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Siva in many dimensions
SAILAJA, THIS year's Yuva Kala Bharathi awardee for Kuchipudi coferred by Bharat Kalachar is a versatile dancer. She is adept at Bharatanatyam too. She presented Satyam, Sivam, Sundaram, in Kuchipudi with Sanskrit compositions of ancient and contemporary litterateurs including Adi Shankara, Dikshitar, and Dayanand Saraswathi.
The pieces featured the other evening were penned by Pappu Venugopala Rao and set to music by S. Rajeshwari. Sailaja's orchestra was an asset to the performance. Radha Badri's singing was mellifluous, so was M. S. Kannan on the violin, and Raghava Raman on the flute. Mosalikanti Kishore's nattuvangam and choreography were masterly. Sailaja had developed the theme from many angles. Shiva was projected as a divine teacher, a compassionate God, a celestial dancer.
The first item with its introductory composition, ``Satyam, Sivam Sundaram" in ragamalika by Pappu Venugopal Rao was recited like a kauthuvam, and portrayed Dakshinamoorthy, Shiva and Nataraja. The philosophical angle was explored through the slokhas of Adi Sankara, and through ``Dakshinamoorthe Amoorthe," a composition of Swami Dayanand Saraswathi in Ranjani ragam, Adi talam.
A description of the ultimate guru, the formless, was full of bhakthi. An abstract theme, but the Kuchipudi style allowed Sailaja to use rhythm to keep it buoyant. Shiva's compassionate aspect was demonstrated through Muthuswami Dikshitar's kirtana in Kedaragowla ragam, Rupaka talam. Neelakantam Bhaje gave Sailaja an opportunity to exhibit her abhinaya prowess.
The dancer dwelt at length on Daksha's curse on the moon when he married 27 daughters of Daksha, but lived with only one, his favourite Rohini. The phrase Bhaktha pramukham was used to depict devotees like Markhandeya and Kannappa Nayanar, beneficiaries of Shiva's compassion. Sailaja was fluid in her expressions, gave an unambiguous description of both episodes.
The tandava facet was taken up last, along with a slokha on Nataraja. The seven aspects of the Shiva tandava - Kalika, Gowri, Sandhya, Samhara, Tripura, Oordhva and Ananda - were sketched. The treatment was quite brief, one could only get a fleeting glimpse of what each denoted. In ragamalika, talamilika, the lyrics were by Pappu Venugopala Rao and music by S. Rajeshwari. In between the sahitya, there were short nritta passages. Unfortunately the tandava aspect was not apparent in the nritta sections.
The dancer also has the tendency to skip beats during the speedy nritta passages. Even so, Sailaja comes across as a hardworking artiste growing in skill and stature.
A promising danseuse
One was impressed by what one saw of Gayathri Rajasekharan, a disciple of Jayanthi Subramaniam and Shobana Balachandran. A young dancer endowed with a pretty face and big eyes, she has an intrinsic sense of rhythm. Her footwork was good and her lines were clean, but her body should be steadier.
Her araimandi also warrants attention. The powerful voice of her father, K. Rajeshekar, spearheaded the orchestra. The deft nattuvanar was Shobana Balachandran. Other members of the orchestra were: G. Seetharama Sharma, violin and R. Thyagarajan, flute and M. Balachander, mridangam.
The Anandha Bhairavi varnam of the Thanjavur Quartet was followed by a Kshetrayya padam ``Choodare" in Sahana ragam. The expressive side of the dancer came to the fore in this piece.
A Papanasam Sivam keerthana ``Aadinal Parasakthi" in Kambodhi was next. Gayathri concluded the recital with a thillana in Behag, Kanda chapu talam, composed by Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sharma, and choreographed by the Dhananjayans.
RUPA SRIKANTH
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