Music and dance reviews

Gay abandon

Popular dance institution Nadam conducted three-day Chinna Kalamandalam at ADA Rangamandira. Children performed not only Bharathanatya but also Kuchupudi, Odissi, Kathak and Kalaripuyattu. It was a pleasure to watch performances by young aspirants with enthusiasm (sometimes with over enthusiasm also) and without any stage fear. There was also few music performances in both Karnatic and Hindustani (vocal and instrumental) styles.

Five children of Adyasha Ensemble, under the direction of Saritha Mishra, gave an Odissi dance recital. They opened the programme with a Mangalacharan customarily. The second item was Vasantha raga pallavi in Ek thal. With traditional colourful dress these young students performed with ease and confidence.

Bharathanatya was chosen by the students of Vaishnavi Natyashala (Mithun Shyam). In the Panchamurthy Kautvam they offered to Ganapathi, Shiva, Devi, Krishna and Murugha. They paid obeisance to Viswasena in the Pushpanjali. I am sure with some more training and home work they can make better impact. Students of Kala Bharathi of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (direction: Bharathi Vittal) performed That, Amad, Thukda etc in Teen Thal, with good foot work, in Kathak style.

These children, who belong to different dance schools performed with gay abandon and with more training and hard practice, many of them may become good dancers.

Thaalavadya utsava

The annual Thaalavadyotsava under the auspices of the Percussive Arts Centre was held with music concerts (vocal, percussion ensemble), illustrated talk and demonstrations last week and B K Chandramouli, Dr N Ramani, N S Krishnamurthy, B R Ravikumar and B S Prashanth received different awards.

Young vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan gave a concert in the five-day Thaalavadyotsava. He hails from the family of well known musicians and is establishing as a prominent vocalist of Karnatic music. He chose raga Mandari, a ‘Shadava’ raga which is a ‘Janya’ of Kamavardhini raga, but Dhaivatha, ‘Varjya’. It is a appealing ‘rakti raga,’ which became more popular during post Trinity period. Apart from Tyagaraja, Patnam Subramanya Iyer and Dr L Muttaiah Bhagawathar have also composed keerthanas in this raga.

Gurucharan selected Saint Tyagaraja’s beautiful composition “Paralokabhayamu”. The aesthetic feeling in both the alapana and Nerval (Thinnagagani Daivalokamani) further enhanced the musical stature of Gurucharan. The ‘Brovavamma’ in a majestic gait and grandeur was lively and dignified. The well known composition ‘Rama Nee Eda’ received appealing airing, which was yet another instance of his talent and hard practice.

Sikkil Gurucharan sang with good involvement and feeling which was appreciated by the connoisseurs. Charulatha on violin, A V Anand on mridanga and G Guruprasanna on khanjari – enhanced the total effect.