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( A
review of the thematic Bharatanatyam solo performance of Ms Lavanya
Raghuraman, captioned "Neythal- the Continental Shelf". The performance
was held at Esplanade Theatre Studio on 19Feb,2011 at 8pm.)
Neythal
enthralls the Singapore audience
R.Priya
Alapana arts, Singapore
organized "Neythal- the Continental Shelf" , a thematic Bharatanatyam
solo performance of Ms Lavanya Raghuraman, an outstanding disciple of
Padmabhushan Sri V.P.Dhananjayan & Padmabhushan Smt Shantha Dhananjayan.
The performance was held at Esplanade Theatre Studio on 19Feb,2011 at
8pm.
Lavanya performed to a
live music with a full orchestra. alapana arts’ head and the famous
Singapore musician, Mrs R.Banumathy herself was on the Veena providing a
pleasing musical support.
Lavanya is endowed with
perfect rhythmic sense and imagination in translating the bhava of the
lines into probing abhinaya. She had the needed stage presence and her
repertoire included traditional numbers all of them appropriate to the
theme, Ocean and coastal life. Opening the show with a traditional
pushpanjali in Gambhira Nattai, Lavanya went for a complex Kaanal Vari
Padal from the 2nd century Tamil epic, Silappathikaram. It
described the life in Poompuhar, a coastal city which was engulfed by
the sea later. The emotions were portrayed in a picturesque manner. The
visual description of the lamentation of the Nayaka by Lavanya was
moving. She performed this piece with ease posturing as both Male and
female with good effort as well as effect.
The Ashtapadi set to a
dwiragamalika in Adi thalam had abundant scope to convert into assertive
abhinaya and Lavanya did full justice in capturing the mood at every
moment. Jayadeva wrote this to narrate the avatars of Lord Vishnu
wherein the Matsya and Kurma Avatars were taken for Sanchari. True to the
narration, the two avatars coincided with the the Darwin’s theory of
evolution, from Pisces to Amphibians and eventually to the
quadruped
mammals. Lavanya portrayed the change in moods well when the churning of
the ocean of milk to obtain nectar and while Shiva takes the alahal
poison. The footwork and the jatis was impressively planned matching the
superb choreography. The dance is symbolic of creation of life,
preservation of virtues and destruction of evil, eventually establishing
the perpetuity of terrestrial life.
‘Neythal Kali’ from
Kalithogai, a two millenia-old composition set to beautiful tune
enriched the item with glorious history with appropriate Bhavam of a
VirahotKhandita. It was an intelligent idea to have used a traditional
Pann without losing the charm in presenting to the audience of current
times. This can be said to be a pure abhinaya piece, presented well.
A contrast of mood was
set in the next number, a unique African poem, read with emotional
modulations by the emcee, Ms Divyapradha, for which Lavanya did the
Abhinaya. Usually, in such oral descriptions accompanied by the dancer’s
expressions, there will generally be a time lag between the two. It was
probably well rehearsed with absolutely synchronized and in unison at
every instance. It was a well-thought-of item, considering the presence
of a substantial Non-Indian audience. The folk tune on the instruments
brought out a truly joyous fisherman dancing to his heart's content
together with the hard-earned catch of the day. Lavanya transformed
herself into a tribal man instantly to suit the character.
Through the final item,
a Nritangaharam (Thillana) Lavanya left an indelible mark of a class
dancer. Her brisk footwork went in tandem with the percussion lifting
the professional quality of the performance to highly commendable
levels. After all, the choreography of her Gurus - the Dhananjayans was
adding to the facility with which Lavanya handled the item comprising
many twists to many traditional adavus.
The audience were
simply spell-bound.
Popular artistes from
Chennai, Mrs R.Vanathy and Mr V.Vedakrishnan provided the voice and
percussion support respectively. Besides Mrs Banumathy on the Veena,
talented teachers of alapana arts, Ms K.G.Lakshmi was on the Nattuvangam
cymbols and Mr Gokulakrishna was on the Violin and Flute. The
well-projected voice with balanced percussion and melodic support had a
positive effect and the live presentation cast a spell throughout the
performance. The music support was perfect, appropriate to the mood and
pleasant.
Esplanade Theatre
Studio is well-equipped with a number of features, which is also
responsible for enhancing the standard of the performance to a
world-class one. The acoustics, neat tones of each instrument with
clarity, soothing lights to depict the scene to the desired effect. The
venue also provides a cozy space at the entrance to the hall with
artistic ambiance for the members of the audience to meet the Dancer,
have post-performance discussions, convey words of praise and also to
pose for a photograph with the artist.
The undercurrent of
emotions associated with Neythal is supposed to be ‘Lamentation’ and as
if doing justice to the title, the beholder laments that such a
splendid performance was over too soon. |