The guru does justice

For a dancer to do justice to young flock, she takes under her wing to teach, is never easy. On the other hand, if she is conscientious, she is better equipped to impart all those little graces and flourishes to her wards. Young Shubha Dhananjay, the Bharatanatya dancer-choreographer-organiser-Guru has, in the last decade and a half of combining the twin activities of performing and teaching, managed to train more than 25 students who are credit to both Bharatanatya and her, and that is saying quite a lot. The Bharatanatya recital of her disciple Lavanya Sundar held at ADA Rangamandira was one such.

Lavanya danced with equipoise and that in itself is a measure of the correct direction of her Guru’s training. Art must create and communicate harmony, at the very least. More, it must balance the rational with the intuitive, the virtuoso of nritta with the poetry of nrithya and abhinaya. She has good understanding of these various elements, as was found in her rendition of Papanasham Shivan’s Nattakuranji varna. While dancing that varna for about 25 minutes, she filled it with a wide gamut of jathi and aduvu patterns and the teermanas were a delight to watch. The Subramanya pada and the padaabhinaya(ragamalika) vouched for her neat abhinaya talent. The concluding Dhanasri tillana was an admixture of line and speed, of laya and its accelerations. Though Mayura nritta (Peacock dance) was eye-catching with colourful costumes and beautiful neck movements, one wondered about its contextual relevance.

Guru Shabha Dhananjay(nattuvanga), Indira Shankar(vocal), Natarajamurthy (violin), Janard-hanarao-(mridanga), Vivek(flute) and Prasanna-kumar( rhythm pad) imparted inspiring support.

Effortless singing

Young golden-voiced singer Manasi Prasad dazzled in her vocal recital at Seva Sadana, Malleshwaram on the valedictory day (Sunday) of the five-day Ananya Sangeetotsava 2013. The annual Ananya awards were distributed to the deserving musicians. Manasi received the Ananya Yuva Puraskara. Demon-strating a great range of pliability in her voice and sweetness, her concert was an essay in aesthetics and artistry, nothing laboured, the phrasings flowed like a majestic river and classicism was intact throughout. The maatu and dhaatu aspects of Carnatic music gelled intimately with each other creating an enjoyable world of pure music.

      She was perfectly at ease in negotiating the Poorvi Kalyani krithi Deva Deva of Swati Tirunal and the annexed speedier swara passages. It was soothing to hear Shantamu leka (Saama raga, Thyagaraja). Simplicity, grace and poise marked the delineation of Bhairavi for GNB’s Gathi verevaramma(mishra chapu). The very selection of the krithi was interesting. The neraval and swaras were evocative and exhibited the remarkable vocal skills of the singer. A familiar javali Idene sakhi (Behag) was pleasurable to ears. Mattur Srinidhi (violin), Ranjini Venkatesh(mridanga) and Bhagyalakshmi Krishna(morsing) were the excellent accompanists.

Dance duet

A highly ambitious dancer Rekha Raju is well-versed in both Mohini Attam and Bharatanatya dance forms. Mohini Attam is lasya(graceful) oriented and slow movements mostly in the form of “8” are one of its singular features. The swings, swirls and turns of the torso catch the eyes. She enthralled the audience with her excellent performances of both the styles at Seva Sadana, Malleshwara under the banner of Ananya Nrithyollasa-11.

In the first half of her recital she was at home in underscoring the beauty of Mohini Attam. She commenced her recital with a traditional chollukattu(Kaanada raga). Her nritta was elegant and rhythmically perfect. Her abhinaya artistry came to the fore in the depiction of Om namo Narayanaya set to a pleasing Karnaranjini raga. The greatness of Lord Narayana was fully on view. She gave a profound exposition a Jayadeva Ashtapadi Lalitha Lavanga (Hindola).

A group of her students rendered Maha Ganapathim(Nata) and a Jathiswara(ragamalika) as a gap filler and their laya understanding and group discipline was noteworthy.

In the latter part of the recital Rekha Raju was appreciated for her Bharatanatya artistry. The Ramayana Shabda served as a testimonial for her histrionic abilities.

She covered the entire stage and etched vigourous movements according to the demands of the text of the song Baa Baa Shankara(Vachaspathi), attributed to Lord Shiva. The fast tempo and fine swaras fortified her nritta. Child Krishna and Mother Yashoda came alive in the airing of Jagadodharana aadisidalu Yashoda(Kapi). Dancer Mithun Shyam(nattuvanga), B S Anand(vocal), Janardhan(mridanga), Mahesh Swamy(flute) and others enriched Rekha’s presentations with their talent and artistry.

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