Dancer Gayathri Govind will stage ‘Anurag’ a unique Mohiniyattam composition as part of the Soorya Music and Dance festival 2012. The performance will essay the myriad shades of love, from passionate yearning to the sweet sorrow of ‘viraha’ and the sublime form of ‘bhakthi’.
Gayathri has commanded critical attention for the freshness, dynamism and vigour that she imparts to her dance recitals. The purity of form and style and the fluid movements have won much acclaim for the dancer, who is also trained in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipidi.
Gayathri, who hails from the city, started learning dance at the age of three under Girija Chandran of Regatta Dance Academy and her sister Geetha Krishnakumar. She went on to train under Kalakshetra Vilasini, Sreekala Oyur, Pattom Sanil Kumar, Jisha Raghav, Karakulam Manikuttan and Pramod Palakkad. She has also learned Ottamthullal, Kathakali and Kathak.
Her performing career spanning over one-and-a-half decades has taken her to various stages in India and abroad. She has donned the role of a television anchor for various reality and dance shows in Malayalam channels including the popular poetry reality show ‘Mambhazham’ on Kairali TV. She had performed at the Soorya Festival last year and early this year. A software engineer by profession, she is settled in Chennai with her husband Harikrishnan Unnikrishnan.
‘Anurag’, her most recent composition, is set to some of the celebrated ‘padams’ by Swathi Thirunal, ‘ashtapadi’ by the 12th century poet Jayadeva and Sanskrit slokas. The traditional repertoire of Mohiniyattam is fused to the music of these compositions to create a synergy of lucid movements and versatile expressions.
The performance will be held at the Municipal Auditorium, Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvananthapuram, at 6.45 pm on October 29.