Music and Dance reviews: Group songs in unison & Nrithya Utsava

Group songs in unison

Ranga Samsthana, one of the premier cultural institutions of Bengaluru, conducts classes, training camps, brings out CDs and publishes books and has the distinction of entering Limca Book of Records. Last week it conducted "Sugama Sangeetha Geetha Gayana Sammelana" at Ravindra Kalakshetra. Veteran musician S Somasundaram presided over the conference and a felicitation volume "Gaana Sudha" and a Souvenir by name "Nadanjali" was released on the occasion.

Students of B K Sumithra, Gana Sudha, Srujana Samskruthika Samuha, Savigana Lahari and Ranga Samsthana presented Bhavageethe, patriotic and folk songs, in an attractive manner. Few young students sang "Nimbiya Banadali" of P T Narasimhachar. With some more training, they can improve their presentation. Nearly 40 students of Srujana Samskruthika Samuha rendered a patriotic song (Jaya Bharathi of K Shivaram) and a folk song under the direction of Narahari Deekshit. Aligning well with sruthi was impactful.

The Savigana Lahari, under the direction of Rajaram, sang lyrics of Dr Ka Vem Srinivas and Kuvempu, impressively. "Kahi Uppu Neeru" was the choice of Gana Sudha Academy. More than 100 vocalists of Ranga Samsthana presented lyrics of Dr N S Lakshminarayana Bhatta (Haadu Hakkigale), Doddarange Gowda (Mudutha Ravi), H S Venkatesha Murthy (Giriya Mudige), Markandapuram Srinivas (Jai Anni). They sang in unison and were good in "Tharasthayee" also.

Bandlahalli Vijaykumar's able direction and hard work brought a good result. Raj Kiran on the keyboard, Subramanya Heggade on sitar, Ravi Kiran on tabla and Arun Kumar on rhythm pad accompanied with good understanding and shared the honours.

 
Nrithya Utsava
Prabhavati Sastry, a senior dancer and teacher of yesteryears, is the founder of Naatyakala Kshetra. The institute is conducting the "Nrutya Utsava" every year with dance performances and presentation of awards. Veena Murthy Vijay of Rajarajeswari Kala Nikethan received the "Nrithya Prabha Prashasthi" of this year.

A number of students from different schools performed and exhibited their talent. For instance, Mahi Kesari Pai and Snigdha presented lyrics of N S Lakshminarayana Bhatta. It was simply a pleasure to watch the dances of just 8-year-old girls, performing with ease and joy. Other students of Nupura performed two compositions neatly. Niveditha Arjun, a disciple of Dr Padma Subramaniam chose "Aadi Kondan" with beautiful postures and the composition on Murugha attracted with lively movements of the peacock.

Couple Surya N Rao and Prathama Prasad Rao opened their dance recital with an interesting item called "Aarambh." The pain of separation of Gopi with Krishna with thumri and astapadi with good abhinaya was quiet impressive. Senior dancers Prashanth Gopal Sastry and Hema Prabhath chose a varna "Phaalanetra Kailasa Vaasa" in ragamalika. Neelakanta, Gangadhara and other interesting episodes were performed impactfully. Students of Nrityantar, Kohal Das and Vivekini Das, exhibited their talent and good training in "Shivam Dheemahi" and asthapadi (Radha Vadena).

The Nrithya Utsava under the leadership of Prashanth Gopal Sastry provided the stage and good opportunity for youngsters, which is appreciable.

- Mysore V Subramanya