Since none of our dancer-members have posted a review on this performance, I thought I would post my experience of rasAnubhava.
November 9, 2009
Venue: Forum Theater, Metuchen, NJ
bharatanATyam by Smt. Priyadarshini Govind
Accompanying Artists:
Sri Deepu Nair - Vocal
Sri Shaji Lal - naTTuvAngam
Sri Shaktivel Muruganandam - mrudangam
Sri Sikhamani - Violin
Sri Murugan Krishnan - Lighting and Stage Effects
The List
1) Musical Invocation - gajvadana karuNA sadanA - SrIranjanI - Papanasam Sivan
2) Opening: mallArI - gambhIranATTai - Adi
3) alArippu - tiSram
4) shaNmukha kauttuvam - shaNmukhapriA - Adi - Madurai R. Muralidharan
5) svAmI nAn undan aDimai yenru - nATTaikurinjI - Adi - Papanasam Sivan
6) SivadIkSA parurAlanurA - kurinji - Adi - Ghanam Cinnayya
A padam where the nAyikA, who belongs to the Saivaite sampradAya is wooed by mannArurangA (also the composer's mudra) - and she tells him to go away and leave her alone, because her religious teachings forbid her from 'associating' with vaishNavaites. But even as her lips ask him to go away, her eyes plead with him to stay. The padam does describe rather crudely, the liberties that mannArurangA takes with the heroine.
7) appuDu manasu - khamAs - rUpaka - Patnam Subramania Iyer
A jAvaLi that describes a beautiful young woman in the first blush of youth, confidently walking around the town with her posse of friends. Without any warning whatsoever, she comes face-to-face with a magnificent specimen of manhood and stops in her tracks and starts to make goo goo eyes at him, prompting her friend to wonder if she couldn't be a tad refined..She asks the nAyikA if she has to wear her heart on her sleeve for the world to see. The nAyika replies that when a beautiful woman and handsome man meet, there is no place for restraint, especially when sparks fly as manmatha cruelly tortures them with a shower of fiery arrows.
8) mADu meikkum kaNNE - kAvaDi
The pallavI, anupallavI and one caraNam (gOvardhana giriyil) of this kAvaDi were presented.
9) tillAnA - brindAvanI - ? - BMK
10) vrindAvanE vENUvAcE - abhang - Sant Bhanudasa
The poet, bhAnudAsa describes the reaction of the whole world to the intoxicating music that krishNa creates - the peacocks dance to it, the cows forget to graze, and the birds stop in mid-flight, while the gOpIs keep time with their anklets as they go about their chores, bhAnudAsa sings and dances in ecstasy.
The performance
After a very melodious invocation, Smt. Govind presented the mallArI - a very brisk opening piece that certainly was more than a mere warm-up exercise. This was followed by a very crisp tiSram alArippu with some novel (for me) choreography. Madurai Sri R. Muralidharan is a prolific contemporary composer in bharatanATyam. The shaNmukha kauttuvam of his was presented in the traditional format with the jatis and lyrics first recited by Sri Shaji Lal and then sung by Sri Deepu Nair - it was both vigorous and elegant at the same time.
This was followed by the centerpiece of the evening's performance - the varNam - the nATTaikurinji masterpiece of Papanasam Sri Sivan. The varNam was awesomely presented. Smt. Govind announced the person who had composed the jatis, but I do not remember his name. The starting trikAla jati was replaced by a jati where the pancAkSaram was used instead of the traditional Sollus. I kind of missed the build up of the traditional trikAla jati though. Smt Govind also presented simple sancAris that were performed to a single line of the lyrics (rather than a typical 'story' which is presented over several lines or the same line sung repeatedly).
Following a brief intermission and a costume change, Smt. Govind was back for a delectable post-varNam section of the performance. When she announced that she would start this section with SivadIkSa, I was a bit concerned. But the presentation was very tastefully restrained, and she was able to convey the conflicting messages the nAyika sends so very effectively.
The jAvaLi that followed was also presented along the same lines with very thoughtful subtlety.
mADu meikkum kaNNE was simply brilliant - if her portrayal of krishNa (especially the part where he tries to 'communicate' with his friends who are waiting for him to accompany them, even as he pretends to be a penitent son pleading his case with his mother) resonated with all the kids (students of dance) in the audience, Smt. Govind's portrayal of yaSOdA - exasperation, pride, love, the need for tough love, all struggling with one another as she deals with this delightful prankster - struck a chord with the parents in audience.
Of all of Sri BMK's tillAnAs, the brindAvani one is not one of my favorites, but this one was a testament to the dancer's stamina. It also featured a small 'savAl javAb' segment.
The last piece (the abhang), was presented as a mangaLam - and Smt. Govind did a magnificent job of invoking the divine bliss that bhAnudAsa conveys in this composition.
To me, the highlights of Smt. Govind's performance were the precision, controlled vigor, and technical perfection of her nritta which contrasted perfectly with the stillness of her exquisitely expressive abhinaya. araimanDi was not merely a concept - it was a perfect pose with the dancer at half (arai) of her standing height, with a beautiful view of the periya viSiri (big fan) of the outfit unfurled in all of it's glory, the leaps were full of absolute control and perfect landings, leg lifts were elegant and high, all in all, a textbook demonstration. Smt. Govind's is justly famed for her abhinaya - she has honed it through years of tutelage under the doyenne of abhinaya, Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan. I love the understated elegance that permeates every aspect of her abhinaya these days.
The accompanying artists were superb. Sri Deepu Nair sang very well, while Sri Shaji Lal's naTTuvAngam was very authoritative. Sri Shikhamani was great - both at accompanying, and also producing some 'special' sounds. Sri Muruganandam's mrudangam was very precise, and just right. Sri Murugan Krishnan's lighting revealed how very well he knew the dancer and her requirements - such professionals are literally worth their weight in gold!
All in all, it was an awesome experience - I did not realize how time passed this past Sunday evening. If I were the scoring sort, I would say that the performance merited a '10', but, in view of the refined presentation, I think it would be more than fair to say vegu nAgarIgamAga Forum sabhaiyil Ananda naTanam ADinAr.
Smt. Priyadarshini Govind @ the Forum Theater, Metuchen, NJ
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fuddyduddy
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rshankar
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vasanthakokilam
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vasanthakokilam
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jayakamala
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It makes me happy to see that the supporting artists are not neglected {which my fatherLate Sri Swamimalai Rajarathnam Pillai - Ms. Govind's Guru, used to look for] in the review. It would have made us more happy if he could mention the name of the composer of the jathi. A very good review, with detailed technical aspects .
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rshankar
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Re:
This is specifically for Keerthi - well, the music at least!6) SivadIkSA parurAlanurA - kurinji - Adi - Ghanam Cinnayya
A padam where the nAyikA, who belongs to the Saivaite sampradAya is wooed by mannArurangA (also the composer's mudra) - and she tells him to go away and leave her alone, because her religious teachings forbid her from 'associating' with vaishNavaites. But even as her lips ask him to go away, her eyes plead with him to stay. The padam does describe rather crudely, the liberties that mannArurangA takes with the heroine.