Pallava Kala Utsav, an annual dance event organized by Indu and Nidesh under their banner Indisha Trust, featured many young and experienced dancers. The final performance in this series was Kuchipudi singing by Lasya Narasimhachari.
He chose compositions from the Kuchipudi repertoire of his parents and gurus, Vasanthalakshmi and Narasimhachari. The performance began with a passage addressed to the goddess Bala Tripurasundari of Kuchipudi village, the Purvarangam ‘Jayamu Sri Bala Tripurasundariki’ a song in the raga Hansdhwani and Kamboji.
A Ragamalika Padam on Ashtanayaka was interesting as it focused on a woman’s journey through love and longing. Written by Premendra, composed and choreographed by Narasimhachari and Vasanthalakshmi, this padam gave the dancer ample scope to explore her acting skills.
myriad emotions of a hero
After enthralling the audience in the raga Kalyani played by Bhavani Prasad on the veena, the dancer came into limelight for presenting each of the eight heroes and their mood through simple postures and sculptural poses. She later confidently explores the myriad shades of the heroine’s emotions as she caresses the blooming lotus, delicately picks the flower that falls on her shoulder, slams the door angrily, and then walks away to her lover. She runs to open it to see what happened.
Throwing light on the 11 aspects of dance as described in the Natya Shastra, ‘Parvasa Padam e Natya Kalai’ was like a crash course in the art form. Based on a 10-minute composition conceived several years ago by Narasimhacharis to help young students understand Bharatanatyam, it has been expanded and adapted into Kuchipudi, with Vasanthalakshmi penning the lyrics in Telugu. The song beautifully portrayed the grammar of the dance. Rasa, Bhava, Vritti, Pratiksha, Swara, Gana and Rang, and other such technicalities are aesthetically incorporated to maintain the interest.
Nattuvangam was performed by Vasanthalakshmi. s. The orchestral team of Veerraghavan (vocals), Guru Bharadwaj (mridangam), Bhavani Prasad (veena) and Shruti Sagar (flute) kept the tempo high with their support.
Chennai-based author reviews classical dance.