JOIN US'It was a visual treat'
Many foreigners were there to witness the events and understand their meaning. Said Bettina, a tourist from Germany, “After coming here, I can actually experience the rich culture that the country is known for. The tribal performances were a visual treat and I am actually taking back so much of information with me,” she added.
The play Dharmasthambha was performed at Seva Sadan and it took the audience to a completely different world. Directed by Archana Shyam, it revolved around the developments during the 3rd century BC in King Ashok’s regime.
At Chowdiah Memorial Hall, another venue for habba, there were two enticing performances by classical dancers Priyadarshini Govind and Padma Subrahmanyam. In fact, amidst the audience were dancers Vani Ganapathy and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy who had come to see the veterans perform.
“It’s not everyday one gets to see such performances. I have always respected and admired both of them and when I heard they were performing at the habba, I knew I had to come and see,” said Vani Ganapathy.
Priyadarshini Govind, with a natural aptitude for abhinaya coupled with her passion and dedication to the art, gave an intense and vigorous performance. Known for her adherence to tradition, Priyadarsini managed to seamlessly blend new choreography with the traditional, thereby gently redefining the boundaries of bharatanatyam. This was followed by Padma Subrahmanyam’s performance.
The piece called Jai Sri Krishna presented by Padma and the Nrithyodaya artistes, was a colourful spectacle of song and dance. The performance was a visual projection of devotional lyrics on Krishna. The highly admired piece however was Thaye Yashoda, where one got to see the other side of protective Yashoda who believes her child can do no wrong.
“It was mesmerising and an energetic performance which had me glued to the stage till the very end,” said Rekha, a member of the audience.
Today’s Special
January 20
* Sampoorn Craft Mela and folk and tribal performances, 11 am onwards at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat.
* Ramadhaanya, a Kannada play by KSBL Chandru, 7 pm at Seva Sadan, Malleswaram.