Young but highly talented dancer-guru-choreographer Mithun Shyam is known for presenting some extraordinary programmes. His presentation of ‘Gandharvas,’ a Bharatanatya performance by five young boys is still afresh in the memory of the rasikas. Four of his women disciples also stunned the audience at ADA Rangamandira last Sunday with their talent and refined body language which was in strict compliance with the Bharatanatya grammar and grace. It was but natural that they won a repeated applause.
The special aspect of this performance was that the dancers were performing for the first time after they had become mothers. Besides being involved and committed mothers, a couple of them have professional commitments. That they have accomplished the demanding Bharatanatya in the midst of their tightly scheduled lives, was evidenced in their neat, precise and perfect renditions. The compositions they had selected were also exacting in nature.
The enthusiastic mother-dancers Niveditha, Roopasri, Priya Sanjai and Indumathi Vinod were in their element as they danced and emoted in their recital aptly titled ‘Janani.’ They adroitly used their communication and dancing skills in their interpretations.
Refined neck and hand movements and adavus marked the salutation of Gajavadana. The Bilahari jathiswara offered an interestingly fresh take of a kaleidoscope of adavus, jathis and swaras. All the four dancers moved in a brilliantly coordinated choreography.
The 30-minutes’ exposition of the most popular daru varna Maathe Malayadhwaja set to Khamach raga was recast through the drama of the glory of the Goddess Parvathi. While portraying the tale of the birth of Lord Ganesha, the feelings of an anguished mother were beautifully highlighted. The dancers impressively infused the abhinaya with vividly pointed character detail and also negotiated the nrithya and nritta material to the hilt. Every move was controlled in exactly the right place at the right time.
Mithun loves to connect with students and motivates them to excel--molding their technique and inspiring their performance. This was proved when the quartet exhibited their prowess individually. Niveditha was at home while rendering a Kapi Tamil pada woven around child Krishna and Yashoda. Roopasri visualized the traits of Goddess Saraswathi of Sringeri on the basis of Shringapuraadheeswari Sarade (Kalyani), Priya became Gowri, Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Bhadrakali in sketching Akhilandeshwari (ragamalika) with Chamundi stotra. Indumathi excelled in the ragamalika pada with a vibrant nritta. On the whole the abhinaya of all the dancers was profound. Guru Mithun Shyam (nattuvanga), Deepti Srinath (vocal), Natarajamurthy (violin) and Jagadish Janardhanan (mridanga) imparted a lively support.
Fluent Kathak
Two of Guru Shubha Dhananjay’s students presented technically brilliant Kathak recitals at different venues on different days. Their grasp of layakari (rhythm) and sweeping lines of form caught even the untrained eye. The gat-nikas, in which the dancers mimed various bhavas was especially noteworthy, both in their design and execution.
First, it was an explosive performance by Anusha at Seva Sadana, Malleswaram. Guru Shubha Dhananjay of Natyantharanga with over 30 years of experience in teaching has been training her disciples to reach their goals with a gentle approach.
Anusha with her fluid movements and a superb sense of rhythm went through the Kathak repertoire quite successfully. The opening Ganesha and Saraswathi vandana based on Bijapur’s Adilshah set to Miya Malhar was full of warmth and artistry. The chaturanga with the description of Shiva-Parvathi as its theme was enacted with an admirable dignity and maturity. The bol bants and abhinaya were enjoyable. A thumri in praise of Krishna (Khamach) and a ghazal Khuda humko (Keeravani) were done with fluency and grace. That she was a master of rhythm, however complicated, was evident throughout her pure dance sequences in the elaboration of teen tal. It was full of stamina. The Darbari tillana was a befitting conclusion.
Vivacious and graceful
In a performance for Every Friday Cultural Evening programme series at Yavanika Guru Shubha’s daughter-disciple Maya Dhananjay enthralled the audience with her excellent artistry and lived up to her mother’s reputation with a good stage presence. Her dance blended vivacity with feminine grace. Her mastery over Kathak dance technique and creativity won appreciation. One was delighted to watch her superb pirouettes and amazing footwork. She began with a Ganesh vandana. Where music and words met, they struck the perfect accord, joined by aesthetic movements. With lighting to match, the dance was emotionally uplifting
She could weave in quick succession, varied moods and emotions. The precision of her footwork was amazing. The minute nuance as she gradually dropped volume to a hardly audible degree and then soared to a crescendo elicited a resonating appreciation from the spectators. She bought energy and life on the stage and danced with confidence the pharans, the gats, tihayis and chakkars. Blessed with an impressive physical presence, her figure moved with ease as she performed avartanas with a forceful tabla rhythm. Her depth of bhava darshan in thumri and geets showed a total different personality in contrast to what was presented in nritta aspect. The gestures of eyes, limbs and torso were delicate and brought out the exact emotion of movement and rhythm.
She revealed gifts of rhythmic control, spectacular and flawless movements in the concluding Darbari tarana.
In both the above Kathak recitals Guru Shubha Dhananjay (padhanth), Raghupathi Jha (vocal), Arjunsingh (tabla), Shruthi Kamath (sitar) and Shaktidhar (flute) made their presence felt with their mature artistry and technique.
Dr. M. SURYA PRASAD drmsuryaprasad@gmail.com