It’s not always that one gets to witness five Indian dance forms under one roof. Sai Arts International recently put together a unique event for their silver jubilee celebrations.
The event titled Sai Nrityotsav held at Seva Sadan in the City recently saw 25 dancers performing the five different dance styles of India. The evening began with a bharatanatyam performance by the students of Suparna Venkatesh. It opened with a
Pushpamanjari, where they offered salutations to Mother Earth, Lord Ganesha, Nataraja, Saraswati and Ashtadikpalakas. This was followed by Natesha Kauthuvam, an ode to Lord Nataraja. They concluded their performance with a Thillana.
After bharatanatyam, the audience was treated to mohiniyattam by the students of Sreedevi Unni. They began with a Cholkettu, a Nritta that combines the essence of mohiniyattam which involves laasya movement.
This was followed by a Navarasanjali, where every rasa was depicted either with a mythological story or instances from the same. The final piece for the evening was an Ashtapadi-Chandana Charchita, where a Sakhi describes to Radha the good time Krishna is having in her absence.
The piece ended with the union of Radha and Krishna. This was high on abhinaya was a sheer delight to watch. Vinaya Ravi requires special mention for her wonderful performance.
Next was an odissi performance by the students of Sharmila Mukherjee. It began with an Ashtapadi Srita Kamala from Gita Govinda. The Ashtapadi included four verses, the first describing Vishnu and Lakshmi, the second about the killing of the serpent Kaliya by Lord Krishna, third verse on the killing of the demons, Madhu, Mura and Naraka and the last one was on the killing of Raavan. Written by poet Jayadeva, the Ashtapadi left a lasting impression on the audience. Then came an Oriya Abhinaya, a song about the different ways the Gopi’s planned on pleasing Krishna.
The odissi performance ended with a Moksha, a pure dance number about attaining salvation.
The kathak dance by students of Mysore B Nagaraj held the audience spellbound. It began with a Vishnu Vandana and was followed by an Ashtapadi by Maharaj Bindadin, where the nuances of kathak dance were portrayed in the choreography. The concluding piece was a Shiva Stuthi which the audience throughly enjoyed.
The event ended with a kuchipudi dance by Dharani Kashyap and her students. They performed an Annamacharya Krithi in the praise of Lord Venkateshwara and a Tarangam, where the dancers stood on the edge of a brass plate, balancing a pitcher of water on their head.
