Exquisite expressions

OVER A period of time a number of statements through the different organs of the media have already ``exquisitely expressed'' what a great dancer Dhananjayan has been. There can be no doubt that he and his equally versatile artiste-wife, Shantha, have contributed a lot to put Bharathanatyam on the global map. This couple has uncompromisingly stood for the purity of this dance tradition in general, and their own Kalakshetra style in particular. Even if there have been slight deviations from their parent tradition, the changes have been introduced only to enrich this dance form, after absorbing, assimilating and internalising whatever these two thought was relevant to raise it newer heights. It is therefore no surprise that a sensitive photographer like Mohan Das V. Badagara has chosen his medium to immobilise the mobile, to freeze and record fractions of continuous movement; not only gross physical movements, but also subtle facial expressions.

Badagara says in his brochure that when he was looking for opportunities to display his skill as a photographer, Dhananjayan encouraged and helped him to have his first two exhibitions in the city. He decided this would be a fitting tribute to express his ``love and respect'' for ``the dancer I know''. The photographs are competent; unfortunately, Badagara's venture stops just there; instead of going on to become an adventure - a journey through emotions, the dancer would have portrayed in the dances the photographer has chosen to highlight. There are 46 photos in all covering three major productions of The Dhananjayans - Thyagaraja Vaibhavam, Sangeetha Maruthi and Radha Madhavam. Stills of Dhananjayan with Padma Subrahmaniam in Viralimalai Kuravanji, the combined effort of many senior dancers and of the Dhananjayans `At Home' on Vijayadasami Day, are also on display.

I went to see the exhibition with the hope of getting a glimpse of the unusual; something that I might have missed out at the time of watching the performances.. I found to my disappointment that though they were good photographs in themselves, their presentation left much to be desired. There seemed neither a concept nor any cogent communication in the manner the photos were arranged. If the pictures of individual dance-dramas had been grouped together, it might have been possible to see in them the minute differences or progression of emotions in the facial expressions. For those who had seen the dances and for those already familiar with Thyagaraja's compositions, mention of the title of the song or reference to the particular sequence would have evoked deep, nostalgic recollections.

Many rasas were presented through these photos; especially in those from Radha Madhavam and Viralimalai Kuravanji; Sringara and krodha in Radha Madhavam and Hasyam, Bhayam and Bheepatsam in Viralimalai Kuravanji. The photographs should certainly have been titled, with short explanatory sentences given under them and definitely numbered to help viewers to relate to them better. It would have given the exhibition a more professional approach too.

The show points towards possibilities of many more artistic and emotive experiences from Badagara through his medium.

PADMA NARAYANAN

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