New themes skilfully presented

THE ANNUAL dance feature of the International Dance Alliance in association with Abhai, took place recently as a two-day event. Leela Sekhar, the prime force behind this, deserves praise for taking keen interest in such artistic endeavours. However, the organiser who is assisted by a talented team of dancers and dance teachers including Usha Srinivasan, Radhika Surajith and others, must adopt norms for the selection of the artistes and their groups.

The first day's event began with a dedicated band of students of Chitra Visweswaran. An ideal theme, appropriate for the present dance scene, Guru Bhakti, was presented with dance direction by Chitra and music composition by Visweswaran. The melody of the music and the austerity of the different verses and selections from authentic texts and hymns, especially those of Adi Sankara, blended very well with the dramatic skills of the sincere students of Chitra (Sukanya, Vijay Madhavan, Lakshmi Ramaswamuy, Priya Murali, Aniruddh and others).

The essence of the Vazhuvur tradition was to be seen in the presentation of Navarasa Nayaka by Natyapriya group of Padmini Ramachandran of Bangalore. Kirti Ramgopal, Navia Natarajan and Shilpa Uthappa gave a lively depiction of the nine emotions attributed to the Lord of Dance-Siva-Nataraja Himself, narrated through different episodes. There was not a dull moment anywhere in this presentation.

``Aadavane'', a varnam in praise of Sun God was an interesting composition by Madurai R. Muralidharan although the dancers did not live up to the expectations.

Less said the better about the items and the technique presented by the students of Saroja Vaidyanathan of Ganesa Natyalaya from New Delhi.

Swarnamalya's offering titled, ``A journey to the Heavens'' was not as inspiring as the theme which dealt with the mighty mountain Kailasa. Hamsi of Brhaddhwani commenced the presentation with her melodious singing (though at times shrill) of a verse in praise of the mountain. Swarnamalya, with her skill in dance and theatre, gave a graceful portrayal to the pleasant instrumental music along with a couple of male dancers. But somehow there was no real joy or spirit that arose out of this contemporarised version of the beauty of the legendary mountain.

A thoughtful theme on the co-existence of various elements of Nature, like Light and Darkness, Fire, Water, Earth, Man and Woman, was well depicted by the team of dancers led by Kavitha Ramu and Sheejith Krishna. Sheejith with his expertise in choreography did well with Kavitha and others putting in ample effort to make the production lively. Revathy Sankaran, the brain behind the concept and lyrics, deserves mention.

The second day's event began with the dance recital of the three- fold manifestation of the Mother Goddess as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati aptly represented with three different forms of dance of the South by Sailaja as Durga (Bharatanatyam), Uma Muralikrishna as Lakshmi (Kuchipudi) and Roja Kannan as Saraswati (Mohiniyattom). The talented trio brought in the salient features of each form of the Goddess with suitable compositions. While Sailaja and Roja did justice to their portrayals, Uma lacked in proper communication of the different details of the beautiful sahitya of the kriti, ``Mahalakshmi''. The short Sanskrit lyrical pieces of Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao at the beginning and the major pieces sung by Shobhana were not audible because of poor mike arrangements.

Quantity rather than quality seemed to be the priority of dancer and actress Shobhana of Kalaarpana who brought in 50 students in her presentation titled Thaalaattu (lullaby). Shobhana deserves credit for putting on stage so many of her aspiring students.

Although it was heartening to see these budding artistes occupy the entire stage for the story of Lord Rama, the production as such lacked editing. Many of the dancers seemed to lack proper basic training.

A pleasant mood set in with the soft tunes of ``Ganesha Vandana'', offered by the students of Kathak exponent, Maya Rao, and her daughter Madhu Natraj Heri from Bangalore (The Natya and Stem dance Ensemble). A musical and dance fusion venture exploring the limits of Time and Space fulfilled the contemporary expression of the dance idiom. Madhu and group concluded with a lively Taraana that culminated in a blend of joyful music and rhythm.

The programme that followed contained a refreshing, soothing and pleasant handling and portrayal of the theme - Tathaastu by a talented group of students of Anita Guha of Bharatanjali, School of Dance. With just five dancers, Anita had a lot to convey, through an apt dance format. The choice of the theme, apt lyrical format (written by P. R. Venkatasubrahmanian), neat elaboration by the dancers, and crisp rendering of the ideas made this production a very impressive performance. Anita as the main singer sang with feeling.

Devi Kamakshi (vocal assistance) and Padmanabhan (mridangam) were noteworthy among the supportive orchestral group. The star attraction in this group was certainly little Medha Hari in the role of Lord Muruga. Though brief, she stole the show with her astonishing skill in Nritta (all jatis set by Madurai R. Muralidharan) receiving thunderous applause from the audience. With her smiling face she fitted into the role exactly. Aishwarya Narayanaswamy (as Siva), and other young artistes in this group proved their deep commitment to the responsibility.

Manjari takes credit for setting the dance to describe the beauty, and radiance of the moon, the vast star studded sky, the cool rays of the moon that pervade the entire environment. Although this theme game ample scope for beautiful exploration the production did not create the right impact, probably due to the selection of a not very familiar text or the tunes that were mostly Hindustani based. A dull note prevailed in this sincere attempt. Priyasri Rao, main vocalist, lacked a certain soft, pleasant and moving touch, particularly required for such a tender topic. The portions selected from the text of Nalachampu, were not sung clear enough to understand the content and their import.

Bharatanatyam may lend itself to innovations and interpretations, but the beauty of tradition cannot be disputed. Traditional artist Thanjavur Jaya Arunachalam Pillai's students ably conducted her daughter-in-law, Subhashini, and son, Chandrasekhar (Mridangam) gave a crisp presentation of a lilting Tillana in Raga Valaji, composed by the laya exponent, the late Thanjavur Upendran. The young dancers did a neat execution of this intricate number, creating joy and peace at the conclusion of this mixed fare, titled `Nrityamalaa', garland of colourful dance indeed.

NANDINI RAMANI

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