Lively vocal
Smt. Ammanni Iyengar was a veteran social worker and a great philanthropist.
She has led several institutions and has also served a number of social and religious organizations. In her memory, a cultural programme is sponsored every year by Smt.
Vimala Rangachar at the M.E.S. Kalavedi.
This year, Vidwan N Vijaya Shiva, one of our reputed artistes, gave the Ammanni Iyengar Memorial Music Concert on Saturday.
The "Gamganapathe" in Hamsadwani was the opening piece of Vijaya Shiva's concert, which also had a brief swara.
He sang "Sharanam Sharanam" in Asaveri and moved to a more appealing raga.
Hamir Kalyani added a lively lilt to his singing and the krithi "Venkata Shyla Vihara" was enriched with evocative swara prasthara. It was followed by a krithi of Shyama Sastry "Himachala Thanaya" in Anandabhairavi.
A number of sangathies touching the pivotal swaras, made the alapana of Nagaswaravali a memorable one, which was followed by "Sree Pathe Neepada" of Tyagaraja with a meaningful 'Nerval'.
Then a quick "Chinthaye Mahalingamurthim" and the highlight of the programme was the delineation of that grand mode Bhairavi, in all its glory for the composition "Upacharamu Chekonavayya" of Saint Tyagaraja.
The nerval and the swara prasthara further enhanced the musical stature of the vocalist. Two young artistes Amrutha Murali and Mannarkoil Balaji gave good support on violin and mridanga respectively.
Dance drama
Madhulita Mohapatra, host and director of Nrityantar, excelled in the Abhinaya piece - "Harirabhisarati" of Jayadeva.
Curtains came down on the "Abhivadan" with a dance drama "Shrusti-o-Pralaya," which was based on the cyclone that wrecked havoc in coastal Orissa in 1999, as seen through the eyes of a young girl dealing with death and destruction.
With excellent film and photographs in the background, the young dancers performed impressively under the direction of Madhulitha Mohapatra.
It is necessary to devote a little more time on stage for each artiste to prove their mettle and instead of performing one item in each session (first half and second half), it would have been better to perform continuously for better impact.
Abhivadan
Nrityantar, one of the Odissi dance schools in the City, has been training young aspirants from the last 5 years and also conducts dance programmes annually.
Last Sunday, Nrityantar conducted the 'Abhivadan,' a classical dance festival.
Different forms of dance like Odissi, Kathak and Bharathanatyam, brought colour and variety to the festival.
"Swamy neenu Shaswatha Neenu", a popular Kannada vachana of Basavanna, was the inaugural piece of the festival.
It was performed in Kathak style by Sweekruth B.P. He is a disciple of Nirupama and Rajendra and Ishira Parikh and head of the dance school "Sathkrutha Academy of Movement and Expression". In the second half, he performed Jhap taal of ten beats, which was proof of his hard 'Sadhana'.
Another dancer who caught the attention of the audience was Rahul Acharya, a Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar Awardee.
He chose a popular Astapadi of Jayadeva "Priye Charushile". His Abhinaya was appealing in Astapadi and depicted various types of Tandava elegantly in "Shivashtakam".
Vidyashree Radhakrishna who gave a Bharathanatya recital, is a student of Muralidhara Rao and has received higher training from Adyar Lakshman.
She presented a varna in Tohdi raga, with ease and assurance. Also her Abhinaya was pleasing in the Subramanya Bharathi's "Chinna Chinna Kiliye".