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Pic Source: Internet Bharatanatyam Performance - Shruti Parthasarathy. Disciple of Smt Medha Hari. Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan Auditorium, Chennai. Review by Naveena What do you do when the auditorium you are dancing in throws-up a power-failure in your very first item? If ‘remain unperturbed and continue’ was your response, you are cut from the same cloth as Kum. Shruti Parthasarathy, promising US-based young dancer, disciple of Smt. Medha Hari. Shruti danced to a live orchestra and performed the choreographies of her grand-guru, Smt. Anitha Guha, who was also present in the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan Auditorium, [Chennai] on Aug 19th, where the recital was staged. The opening item was announced as ‘Thodaya mangalam’ in Ragamalika and Talamalika. This proved to be a festoon of opening lines of various compositions, including the popular ‘Sharanu sharanu surendra-sannutha’ of Annamacharya. Shruti despite being petite and waif-like managed to cover the large stage effortlessly. Her costume was tasteful no doubt, but the unattended strings and tassels that accompanied her attire literally proved to be ‘loose ends that need tying-up’— a distraction! The central piece was the Varnam, ‘Kolamayil vaahanane’ of Sri. Madurai N. Krishnan, set to Shanmukhapriya & Adi Talam. Shruti’s technique is well-honed and her performance was quite impressive. But as the saying goes, ’the devil is in the details’. Her one-legged stance at the very commencement of the Varnam was shaky and could have been pruned. Some movements seemed a little awkward, like when she turned around with one foot steady. Also, Abhinaya is one area that warrants attention, where Shruti is concerned. A dancer maintaining an almost-uniform expression cannot engage the connoisseur sustainedly. A great degree of involvement alone can draw the audience into the moment. This is perhaps what demarcates the good performer and great performer. Case-in-point: Shruti’s expressions and gaze were the same for Valli and Subrahmanya, when the Valli Kalyanam episode was portrayed. Valli displayed no wonder or coyness at the sight of the old man morphing into her Lord, nor did the Lord Himself display charming assurance. Similar was the case of the devotee and the Lord who was being extolled. One would want to see devotional fervour and awe in the case of the devotee, and benevolence in the Lord. But these were conspicuous by their absence. Granted, that Shruti is young and it would be unfair to expect too much from her. But the time is ripe to make a start—to know and to grow. Post-charanam in the same item, for the swara passages, the dancer landed on her feet with a jump, almost every time, with her hands on her waist, akin to little Krishna jumping down after partaking of butter in a lofty pot. This somehow did not behove the sedate Subrahmanya, who was being panegyrised as the granter of knowledge of the sacred Pranava. Of course, this is an issue with the choreography and the dancer cannot be faulted for merely executing it implicitly. Yours truly could not stay for the remainder of the programme owing to a social commitment. The orchestra was marked by the confident sollukattu of Medha Hari(Nattuvangam) and the sensitive cross-rhythms of Ramshankar Babu(Mridangam). Vocal was by Nandini Anand, who tried to give her best shot. One wished violinists such as K.P. Nandini possess a little more sensitivity towards the needs of not only the dance, but also that of the vocalist. (Naveena holds an M.B.A. in Human Resource, as well as an M.A. in Samskrtam. She enjoys wearing many hats: that of an arts-writer, speaker, translator, editor, linguist, singer, quizzer and compere.) Disclaimer: All the views expressed are exclusively that of the writer. Key words: Bharatanatyam Performance, Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan Auditorium, Chennai, Shruti Parthasarathy, Chennai September 2017, 0917-2-R1 **A Worldwide Indian Classical Dance Report ******* |
