Bharatanatyam performance by Jyotsna Jagannathan at the Pongal festival of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, held in January 2023. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Bharatanatyam dancer Jyotsana Jagannathan performing a padavarnam, ‘Sarsijakshudu’ (Thanjavur Quartet’s Kalyani, Rupaka, Sivanandam), in which the musician ‘kamal-nayan’ praises Krishna. She moves to a place on the stage in the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, and draws a picture of a pond with lotuses. As she is admiring them, Krishna walks past. He set the context poetically.
It is this value addition that brings maturity to Jyotsna. She is a complete dancer – her dance sparkles with exquisite footwork and grace, while her diction is expressive. ‘Sarsijakshudu’ imagines a procession passing her way and all the heroine sees are lotus eyes. She is lost in wonder, in love too.
Unfortunately, the clarity in the imagery didn’t continue through the display. Her body is burning, she is crying and tears form puddles in which Krishna plays nonchalantly – picturized in the second half of the pallavi ‘Sami ninnu jeera vacchira na’ which roughly means, ‘I want to be with you’ I have come. In her artistic journey, Jyotsna stretches the imagination beyond the limits of words. Like the unhurried manner of a picture story in Padam, she seeks to deepen the makeup effect. It’s a good start, but needs to be improved.
Thiramanam (Nagai Sriram) shines with the dancer’s fitness and timing and Nattuvannar Udaya Shankar Lal’s able handling. The third and subsequent rhythmic sequence, ‘Jhanu Taka’ was particularly catchy. Although the high pitch of the cymbals was jarring.
After catching Subramanya red-handed, the heroine is unforgiving in ‘Idai Vida’ (Saveri. Rupak, Subbarama Iyer). She accuses him of infidelity and refuses to listen to any explanation. The anger was there till the end, but one felt that the emotional connect needed more depth with hurt and sarcasm to build the mood.
In the Ashtapadi ‘Pashyati Disi’, long-suffering Radha becomes consumed with the search for Krishna and sees him everywhere. She loses her identity and dresses like him in her lethargic state. Jyotsna did well in this intense piece, with Ishwar Ramakrishnan (violin) and PK Sivaprasad (mridangam) Deepu Nair showing what a sensitive vocalist he can be.