CHENNAI: Kuchipudi artiste Vaasanthi, a senior disciple of guru Vempatti Ravishankar, gave a traditional kuchipudi performance for Kartik Fine Arts recently. The recital revealed her penchant for hard work and clear understanding of the nuances and sahitya that she had learnt from her guru. She began the recital with a tribute to lord Ganesha (Gajavadanae Beduvve), a composition of Purandara Dasa in Raga Hamsadwani.
Through the dance that was choreographed by her guru, she was able to display an inherent involvement throughout the presentation. She presented a varnam next (Angayarkanni) — the most celebrated composition of Lalgudi Jayaraman, which dealt with various concepts including the life of goddess Meenakshi, episodes from Manmada, Pittuku Mann Sumandha Kadhai, Tripurasura Vadam, Ravana lifting the Mount Kailash etc. The rhythmic cadences of hers were appreciable during the performance. Then, she moved on to performing an evergreen composition of Gopalakrishna Bharathi (Enneramum) in Raga Devagandhari, which spoke about the story of Nandanar, his devotion and surrender to the lord. Undoubtedly, the way she performed, incorporating the traditional elements in an innovative style, is worth mentioning.
On the whole, the irrepressible force of her dance, with concrete imagery and brilliance of abhinaya, was brought out well.