Colourful 'Naman'
Nrityantar Academy of Performing Arts conducted 'Naman-2013,' a festival of Odissi dance, last week. It is a pleasant thing to see Madhulita Mohapatra, Odissi dancer, emerging as a good organiser, too. There were three dance recitals, which showcased three different schools of Odissi dance.
Rahul Acharya, who had come from Bhubhaneshwar is a reputed male dancer. He is an important dancer of the Guru Deb Prasad Das 'Baani,' and a recipient of Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. He has performed in many parts of the world. The " Sthayee," which gave him a bright start, attracted with good foot work. In the divine Ashtapadi "Priye Charusheele" his Abhinaya was restrained, but impressive. In the "Ashta Shambhu" describing Shiva, the creator of dance, Rahul Acharya performed different Tandavas vigourously. Ananda Tandava (joy), Sandhya Tandava (evening), Gauri Tandav, Kaaleeka Tandav etc, were depicted with different postures of Shiva energetically.
The dance couple Ramesh Chandra Jena and Madhusmita Mohanty came all theway from Odissa to give a fine Odissi dance recital. Together they presented the 'Navarasa,' through the Ramayana. Each rasa was depicted through an appropriate episode. For instance, Sita's abduction was narrated for 'Bhayanaka' and Shoorpanakha episode for 'Haasya.' Thus joy of Rama and Seetha (Sringara), Dhanurbhanga (Veera), Jatayu's death (Karuna), Setu Bandha (Adbhuta), Rama-Ravana in the battlefield (Raudra rasa) etc, were performed with impactful Abhinaya. In the "Barabadhu" (of Dr Mayadhar Mansingh), Madhusmita Mohanty, performed well with her expressive eyes. Earlier the Nrityantar opened with a fine dance recital of Pavithra Reddy.
Nritya Sambhrama
Natya Niketan got up a pleasant programme last week at the Bangalore Gayana Samaja auditorium. It was a different dance programme, in the sense, Director Revathi Narasimhan's daughter and two grand daughters performed "Nritya Sambhrama." Deepa Srikanth, daughter of Revathi, who has completed 'Ranga Pravesha' long back is a resident of Bangalore as also her daughter - Sahana Kashyap, whereas Revathi's son's daughter Ragashree Komanduri is practicing dance at USA under Kripa Bhaskar.
Though the trio presented nine compositions, the piece de resistance was the celebrated varna "Swamiye Vara." The Dandayudhapani Pillai varna in Poorvi Kalyani raga, narrates how the Nayike longing for the Lord (Subramanya). Ragashree performed the varna with precise foot work and good expression. Deepa shined in the Mohana Keerthane of Papanasam Shivan, and presented the pada (Subbarama Iyer) with good feeling.
All the three joined together in the thillana (Sindhu Bhairavi), followed by Mangala. The trio performed with ease assurance and with neat lines. From the wings - Revathi Narasimhan (Natuvanga), Bharathi Venugopal (vocal), Lingaraju (mridanga), Vivek Krishna (flute), and Madhusudhan (violin) - supported the dancers.
Solo violin
Akkarai Subbalakshmi is one of sought after violinist in the Karnatic music field. She is not only an able accompanist but also a soloist. Subbalakshmi and her younger sister Swarnalatha, who are known as 'Akkarai Sisters,' play violin duet and are also vocalists.
In the current concert, Akkarai sisters' judiciously selected the compositions in choice ragas. The Kaanada varna gave them a sunny start, acquiring a delight as the sisters drifted to 'Drutha Kaala.' Then they chose a composition each of 'Trinity.'
'Anandamurta Karshini' is one of the best composition in the raga Amrithavarshini. In this Keerthane Dikshitar says "O Shive! Bhavani! … I meditate on you always to shower heavy rain ….". The Anandabhairavi composition of Shyama Sastry also helped to bring a true concert atmosphere. Swarnalatha chose Pantuvarali for a detailed elaboration and 'Appa Ramabhakthi' was tuneful with pleasing touches. Both elaborated Bilahari by turns and brought a pleasing imagery of the raga. With a sleek nerval and some sparkling swaraprasthara "Smara Sada Manasa" (Swathi Tirunal) was excellent with fine touches. Arjun Kumar on mridanga accompanied with aplomb and Phaneendra Bhaskar on Ghata followed the suite.
Mysore VSubramanya
Nrityantar Academy of Performing Arts conducted 'Naman-2013,' a festival of Odissi dance, last week. It is a pleasant thing to see Madhulita Mohapatra, Odissi dancer, emerging as a good organiser, too. There were three dance recitals, which showcased three different schools of Odissi dance.
Rahul Acharya, who had come from Bhubhaneshwar is a reputed male dancer. He is an important dancer of the Guru Deb Prasad Das 'Baani,' and a recipient of Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. He has performed in many parts of the world. The " Sthayee," which gave him a bright start, attracted with good foot work. In the divine Ashtapadi "Priye Charusheele" his Abhinaya was restrained, but impressive. In the "Ashta Shambhu" describing Shiva, the creator of dance, Rahul Acharya performed different Tandavas vigourously. Ananda Tandava (joy), Sandhya Tandava (evening), Gauri Tandav, Kaaleeka Tandav etc, were depicted with different postures of Shiva energetically.
The dance couple Ramesh Chandra Jena and Madhusmita Mohanty came all theway from Odissa to give a fine Odissi dance recital. Together they presented the 'Navarasa,' through the Ramayana. Each rasa was depicted through an appropriate episode. For instance, Sita's abduction was narrated for 'Bhayanaka' and Shoorpanakha episode for 'Haasya.' Thus joy of Rama and Seetha (Sringara), Dhanurbhanga (Veera), Jatayu's death (Karuna), Setu Bandha (Adbhuta), Rama-Ravana in the battlefield (Raudra rasa) etc, were performed with impactful Abhinaya. In the "Barabadhu" (of Dr Mayadhar Mansingh), Madhusmita Mohanty, performed well with her expressive eyes. Earlier the Nrityantar opened with a fine dance recital of Pavithra Reddy.
Nritya Sambhrama
Natya Niketan got up a pleasant programme last week at the Bangalore Gayana Samaja auditorium. It was a different dance programme, in the sense, Director Revathi Narasimhan's daughter and two grand daughters performed "Nritya Sambhrama." Deepa Srikanth, daughter of Revathi, who has completed 'Ranga Pravesha' long back is a resident of Bangalore as also her daughter - Sahana Kashyap, whereas Revathi's son's daughter Ragashree Komanduri is practicing dance at USA under Kripa Bhaskar.
Though the trio presented nine compositions, the piece de resistance was the celebrated varna "Swamiye Vara." The Dandayudhapani Pillai varna in Poorvi Kalyani raga, narrates how the Nayike longing for the Lord (Subramanya). Ragashree performed the varna with precise foot work and good expression. Deepa shined in the Mohana Keerthane of Papanasam Shivan, and presented the pada (Subbarama Iyer) with good feeling.
All the three joined together in the thillana (Sindhu Bhairavi), followed by Mangala. The trio performed with ease assurance and with neat lines. From the wings - Revathi Narasimhan (Natuvanga), Bharathi Venugopal (vocal), Lingaraju (mridanga), Vivek Krishna (flute), and Madhusudhan (violin) - supported the dancers.
Solo violin
Akkarai Subbalakshmi is one of sought after violinist in the Karnatic music field. She is not only an able accompanist but also a soloist. Subbalakshmi and her younger sister Swarnalatha, who are known as 'Akkarai Sisters,' play violin duet and are also vocalists.
In the current concert, Akkarai sisters' judiciously selected the compositions in choice ragas. The Kaanada varna gave them a sunny start, acquiring a delight as the sisters drifted to 'Drutha Kaala.' Then they chose a composition each of 'Trinity.'
'Anandamurta Karshini' is one of the best composition in the raga Amrithavarshini. In this Keerthane Dikshitar says "O Shive! Bhavani! … I meditate on you always to shower heavy rain ….". The Anandabhairavi composition of Shyama Sastry also helped to bring a true concert atmosphere. Swarnalatha chose Pantuvarali for a detailed elaboration and 'Appa Ramabhakthi' was tuneful with pleasing touches. Both elaborated Bilahari by turns and brought a pleasing imagery of the raga. With a sleek nerval and some sparkling swaraprasthara "Smara Sada Manasa" (Swathi Tirunal) was excellent with fine touches. Arjun Kumar on mridanga accompanied with aplomb and Phaneendra Bhaskar on Ghata followed the suite.
Mysore VSubramanya