CHENNAI: Sixty-odd pairs of eyes faced the stage at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on Friday, waiting for the curtain to rise. A kid wearing an orange kurta and white pyjama excitedly told his friend, “I am excited for my mother’s performance.”
The red stage curtains were pulled up, and facing the audience was the ensemble — nattuvangam by Sai Kripa, vocal by Srikanth Gopalkrishnan, mridangam by Bharadwaj, violin by Easwar Ramakrishnan, and flute by Muthukumar. The next moment, the audience was enthralled by a soft yellow-toned spotlight hitting a performer draped in green and maroon silk saris with zari work.
With a captivating performance that blended traditional roots with a global touch, Bharatanatyam dancer Anwesha Das, Urmila Sathyanarayanan’s student under the auspices of Kartik Fine Arts, with her grace and steps added to the Margazhi season from the stages of the United States to the closed auditoriums of Chennai.
Anwesha shared, “Performing during Margazhi marks a beautiful culmination of all the sadhana I have put in through the year. It is also a humble offering of my love for the art form in a space where Bharatanatyam thrives and is alive in all its glory.”
Anwesha has made a deal to come to the city every year during the season because, “I see it as an opportunity to push my boundaries and grow as an artiste, where we challenge ourselves with either new work or the kind of content we are presenting.
The artistic growth during the season motivates me to do more.” Appreciating her, industrialist Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti said, “All her adavus and bhavas were on point. She did not miss a single beat. I have been watching her perform for 20 years now and she has improved very well in communicating the narratives.”
Like him, many rasikas were drawn to a beautiful celebration of rhythm and dedication, illuminating Margazhi’s spiritual core. Anwesha said, “Performing during the Margazhi season is an enriching experience. The exchange for high standards of art around that time makes it a fulfilling and gratifying experience for the artistes performing and the audience who is receiving the art.”
On stage, she wove stories of devotion and tradition. The cold evenings’ first piece was the Shiva Alaripu, depicting how Lord Shiva broke his dhanush (bow), a precursor to the main performance on Shringara Varnam, the king of rasas. “I have wanted to do a Shringara Varnam for a long time. It is where the heroine is smitten by lord Shiva. She is intoxicated by his love,” she elucidated.
The next in line was Tulsidas’ Shri Ramachandra Kripalu bhajan. “It is one of my personal favourites. It has a calming feel and the choreography, where we see Hanuman expressing his love, and devotion towards lord Rama, is so beautiful. I feel deeply connected to that,” she said.
This was followed by a Javali. “That kind of abhinaya piece is one of my personal favourites where mostly the lyrics are in Telugu, and they always have a nice, playful tone to it. So I chose the Javali Nee Matale,” shared the performer. Anwesha ended her recital with a Thillana.
Anwesha’s performance had a motive — for the audience to appreciate and understand the rich cultural heritage of India. “I usually like to bring the beauty of our culture and heritage and present it to the audience. Because that’s what I also enjoy as a performer,” she said. She believes that the Margazhi month is meant for such offerings because, “Whatever you have practised in the year, you present it as an offering during this season,” she concluded.
As the show came to an end, the auditorium reverberated with applause and appreciation and Anwesha was overjoyed. But the most important of all was her son sharing his view on the dance. “I loved watching my mom on stage. She was fabulous and I love her,” he said with a wide, proud smile.