JOIN USVaried emotions in motion
Eminent dancer Neena Prasad, who is also trained in bharatanatyam, kuchipudi and kathakali, entertained the audience for one-and-a-half hours at the NGMA Auditorium with a mohiniyattam performance.
Mohiniyattam, the classical dance form of Kerala with its graceful moments, was much appreciated by the audience. The artiste stole the hearts of many through her rhythmic performance, costume and powerful expressions.
The stage itself set the mood for the evening as it was decorated like a temple with the statue of Lord Vishnu and colourful floral designs. Neena Prasad, who was trained under Adyar Lakshmanan, Vempatti Chinnasatyam and Vembayam Appukkuttan Pillay, chose to present five different items.
She began her performance with Ganesh Sthuthi, in praise of Lord Ganesha.
It was taken from the Ganesha Pancharatna by Shankaracharya and the
performance was set in raagamalika and thaalamalika. She effectively expressed her devotion and adoration for God.
Her next performance was Utsava Prabhandam, a devotional item set in raag thodi. The piece described the mood of devotees on the second day of the chariot festival of Lord Ananthapadmanabha of Thiruvananthapuram.
She beautifully portrayed the devotion, eagerness, curiosity and happiness of the devotees who were waiting for the chariot carrying Lord Anantha Padmanabha. Her splendid portrayal of the character of Draupadi was much appreciated by all. She brought forth the inner conflicts in Draupadi effectively.
She received a standing ovation for the performance which was full of wonderful body movements and facial expressions. Her next performance Ashtapadi was taken from Geetha Govinda.
The love of Radha and gopikas for Krishna, the mischievous acts by Krishna and other incidents were portrayed in a lively manner. She concluded her performance with thillana and mangalam.
Madhavan Nambudiri accompanied her on vocals, Ramesh Narayan on mridangam, Bhavani Prasad on veena and Subramanyam on idaka. Hari and Chetana of
Nupoor Performing Art Centre, who managed the stage decoration, were happy after watching the performance.
“This was one of the best mohiniyattam performances I have ever seen. Among all the pieces, the depiction of Draupadi was ultimate. The performance made me recollect Mahabharata once again and it was an enriching experience. Though Neena is very talented, she is simple. She was happy about the tremendous response she received for the show,” remarked Hari.