Dancers Priya Dixit and Prabha Dixit, disciples of veteran danseuse Sudharani Raghupathy, paid a homage to the legendary MS Subbulakshmi. The classical dance was an attempt to go back in time and re-live some of the finest moments of Carnatic music.
The dance debut was made by the duo at Karthik Fine Arts on January 7 and they repeated the same at Krishna Gana Sabha on January 11. The siblings began the evening with the kriti “Sriman Narayana” in ragam bowli, talam adi. This song was the first Annamacharya kriti to be recorded by MS and she first sang it in Tirupathi. The first piece set the appropriate tone for the concert, with jathi interspersed with the song to make it a good-paced opening item.
This was followed by the varnam — ‘Maathe Malayadhwaja Pandya Samjaathe’ — which was set in the format of a traditional varnam with the trikaala theermanam. Prabha and Priya later on said that this varnam had been chosen, as it was associated with the interesting anecdote when MS opened her concert with this beautiful piece, at the Music Academy, she received a standing ovation at the end of her rendition.
The dancers explored beautiful sancharis through this piece. Notable was the choreography of the swarams for the varnam. The final piece was a medley of various songs made famous by MS where the transition from one to another was seamless, both in music, as well as, in dance.
The duo was joined by Shreya Lakshmi Kaundinya in this piece. The threesome weaved in and out through the half hour of the medley, that began with ‘Sri Rangapura Vihaara’ which gave us glimpses into the Ramayana. The presentation finished off with ‘Maithreem Bhajatha’ — the hymn penned by the sage of Kanchi, which MS sang at the United Nations. It was indeed a call for universal brotherhood and friendship.
