Overdose of theatrics
V. V. RAMANI
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Sailaja's depiction revealed quiet competence and mastery in nritta.
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At the Indian Fine Arts Society, the curtain rose to a garland of verses in praise of Lord Rama titled, `Pibare Rama Rasam.'
The performance of Sailaja and her disciples heralded the show with a rhythmic fervour to the Thyagaraja Pancharatna classic, `Jagadanandaka.' Theermanams after theermanams for each chittaswara performed by alternating pair of dancers set the pace for the evening's recital.
Exhibiting a quiet competence and mastery in nritta, Sailaja's portrayal for the Devagandari Kriti `Ksheerasagara' focussed more on elaborated theatrics laced with exaggeration like the sequence of the Gajendra Moksham and in the Tulsidas bhajan.
In the portrayal of the various Asuras she excelled herself.
For the audience to experience Rasanubava it is very important for the artistes on stage, (both the dancers and the musicians), to perform bearing in mind the mood of the song. Bereft of soul, the poignant mood and bhava were thus lost to the audience in that day's rendering of `Ksheerasagara.'
PHOTO: K.N.MURALIDHARAN.
RHYTHMIC FERVOUR: Sailaja and her disciples.
The rhythmic cadence woven with theatrics continued to dominate in the Mohanam item `Dasavatara' and the Tulsidas bhajan `Sriramachandra.'
Bhajans focus on evoking bhakti bhava. Here, each stanza was elaborated with story telling sequences and it seemed like a three dimensional picturisation of the Amar Chitra Katha series. The dancer should remember that an overdose of rhythm sans bhava can tend to dilute the impact of a performance.
A rankling thought that stayed throughout the performance was the lack of coordination in movements and costume — colours, to the extent that even the Anjali Mudra stance taken by the dancers as the curtain dropped had a variable time factor.
The competent vocal support of Randhini was devoid of bhava, so essential for a dance recital. Musalikanti Kishore on nattuvangam Haribabu on mirdangam, Kannan on violin and Muthukumar on flute provided the necessary support.
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