Crisp recitals

Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Appealing: Jyothi Natanam.

Senior disciples of the Sri Saraswathi Gana Nilayam gave thematic presentations on July 27 at their 70th anniversary celebrations, held at Narada Gana Sabha. Notable among the events were the dance by students of Sri Saraswathi Natyalaya, Muscat, and Sree Padmalaya, Chennai.

The care taken by the directors of the schools, Padmini Krishnamurthy and Padmalaksshme Suresh, was evident in the performances.

Dressed in simple but elegant costume, the students of Sri Saraswathi Natyalaya threw light on the concept of aesthetics. Through different stories from the ‘Mahabharata’ and ‘Ramayana,’ they brought out the beauty of bhakti, truth, charity and the Tamil language. A number of jatis were interwoven into the drama.

‘Om Sakthi’ was what Padmalaksshme Suresh presented. Murugan, Vinayagar and Kalinganardanam were all featured in the drama. The rhythmic variations and orientation with nritta, typically resembled the choreography of their guru, Ranganayaki Jayaraman.

Binesh Mahadevan’s students belonging to Akshaya Arts gave a colourful recital of Lord Surya, his birth and other related stories. The highlight of Padmapriya Prakash’s School, Golden Talent, was a chathurmalika jatiswaram.

It rained rhythm in the four items by the students of the Nilayam. Calculation, co-ordination, grace and melody went hand in hand in pieces such as pinnal kolattam, kummi, kolattam and jyothi nadanam.

Creative thinking and innovative ideas marked Akshaya Ganesh’s recital. She began with a mallari and gave a multi-dimensional facet to the art form when she performed to the bhajan, ‘Lachiki Lachiki.’

She concluded with a tillana in Kuntalavarali which was a composition of maestro Balamuralikrishna.

She is a student of Nrithyollasa Dance Academy. Indumathy Ganesh, the director of the academy, is the daughter-in-law of Ranganayaki Jayaraman.

The programme concluded with a harvest dance by students of Sri Saraswathi Gana Nilayam.

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