<p><br />Niranthara festival <br /><br /></p>.<p>Nirantharam, a festival of dance was conducted by Sangeetha Sambhrama, directed by Vidusi P Rama. <br /><br />Bangalorean Pavithra Bhat, student of Deepak Majumdar at Mubai, opened his Bharathanatya recital with a invocatory piece (Sri Mahagana Pathimravathumam) and chose the varna (Rama Nanne Na Rakshathu) as the main item of the programme. Few important episodes of Ramayana were portrayed, testifying to his hard work and with some more training and stage experience, Pavithra Bhat can reach great heights. The concluding Thillana (Uthakadu Venkata Subba Iyer) was also interesting one. <br /><br />Pleasing saxophone <br /><br />Padmashri Dr Kadri Gopalanath attracted a large gathering as usual at his Saxophone recital. Smara manasa, the opening Kruthi of Kadri, brought nostalgic memories in old timers. The swarajathi was rendered with good ‘ragabhava’. Mohana was whole some and the large gathering enjoyed the concert throughout. <br /><br />The Tailenders - Thamburi Meetidava, Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma - were also pleasing. Accompanists - A Kanya-kumari on violin, Harikumar on mridanga, Rajendra Nakod on tabla and B Rajashekhar on morching - rose to great heights in their supporting roles. <br />Ishwarya Venkatesh, another student of Deepak Majumdar started her dance recital with ‘Surya’ in raga Malika. Krishna’s story could be a dancer’s delight! Hence the Ritigowla Varna (Tirumale Srinivas) with Kalinga Mardhana, Govardhana Giri etc. in the ‘Sanchari’, dramatising with popular appeal. But her facials came alive only in parts. <br /><br />Unimpressive recital<br /><br />The ‘Nirantharam’ of this year, came to an end with a vocal recital. Seshachary of Hyderabad brothers fame, sang alone without the company of his brother. Instead of a varna or the invocatory piece he opened the concerts with the ‘Nenendu Vedagudura’. The ‘Sri Satyanarayana’ had brief swara and ‘Vinaradana’ is a favourite of old timers. After elaborating ‘Rara Rajeeva Lochana’ briefly, a legendary Kruthi - ‘Mathadabaradeno’ was rendered. But it was rather pedestrian and fell short of expectation. Surya Deepthi on violin, V Praveen on mridanga and M A Krishna Murthy on ghata accompanied the vocalist. The concert concluded with a well known devaranama ‘Entha Cheluvage’. <br /><br />Nritya Sangam<br /><br />The Sangeet Natak Akademi conducted a dance festival called ‘Nritya Sangam’, in collaboration with the Academy of music, at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall. Senior dancers from different parts of the country performed Bharathanatya, Odissi, Kathak, Mohini Attam, Kuchipudi, Chhau, Sattriya, Manipuri, Kutiyattam and Kathakali. It was a good opportunity to witness different styles on the same stage. <br /><br />A Odissi dance recital by Nandini Ghosal, Kolkata gave the festival a pleasant start. Nandini, who has acted in Bengali and Hindi films, trains youngsters in her school ‘Saveri.’ After ‘Durgastuti’, the Pallavi (Bageshri) gave her ample scope for ‘abhinay’. But her performance fell short in its overall appeal. <br /><br />Padmashri Meenakshi Chitharanjan also trains youngsters at her school Kaladiksha, Chennai. The composition in the Neelambari raga ‘shringara lahari’ of Alliya Lingaraja Urs was very popular in the south. Meenakshi gave a pleasant surprise by selecting this composition as the opening piece. She chose the celebrated Swarajathi in Huseni and concluded with another familiar pada of Kshethraiah ‘Judare’. But the performance was not without its short falls. <br /><br />Rammohan Maharaj, belongs to the great dancing family of India. Being a son and disciple of Pandit Shambhu Maharaj, he has performed in many parts of the world and also imparts training at ‘Aangikam’ New Delhi. He offered obeisance to the invocatory god in the opening piece. The next item attracted with captivating laya. The pranks of Balakrishna with Yashoda was evocative. <br /><br />Chhau praiseworthy<br /> <br />Mohini Attam was performed by Jayaprabha Menon, disciple of Bharati Shivaji. With the background of Edakka and Veena her opening piece (on Ganapathi) was attractive. Her second item was ‘Bhaja Govindam’ in raga Malika. She danced with confidence and ease and gave a convincing performance. <br /><br />Shallu Jindal a student of Natya Tarangini, has travelled widely and a recipient of few honours also. Her ‘tharana’ aroused curiosity among the connoisseurs, for which music was composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar. <br /><br />Though she chose a ‘Tharanga’ it was very brief and not wholesome. Shagun Butani is a practitioner of both Chhau and Odissi. She has performed in many places, including festival of India in Japan. She opened the programme customarily with sword and shield and followed it up with two compositions. <br /><br />The dream with moon and conflict between Garuda and Vasuki and Radha - Krishna, with flute playing a prominent role. With the mask, background music and exclusive steps, they were pleasing performance with conviction. Leading dancer couple Nirupama and Rajendra are popular among the connoisseurs of dance and also for training young aspirants at their school Abhinava. <br /><br />After the ‘Shiva Bairag’, the pure dance in teenthal was attractive. Their Natwari thukda and the fast chakkar was absorbing. Thumri on Meera Krishna was equally praiseworthy. <br />Akademi’s effort is praiseworthy. But dancers should have been given more time for performance.</p>
<p><br />Niranthara festival <br /><br /></p>.<p>Nirantharam, a festival of dance was conducted by Sangeetha Sambhrama, directed by Vidusi P Rama. <br /><br />Bangalorean Pavithra Bhat, student of Deepak Majumdar at Mubai, opened his Bharathanatya recital with a invocatory piece (Sri Mahagana Pathimravathumam) and chose the varna (Rama Nanne Na Rakshathu) as the main item of the programme. Few important episodes of Ramayana were portrayed, testifying to his hard work and with some more training and stage experience, Pavithra Bhat can reach great heights. The concluding Thillana (Uthakadu Venkata Subba Iyer) was also interesting one. <br /><br />Pleasing saxophone <br /><br />Padmashri Dr Kadri Gopalanath attracted a large gathering as usual at his Saxophone recital. Smara manasa, the opening Kruthi of Kadri, brought nostalgic memories in old timers. The swarajathi was rendered with good ‘ragabhava’. Mohana was whole some and the large gathering enjoyed the concert throughout. <br /><br />The Tailenders - Thamburi Meetidava, Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma - were also pleasing. Accompanists - A Kanya-kumari on violin, Harikumar on mridanga, Rajendra Nakod on tabla and B Rajashekhar on morching - rose to great heights in their supporting roles. <br />Ishwarya Venkatesh, another student of Deepak Majumdar started her dance recital with ‘Surya’ in raga Malika. Krishna’s story could be a dancer’s delight! Hence the Ritigowla Varna (Tirumale Srinivas) with Kalinga Mardhana, Govardhana Giri etc. in the ‘Sanchari’, dramatising with popular appeal. But her facials came alive only in parts. <br /><br />Unimpressive recital<br /><br />The ‘Nirantharam’ of this year, came to an end with a vocal recital. Seshachary of Hyderabad brothers fame, sang alone without the company of his brother. Instead of a varna or the invocatory piece he opened the concerts with the ‘Nenendu Vedagudura’. The ‘Sri Satyanarayana’ had brief swara and ‘Vinaradana’ is a favourite of old timers. After elaborating ‘Rara Rajeeva Lochana’ briefly, a legendary Kruthi - ‘Mathadabaradeno’ was rendered. But it was rather pedestrian and fell short of expectation. Surya Deepthi on violin, V Praveen on mridanga and M A Krishna Murthy on ghata accompanied the vocalist. The concert concluded with a well known devaranama ‘Entha Cheluvage’. <br /><br />Nritya Sangam<br /><br />The Sangeet Natak Akademi conducted a dance festival called ‘Nritya Sangam’, in collaboration with the Academy of music, at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall. Senior dancers from different parts of the country performed Bharathanatya, Odissi, Kathak, Mohini Attam, Kuchipudi, Chhau, Sattriya, Manipuri, Kutiyattam and Kathakali. It was a good opportunity to witness different styles on the same stage. <br /><br />A Odissi dance recital by Nandini Ghosal, Kolkata gave the festival a pleasant start. Nandini, who has acted in Bengali and Hindi films, trains youngsters in her school ‘Saveri.’ After ‘Durgastuti’, the Pallavi (Bageshri) gave her ample scope for ‘abhinay’. But her performance fell short in its overall appeal. <br /><br />Padmashri Meenakshi Chitharanjan also trains youngsters at her school Kaladiksha, Chennai. The composition in the Neelambari raga ‘shringara lahari’ of Alliya Lingaraja Urs was very popular in the south. Meenakshi gave a pleasant surprise by selecting this composition as the opening piece. She chose the celebrated Swarajathi in Huseni and concluded with another familiar pada of Kshethraiah ‘Judare’. But the performance was not without its short falls. <br /><br />Rammohan Maharaj, belongs to the great dancing family of India. Being a son and disciple of Pandit Shambhu Maharaj, he has performed in many parts of the world and also imparts training at ‘Aangikam’ New Delhi. He offered obeisance to the invocatory god in the opening piece. The next item attracted with captivating laya. The pranks of Balakrishna with Yashoda was evocative. <br /><br />Chhau praiseworthy<br /> <br />Mohini Attam was performed by Jayaprabha Menon, disciple of Bharati Shivaji. With the background of Edakka and Veena her opening piece (on Ganapathi) was attractive. Her second item was ‘Bhaja Govindam’ in raga Malika. She danced with confidence and ease and gave a convincing performance. <br /><br />Shallu Jindal a student of Natya Tarangini, has travelled widely and a recipient of few honours also. Her ‘tharana’ aroused curiosity among the connoisseurs, for which music was composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar. <br /><br />Though she chose a ‘Tharanga’ it was very brief and not wholesome. Shagun Butani is a practitioner of both Chhau and Odissi. She has performed in many places, including festival of India in Japan. She opened the programme customarily with sword and shield and followed it up with two compositions. <br /><br />The dream with moon and conflict between Garuda and Vasuki and Radha - Krishna, with flute playing a prominent role. With the mask, background music and exclusive steps, they were pleasing performance with conviction. Leading dancer couple Nirupama and Rajendra are popular among the connoisseurs of dance and also for training young aspirants at their school Abhinava. <br /><br />After the ‘Shiva Bairag’, the pure dance in teenthal was attractive. Their Natwari thukda and the fast chakkar was absorbing. Thumri on Meera Krishna was equally praiseworthy. <br />Akademi’s effort is praiseworthy. But dancers should have been given more time for performance.</p>
