Rasa sanje

The Venkatesha Natya Mandira, senior dance school in the City, hosted "Rasa Sanje —2008", a dance festival in the City last week, under the direction of Radha Sridhar.

Kathak, Kuchipudi and Bharathanatya were performed. Kirti Ramgopal, who gave a Bharathanatya recital here on Wednesday, is a Master degree holder in business administration and a student of Natyapriya dance school. She is an accomplished dancer. Kirti presented four items in the current programme and the piece is the resistance of the recital was the varna "Samiya". She executed the jathies with ease and confidence in the Dandayudha Pani Pillai's Varna, which was set to Navaragamalika. Her 'agnikas' were graceful and Laya steady. The Bhajan (Thumak Chalath Ramachandra) was also pleasing. Nandakumar (vocal), pulikeshi Kasturi (Natuvanga), Harsha Samaga (Mridanga) and Dr Nataraja Murthy (violin) — supported the dancer from the wings.

It was followed by a Kathak recital by the students of Dr Maya Rao. They began with the "Ganesh Vandana" with bright promise and continued with a praband in Rag Kedar.

Then Kannada Vachana of Basavanna "Naadapriya Shivanembaru", in which Seethapaharana, Ravana Vadha etc, were performed in the Sanchari. Madhu Nataraj chose Yashodhara' of Dr Masti Venkatesha Iyengar in which her spontaneity, natural grace and restraint — were revealed.
They concluded with a Tarana which was again proof of their good training.

Rasa vinyasa

The last programme of the evening was a dance feature — "Rasa Vinyasa" by the students of Shanthala Arts Akademi. The invocatory piece — verses from Lasyaranjana on Ganesha, Saraswathi, Vishnu and Shiva — itself was unusual and meaningful, which was followed by Asta Dikpalaka Vandana (Ragamalike and Thalamalike). In the "Rasa Vinyasa" different Rasas were depicted through the lyrics of different poets. Pulikeshi Kasturi and Kavya Sri along with several young dancers performed with ease and confidence.

Splendid performance

The Adarsha Academy of Indian Culture presented a vocal recital on the occasion on its 22nd Anniversary. Vidwan Vidyabhushana who sang there was not only a popular vocalist but also a crowd puller. He was accompanied on violin by B Raghuram, on Mridanga by C Cheluvaraj and on Ghata by Dayananda Mohite. Vidyabhushana's rendition of the ugabhoga (Kadu Karuni Neenendu) followed by the stately Krithi "Lambodharam" — set the pace for a tuneful fare. The “Baba Ranga Bhujangashayana” — is a welcome addition to the concert repertoire. After a brisk “Needumahima Pogadana Tharama” (Raga Hamsanandi), he took another Ugabhoga. "Dasanaguvudake Yesu Janmada Sukrutha" — like a prelude to the next Devaranama.

The ever popular "Dasana Madiko Enna" — stood out for its "Sahitya Bhava" and glowed with lilting phrasings. With his sweet voice, Vidyabhushana impressed the audience.

Impressive performance

It was the turn of Shambhavi school of dance, last week, to perform in the "Every Friday cultural Evening Programme", at the Yavanika Auditorium. Though six young dancers — Hitaishi Surendra, Pooja Sekhar, Shaila, Yaeltal (from Israel), prateeksha Kashi and Gururaj performed, their guru Vyjayanthi Kashi, was the special attraction. In the “Pancha Bhootha", five universe elements were depicted impactfully. Vyjayanthi Kashi excelled in the Ksheerasagara Mathana.

With intelligently woven jathies, dialogue and dramatising the sequences, it was colourful and appealing. The other pieces they performed was jarjara and Sanjaya Thandava.

The dancers — each member contributing to the success, a tribute to the tenacity of the teacher.
Vocal music by Rama Jaganath and Chandanabala — also contributed to the success of the programme.