BENGALURU: Accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer and an award-winning actress Lakshmi Gopalaswamy has remained a traditionalist in the formatting and presentation of her dance recitals. Bharatanatyam dancer Satyanarayana Raju, winner of this year’s Karnataka Kalashree award, is a top notch male dancer known for his successful experimentation of different themes.
The two celebrated artistes come together in a dance feature, “The Wodeyars”, tracing the vision and munifi cence of the Mysuru kings that laid the foundation for the development of arts, science, education and infrastructure in what later came to be known as Karnataka.
Lakshmi and Satya have been soughtafter dance partners for several years now, Lakshmi’s utterly feminine grace proving to be a perfect match to Satya’s robust stage presence. Conceptualised and set to dance by the duo, “The Wodeyars” is the fi rst such attempt in classical dance to paint the 600-year-old reign of the dynasty in all its glory.
The Wodeyars were great patrons of art, the Mysuru school of Bharatanatyam having evolved from Kanteerava Wodeyar, who founded a dance school in Srirangapatna., later concretised by Chikkadevaraya. The Wodeyars’ progressive and innovative administration made the princely state of Mysuru one of the most developed kingdoms.
It became a refi ned and fl ourishing centre for fi ne arts in the South, the Wodeyars themselves being men of letters and highly accomplished composers and musicians, including in western classical music. It is this richness of Mysuru culture that will be presented, the landmark achievements of the Wodeyars captured through episodes that trace their lasting legacy. Much research has gone into this production, author and historian Vikram Sampath’s magnum opus, “Splendour of Royal Mysore:
The Untold Story of the Wodeyars”, being a major resource material and scholar Srikantam Nagendra Shastri’s music compositions forming its fulcrum, say Lakshmi and Satya. The dance feature will be presented at “Rasa Sanje” of Venkatesha Natya Mandir, at A D A Rangamandira on December 18 at 7.30 pm. Entry to the show is free.