Graceful Arangetram celebrates tradition and talent
Brahmakumaris Auditorium, Gachibowli on Friday evening was the venue for the Arangetram of 22-year-old Anagha Krishnakumar and 20-year-old Ananya Krishnakumar, sisters and disciples of Guru Praveena Vadapalli. Praveena’s Bharatanatyam dance institute ‘Nrityopachara’ has won acclaim for the brilliance of the students carefully guided by her. Both sisters are graded artists by Doordarshan Kendra, Hyderabad. Anagha is a working IT professional. Ananya, a B.Tech student, is a diploma holder in dance and also a CCRT scholarship holder. The sisters in scarlet attire looked composed as they opened the recital with a unique composition, ‘Shankara Bhujanga Mala’, designed by their Guru especially for that evening. Five verses from five Bhujanga stotras of Adi Shankaracharya, in praise of Ganesha, Kumara, Sharada, Bhavani and Shiva, were strung together with jatis and swaras interspersed to make an apt piece invoking the blessings of all the deities. The tattva of each particular deity (Ganesha as Lord of Ganas, adorned with a serpent garland dancing to the tinkle of bells; Skanda, the slayer of Taraka, rider of the peacock and consort of Valli; Saraswati, the embodiment of knowledge radiating compassion; Lalita Tripura Sundari shining in the Srichakra accompanied by all the Shaktis; and Shiva as pure consciousness beyond all stages) was conveyed exuberantly in myriad variegated poses in finely balanced nritta and abhinaya as the dancers crisscrossed and formed tableaux.
Praveena next chose a very traditional Varnam of the Tanjore Quartet—an ashta ragamalika, ‘Sami Ninne Korinanu Ra’. Composed in a very complex structure, calling for a requirement of jatis in the second half also, the varnam was themed on the typical lovelorn nayika pining for Lord Brihadeeswara of Tanjore and calling out to him, requesting his grace. The slow-paced, expansive varnam was gracefully executed with just enough shades of the degree of abhinaya required. The jatis composed by Sri Renuka Prasad were intoned lucidly by Praveena and executed by her students with utmost clarity. Her heart pierced unbearably by the arrows of Manmatha, the unequalled nayika implores the Lord to unite with her in bliss without delay as the moon shines and mountain breezes waft. Sanchari showed Shiva assimilating the snakes, deer, tiger and Apasmara called up by the pine forest sages in anger.
The following piece requested the audience to indulge in contemplating upon ‘Sri Hari’—
‘Hari Smarane Madho’ of Purandaradasa in raga Yaman Kalyani. It was performed first by the older of the sisters, Anagha, in a saffron yellow dress. She very competently took the audience through the stories of Draupadi Vastrapaharanam and Prahlada Narasimha. The younger one, Ananya, wearing a parrot green costume, in the other half jumped into a bubbly, energetic ‘Gopalaka Pahimam’ of Swati Tirunal in Revagupti. To expand on the word Gopalaka, Praveena preluded the piece with the Govardhana Giridhari story where Lord Krishna not only protects the cows but also the entire Brindavanam. This piece has a jati portion as an interlude between each charanam, which was choreographed and executed with rigour. Ananya extols the Lord as the one who showed all the worlds in his mouth to mother Yashoda and the one who gave boundless wealth to Kuchela and many more. She performed these stories just in two lines, as is apt for the composition.
Next, the sisters broke into a sparkling kavadi chindu, a folklore from Tamil Nadu—’Villinai Otha Puruvam’, i.e., one who has brows like a bow, in praise of Lord Kumara. Every stanza has references to Valli Kalyanam—stories of how Kumaraswamy comes in disguise as a hunter and later as an old man to test Valli and marry her. In order not to break the flow of the fast-paced composition to enact the story, Praveena once again decided to precede the composition with the story of the Kalyanam. This piece too was set with folk interludes and apt folk movements were picked up for the same.The Arangetram concluded with a traditional thillana of Muthiah Bhagavatar in Hamir Kalyani. A soothing thillana which was choreographed neatly in a very traditional pattern. The Mangalam was an energetic abhang, ‘Namdev Kirtan Kari’, which was sung and performed very energetically. With Kanakam Chandar Rao on vocals, Chandrakanth on mridangam, Kolanka Sai on violin, Uma Venkateswarulu on flute, and Prasanna Kumar on the rhythm pad all the wayfrom Bangalore, the orchestra ensemble of accomplished, seasoned artists brought energy to the program. Sahitya Ramkumar was the compere of the evening, adding lustre with her clear diction and engaging exposition. Dr. Anupama Kylash and Dr. Jayachandrangraced the occasion as guests.
