Music & dance reviews

Lack of punch, sparkle

Manjushri Rao and Nivedita Sharma gave a dance recital at the Yavanika under the series “Every Friday Cultural Evening Programme”. Both are the students of M R Krishnamurthy, senior artiste and direcor of Kalakshithi.

Manjushri has passed proficiency examination in dance and has received scholarship from the Central Government. She has performed her ‘Ranga Pravesha’ and has participated in a few dance dramas of the school. Nivedita Sharma is pursuing M A in dance at Jain University.

Manjushri and Nivedita started their programme promisingly with the conventional item Kauthwam and followed with the Alaripu with gait and aplomb. It was a compact fare, packed with devotionals.

‘Anandanatana’ and the krithi ‘Sandeham’ (Keeravani) were pleasing. Purandara Dasa’s devaranama which has made an indelible mark on the concert stage was apparently chosen as the main item of the evening.

The “Ksheerabdikannike” fell short of expectation due to lack of coherence. The Hindi devotional ‘Prabhuji’ and the Thillana in Hindola, brought the curtains down.

Each one appeared more confident in their solos than when they executed together. With some more stage experience they can bring punch and sparkle to their performance. Sumana Nagesh (Natuvanga), Vasudha Balakrishna (vocal), R Ramesh (mridanga) and Ganesh (flute) – supported from the wings.

Partly good

In the same ‘EFCEP’ series there was a ‘Sugama Sangeeth’ recital by a promising artiste. Young Vikas Vasista is a disciple of Vidwan Balasubramanya Sharma. He was accompanied by Dushyanth (keyboard) and Sandeep (tabla) apart from his brother Vishwas who also sang a  few songs.

Vikas presented Kannada lyrics of popular poets and Devaranamas of Haridasas and brought variety and colour to his recital. Devaranamas ‘Daariya Thoro Mukunda’ and ‘Savadhanadindiru manave  Devaru kottanu’ – were impressive.  

He presented lyrics of G P Rajaratnam, Rajasekhara Bhusnurmutt, Shishunal Sharief and few others, melodiously tuned by several top directors. ‘Rathnana Padagalu’ are not only popular but are household names.

Among them he regaled with some choice lyrics like ‘Illakollak Onduru’ and ‘Enda Hendthi’ which was well responded. The ‘Kalpana Chayeyali’ was evocative. ‘Kodaganakoli nungitha’ – always attracts with folk tuning and satire. He also sang a ghazal. Vikas has a good voice and sings with confidence, though sometimes sruthi will not align precisely. But he has a good future, with some more  training and stage experience.

Impressive production

Abbakka, who ruled from the present Dakshina Kannada, is a legend having inspired generations of artistes in their creative pursuits.

The latest by “About What is India” was a multi-media production, staged on Saturday evening, at the Ravindra Kalakshetra.Having divided the presentation into a number of interesting scenes (written by Aravind Sitaraman), it was successful in depicting the various facets of Abbakka – a good administrator and warrior who with a tactful diplomacy kept the Portuguese at bay, with her valour and might.

The dancers portraying different roles were equal to their task – especially Chitra Arvind (as Rani Abbakka) and Mysore B Nagaraj’s names must be mentioned here.

Beautiful photographs and video (Soumya Aravind Sitaraman and Usha Kris) and melodious, purposeful music (Jayanthi and Kumaresh) and meaningful words – made the production an impactful one.