicative.
Sathyanarayanaraju’s disciples dazzle
Sri Raja Rajeshwari Kala Niketan now led by an able exponent of Kuchipudi natya Veena Murthy Vijay celebrated its thirty first anniversary entitled Samanvay Arts Festival under the joint auspices with Academy of Music and the Bangalore Club for Kathakkali and the Arts at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall. A well known dancer- Guru Sathyanarayana Raju presented his four disciples Adithi Sadashiva, Gowri Sagar, Prithvi Sharma and Anju Nair in a group Bharatanatya recital. The group known as Chaturagamini has already acquainted itself well with the rasikas of Bengaluru. Individually and together they came out in flying colours in dealing with Saraswathi namastubhyam (Saraswathi) in eulogy of the Goddess of Learning. They stuck eye-catching poses and their nritta was done with sheer joy.
In Pradosha samayadi (Poorvikalyani) fast nritta and fine depiction of the traits of Lord Shiva won them a big round of applause. Their alignments and realignments, captivating geometric patterns and intricate laya were the plus points of their presentation.