JOIN US50 years of Ravindra Kalakshetra
Ravindra Kalakshetra is the centre for all cultural activities of Bengaluru. It is engaged almost everyday of the week for drama, dance, music or folk programmes. Being in the heart of the city, the auditorium is in demand from both organisers and artistes.
The Department of Kannada and Culture has organised a series of special programmes called “Ravindra Kalakshetra-50”and “Nenapina Okuli,” round the year, to mark the occasion. In the dance section, “Nrityadithya” a five-day programme with solo and group performances (Kuchipudi, Kathak, Odissi, Mohiniattam, contemporary dance, apart from Bharathanatya), lecture-demonstrations, seminar and workshops were held.
Group dance
All the three dance programmes held on Sunday evening on the main platform were group dances.
Senior dancer Dr Vasundhara Doraswamy, along with her students presented “Om Aadithyaya Namaha.” With Surya Namaskara and few other ‘Aasanas,’ it was fascinating, testifying to her finesse in choreography.
Sanjay Shantharam, a popular artiste, had chosen ‘Karnataka Kshetra Vaibhava’ with 21 students of Shivapriya Dance School. It covered the history of Hoysala dynasty to Wodeyar dynasty and depicted important pilgrimage centres. The performance concluded with ‘Naadageethe’ (Jaya Bharatha Jananiya Thanujathe). ‘Abhignana Shakunthala’ was the choice of Sapthaswara Arts and Creations. With their beautiful costumes and jewellery, students performed with gay abandon.
Colourful ‘Niranthara’
The Sangeetha Sambhrama conducted the annual “Niranthara” cultural festival at Seva Sadana.
Music (vocal, veena, nagaswara, percussion ensemble), dance (Bhama Kalapa, dance drama, Kathak and Bharathanatya) and drama are slated for the event, which will be held till Friday (February 26). M S Sheela, reputed musician of Karnataka, sang in ‘Niranthara’ on Saturday. She was accompanied by Nalina Mohan on violin, Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma on mridanga and Vyasa Vittala on khanjari. Sheela justified the reputation she has built for herself in her distinguished career.
The familiar varna “Evarunnaru,” gave her a sunny start. Especially “Drutha kaala” from Ethugade added more pep to it. It was followed by a fine composition of Saint Tyagaraja “Brochevarevare Raghupathi” in the raga Sriranjini.
Sheela meditatively started to intonate Mohana and her searching mind surfaced in ‘Mohana Rama,’ the composition exfoliating with a flurry of swara, to project a compact picture of the sweet raga. Sheela was successful in bringing out both the ‘ragabhava’ and ‘sahitya bhava.’ The post ‘tani’ devotionals (Na Ninnolu Enna, Hare Venkata Vallabha, Hari Aadidane) also acquired a special delight. The experienced accompanists shared the honours with the main artiste.