It was gratifying to judge the caliber of young dancers who exhibited their latent talent at ‘Nava Pallava’ by Ananya at Seva Sadana, Malleshwaram. The opportunity provided by Ananya for upcoming artistes is a great impetus for aspiring artistes to continue with their pursuit of dance. Their understanding and awareness of art was noteworthy.In their short duration dance recitals, four enthusiastic dancers Rashmi Rajagopal, Sandhya Kamal and Divya Ravi (all Bharatanatyam) and Manasa Joshi(Kathak) impressed the rasikas by dancing with exquisite grace and finesse. Clean shoulder lines and neat profile of the dancers were a pleasure to watch. The recorded music was appropriate and rewarding too.Interesting Swarajathi varnaThe curtain rose with an amazing Bharatanatyam performance by Rashmi Rajagopal. Trained by Guru Lalitha Srinivasan, Rashmi danced a rare and interesting Swarajathi varna set to Yadukula Kambhoji raga by the Tanjavur quartet with ease. The nayika extols the beauty and greatness of her Lord Tanjavur Brihadeeshwara and expresses her undying love towards Him. This was actualised by Rashmi in her expressive abhinaya. The Swarajathi varna has swaras and jathis.Generally it doesn’t have sahitya or even if it were to be there a very less importance is given to it. Rashmi’s taut nritta comprised of a demanding combination of swaras, jathis and matching aduvus. She pleased the rasikas with her excellent enactment of a Tulasidas bhajan(Sri Ramachandra krupalu; Kamavardhini).Lively dancingEndowed with a slender body and powerful dancing capabilities, Sandhya Kamal, a proud disciple of guru Vani Ganapathi, exhibited an admirable flair for abhinaya.With a measure of rhythmic control, she displayed a praiseworthy hold over nritta, nrithya and abhinaya in the delineation of the Mohana Kalyani varna ‘Vallavainayaka’. The varna addressed to the Lord Ganesha brought to the fore a skilled dancer. The post charana part was rendered in drutha kaala. Her imagination conjuring up the varied images of Lord Ganesha on the basis of different names of the deity was shown with precision and economy in the abhinaya.Commendable rhythmKathak dance was glorified with Manasa Joshi’s inspired dancing marked by sincerity and conviction, enthusiasm and joy. Dancing with aplomb and commendable rhythm control, Manasa, the prominent disciple of seasoned Kathak-dancercouple- gurus Nirupama Rajendra and T D Rajendra, did her gurus proud. Her chakkars (pirouettes) were executed with good poise and balance. She packed Vishnu vandana (Shanthaakaaram; Yaman) with aamads, tihais and chakkars rendered with a feel for delicacy of movements.The abhinaya in kavith was endearing. The pada kriyas and the tatkar vocabulary resonated in a gradually increasing kaala pramana.Wearing mughal costumes she enacted with enthusiasm a ghazal by Ibrahim Shah ‘Ek naari dekhiya’. The ghazal explained the greatness of a woman and acted as an embodiment of Dashavataras.The Desh tarana once again highlighted the dancer’s nritta hold.Bristling jathisBristling with jathis, aduvus and nritta, Divya Ravi, a student of Gurus Kiran Subramanya and Sandhya Subramanya danced with relaxed enjoyment.Dandayudhapani Pillai’s Poorvikalyani varna (Swamiye vara cholladi) brought out the finer aspects of Bharatanatyam nritta.The straight back, the hip joint controlling and dictating movement, the shoulder level and the torso inclines — are some of the finer aspects that gave quality to her movements. Without disturbing the bhava and distraction of laya, she portrayed the theme involving nayika, sakhi and Lord Subrahmaneshwara.
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