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Photos: N. Sridharan and M. Karunakaran

Neat performances: Vijnarani Vasudevan

Vijnarani Vasudevan is a very good ambassador for this school of Bharatanatyam. A charming dancer, her performance was a pleasure to watch. She began her performance with ‘Gaiye Ganpathi Jag Vandan,’ a Tulsidas Bhajan set to melodious music by C.V.Chandrasekhar.

With a nice bass flute introduction by Sunil Kumar and subdued mridangam by Kartikeyan, this neatly executed item which dedicated the various arts to Lord Vinayaka set the tone for the rest of the performance.

The nrityopaharam was a Papanasam Sivan composition in Mayamalavagowla — ‘Mayam edo swamy’ where the nayika wonders why her Lord is so elusive. The nritta section had pleasing jathis (the tho din din na in particular), apart from a slight repetition in the second one, and Vijnarani performed them with stability and precision, while Divya Sivasundar recited them with clarity. Vijnarani’s hand positions and postures, even in the basic natyaramba, were balanced and aesthetic. Her thi thi thais were also strikingly neat. Her depiction of the lovelorn maiden was studied and the abhinaya was appropriate, though it did not go beyond communicative abhinaya into emotive. This, however, proved to be an advantage in the Behag Javali that followed, Vagaladi which came across with dignity and elegance. The Nrittangaharam in Desh composed by Ranganayaki Jayaraman concluded the performance which had very good flute accompaniment by Sunilkumar. Vanathi Raghuraman was the vocalist for the evening.

Shafeekudeen, another disciple of the Dhananjayans, a post-graduate from Madras University, began his performance with a slokam, ‘Omkara Vakyam,’ sung melodiously by Sashidharan. Shafeekudeen followed it up with ‘Shri Gambhiranatya Ganapathe’ interspersing the descriptive passages with brisk rhythmic sequences set to music. The Dharmavathy Nrityopaharam composed by Sitarama Sarma appropriately paid obeisance to Lord Siva. The stories of Markandeya and Nandanar as well as the manifestation of Sri Kalahasteeswara at the behest of the spider, the serpent and the elephant were brought out in this varnam. In the charanam extolling the jyotirlinga, the jathi was dynamic, as was the introduction of khandam in the thattumettu . In keeping with the tradition of Bharathakalanjali, Shafeekudeen’s performance was neat and tidy, with light jumps, clean, though slightly unsteady footwork and well rehearsed abhinaya.

This was also the case with the bhajan that followed, a Mysore Vasudevachar composition in Abheri ragam on Lord Krishna. ‘Aadum paadanai,’ an Ambujam Krishna composition in Latangi was the concluding item of the evening. Both the padams were handled in a straightforward manner without much elaboration. Shafeekudeen is an enthusiastic and competent dancer and he had very good support in the team of musicians- Ramesh Babu on the mridangam, Muthukumar on the flute, Vinod on the violin, Lakshminarayanan on the tambura. Guru Shantha Dhananjayan conducted the programme.

Shafeekudeen.

Ganesha stuti, composed by Rajkumar Bharathi and choreographed to depict Ganesha in procession with the accompanying musicians and devotees, marked the start of the performance of Shobhana Balachander.

The ragamalika varnam on Lord Siva, Nrityapriya, with music by T.K.Padmanabhan (who also provided the violin accompaniment that evening), offered Shobhana more scope for showcasing her dancing talent and several events from mythology were effectively depicted: Dakshayani’s self-immolation and the consequent ceasing of movement in nature, the story of Ganga and her being bound in Shiva’s locks (nicely choreographed), the wedding of Sundaresan and Meenakshi and the story of Markandeya.

The extensive nritta had Ramesh Babu (mridangam) and Neela Sukanya (nattuvangam) lending full and very good support.

It was the Kshetragnya padam in Anandabhairavi that brought out Shobhana’s maturity in expression as she depicted the nayika recounting the words her Lord had spoken to her before He left. Her concern about His wellbeing —whether He was eating well, or sleeping well — was expressed with emotion.

With nice thattu mettu, this item was very well choreographed and performed. The next padam, ‘Enna thavam seidhanai’ had a lovely flute introduction by Muthukumar and the performance concluded with an energetic nrittangaharam in Kanada in which some of the movements at the end did seem a bit impromptu. Vocal support for this programme was by Vanathi Raghuraman.

A brisk pushpanjali followed by the slokam Gajananam started off K.P.Yashoda’s performance on the concluding day of the festival. The main item, ‘Nee Inda Mayam Seydal’ had been choreographed and taught to her by Guru Adyar Lakshman who also conducted the programme.

The item focussed on the exploits of young Krishna, and in the charanam, in an unusual choreography, the story of Krishna kicking the Sakatam, the kalinga nardanam and the lifting of the Govardhanagiri were introduced between the charanams.

‘Yedukkitthanai modi’ was a nice ninda sthuthi in Surutti and this was followed by a tillana in Hindolam. Yashoda performed the thillana with a practised confidence not entirely present in the varnam and there was good variation in the final charanam .

Sai Shankar has a very nice voice and Ramesh Babu provided firm and excellent percussion support. Vinod on the violin and Lakshminarayanan on the tambur were familiar faces and Sashidharan provided flute accompaniment.

Shobhana Balachander.

The final performance of the series was that of Hemant and Vijaylakshmi. The students of Dr. Vasundara Doraiswamy of Mysore and the Dhananjayans respectively, they performed in two styles. The alarippu was a well-choreographed joint item using alapadmam in place of the traditional tripatakam in many of the movements.

The demanding but beautifully written varnam in Ritigowla was performed by Hemant to nattuvangam by Vijaylakshmi. This very dramatised rendition elaborated stories from Krishna’s life, the birth, the slaying of Putana, His teasing the gopis and the Gitopadesam.

Hemant brought high energy to his performance, though it was sometimes at the cost of technique and style. Vijaylakshmi’s plea to Lord Krishna to go to Radha in ‘Savirahe Thava Deena’ was underplayed and graceful.

The concept of depicting the different stages of a man’s life, devoting old age to meditation and prayer, thus attaining salvation was an interesting idea in Bho Shambho (performed by Hemant) , an item that also dramatised the story of Bhagirata.

Hemant and Vijaylakshmi wound up the performance with Ganesha Pancharatnam to excellent musical accompaniment by Gopinath (vocal), Anilkumar (mridangam), Sureshkumar (violin), Sankaranarayanan (flute) and, of course, Lakshminarayanan (tambura).

Across the board, dedication , practice and a faithful adherence to what they are taught was evident in the students of the Dhananjayans’ dance school, though movements were sometimes left incomplete in the faster sections of the dance.

Various positions of the feet and gathis were used very effectively in the choreography. Internalisation of the abhinaya would serve to enhance the performances more.

It was also heartening to see that the series was very well attended, though the audience seemed to be a bit biased. It has become tradition to applaud each jathi and while the merits of doing so are debatable, it was surprising to note that the same audience that applauded enthusiastically during one programme, did not even clap politely for another equally deserving performance. After all, dance is an art form that needs an audience and a dancer’s reward is the appreciation of the audience.

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