Bharata Natyam is safe! No need to worry
about the direction or misdirection this art form may be taking when young and
passionate dancers take to the stage.
This is what crossed my mind whilst
watching Shreya Sridhar perform. Shreya is student of the great Hemamalini
Arni, the inspirational guru of some of the finest dancers in the country such
as Kiranmayee Madupu.
Shreya Sridhar showed her ability and
promise in a good performance at the Kalasagaram Annual Youth Festival of Dance
on 18th March 2017.The musicians performing on stage merit special appreciation for their excellent musicianship and outstanding performance that made watching a good Bharata Natyam performance an even greater experience.
The musicians were: Nattuvangam - Renuka
Prasad. Singer- Sweta Prasad
Mridangam- Sridhara Chary.
Violin - Sai Kolanka. And assisting the guru, Hemamalini Arni, on stage with
the musicians - Kiranmayee Madupu.
Shreya performed four pieces opening with
the prayer extolling Ganesha, the Lord of Beginnings and Remover of
Obstacles: ‘Vaataapi Ganapatim bhaje ham’ in Ragam Hamsadhwani in
Talam Adi and composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar.
The next Varnam, the centerpiece of the
prerformance expressed the feelings of an ardent devotee of Krishna. Varnam: Pachai mamalai Ragam Ragamalika.
Talam Adi. Composed by Tondaradipodi Azvar. Shreya depicted the words of
this piece in dance so that we in the audience could understand what the
composer described: “Lord Krishna as a green mountain, with coral red lips. He
says he would rather not go to the most beautiful Indralokam even if he were
sent there, but worship at the feet of the Lord. He is his only refuge. He
wishes to have a glimpse of Lord Ranganatha in Srirangapatnam and attain moksha
at his lotus feet”. Uma Sridhar
The
third item was a Padam: Natanam Aadinaar, where Shreya competently
illustrated in dance the sheer beauty of the dance of ecstasy and abandon of
Lord Nataraja, where the composer Gopala Krishna Bharathi describes the sheer
beauty of the dance of Lord Nataraja, where The eight sides of the world shook
as he danced, the Ganga overflowed her banks and Adishesha, the great snake on
his body trembled with fear. The composition was in Ragam Vasantha, Talam Ata.
The last item of the programme was a
Thillana, a pure dance composition by Vazhuvoor Somu Pillai in Ragam Surati in
Adi Talam. Shreya peformed this Tillana with nimble footwork and held poses
like classic temple sculpture.
The dancer’s faultless sense of timing and rhythm and
her consciousness of form and line spoke well of her understanding of her
meticulous training in dance.
Yes, young Shreya Sridhar, currently a
science student in class 11, gives hope that Bharata Natyam is indeed safe. We
owe a debt of gratitude to the dancer, her guru and accompanying musicians for
not just preserving Indian Classical Dance, but in lighting a path for the future.
Photography: Abhijit Sridhar
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