Shijith Nambiar and Parvathy Menon Performance:Chicago land

[upasana]

On October 3rd, rasikas in the Chicago area were in for a great treat! The Bharatanatyam performance by the husband and wife team projected an intelligent sharing of stage space, exploring interactive opportunities to the fullest. This was particularly reinforced in the piece-de-resistance of the marathon Swati Tirunal varnam in Neelambari, “Sarasa shara Sundara”.

The items that they presented as part of the margam are given below.

Sringara: Love and Emotion explores the interplay between the concepts of Love and Devotion in Indian spirituality. The Divine and The Human are seen, often at once, as Lover and Beloved and God and Devotee. Acknowledged as the King of the nine rasas (emotions; moods) that flavor all forms of Indian Art, Sringara has myriad shades and tones at different points in this ethereal relationship. Today’s program follows the format of a traditional Bharatanatyam margam with a focus on bringing some of those aspects onto center stage.

Chandramoule
Invocation to Lord Shiva as Chandramouliswara, with the crescent moon in his locks.
Raga: Bowli, Tala : Misrachapu, Language :Maniparavalam, Composer . Shatkala Govinda Marar , Choreography: Shijith & Parvathy

Varnam
Addressed to the reclining Lord Padmanabha, the lyrics of this central, elaborate piece describe His handsome form and hail him as the Ultimate Protector of the world. On the other hand, entreaties are made by the heroine to end a long night of separation from Him, alluding to the different aspects of Sringara. Performed with crisp rhythmic patterns punctuating the narrative, this piece emphasizes the yearning of the Human soul to unite with the Divine.
Raga: Neelambari, Tala : Adi, Language: Sanskrit , Composer: Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, Choreography: Shijith & Parvathy.

The varnam begins when the devotees witness a procession as part of the Utsavam in the Padmanabhaswami temple in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). Dancers as two devotees suddenly switched to gender representations, Parvathy becoming ardent Devi to Shijith’s Padmanabha. The Lord as saviour of Gajendra and Draupadi saw episodic treatment and then came the quick flashes of Dashavatar to the line “Sadhucharita nayaami katham Sri Padmanabha Deva”. At the end of the piece, the devotees have a glimpse of a reclining Anantha Padmanabha through the three doors in the sanctum, as in the temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

The choreography blended the interpretative, the dramatic and the narrative element in the shared dance encounters cleverly conceived for two persons. There were several complicated adavu patterns throughout. The merit of the varnam depended heavily on the excellent team of musicians — the tonal tautness of Venkatakrishnan's nattuvangam, the clear toned violin of Easwar Ramakrishnan providing excellent support for Murali Parthasarathy's bhava-filled classical singing. Evoking rasa, R. Karthikeyan's mridangam touches heightened the impact of the performance.

Viraha:
The heroine is heartbroken, the Lord having left her side for another woman. Amidst the pangs of separation, she recollects the happier moments she spent with Him.
Raga: Chenchuruti, Tala: Adi, Language: Telugu, Composer: Dharmapuri Subbarayar, Choreography: Leela Samson

The musicians provided excellent support for Parvathy’s sensitive abhinaya of the Vipralabdha nayika in Sakhi Prana. Parvathy’s abhinaya in this javali had depth with sadness overpowering anger.

Alingana:
Ode to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi in their inseparable, united form as Ardhanareeswara, represented as half man and half woman.
Raga: Brindavanasaranga, Tala: Adi, Language: Sanskrit, Lyrics: Adi Shankaracharya,
Music: Rajkumar Bharati, Choreography: Shijith & Parvathy

Sakhya:
Childhood friendship binds the simpleton Kuchela to the great Lord Krishna. As Kuchela undertakes a long journey to Dwaraka to meet his friend, to seek his help at an hour of need, he wonders if the Lord will remember their playful younger days.
Raga: Behag, Tala; Adi, Language: Sanskrit, Composer: Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, Choreography: Shijith Nambiar.

Shijith’s intense interpretation of “Smarathinu mam Sadayam Yadupathi” in Behag portrayed various emotional states of Kuchela on his way to Dwaraka to meet his friend. The interesting choreography had flashbacks of their childhood days. Shijith was transformed to Kuchela and he took the audience to a different world.

Prathama:
“Who are you? I have never seen you in my neighborhood before!” - Krishna accosts Radha at their first meeting. “Why come there when I have my own backyard to play in?” retorts Radha. And so it begins – the story of their eternal love.
Raga: Hindustani Gowri, Tala: Adi, Language: Hindi, Composer: Surdas, Choreography: Leela Samson

The first meeting between Krishna and Radha in the Surdas composition (‘Bujhat Shyam Kaun Tu Gori) was one of the best in the recital.

Thillana:
Woven into an intricate rhythmic structure accompanied by a lilting melody is a hymn to Lord Kartikeya that combines the ideas of Love and Devotion.
Raga: Revathi, Tala: Misrachapu, Language: Tamil, Composer: Lalgudi G Jayaraman, Choreography: Leela Samson

[rshankar]

Upasana - great review!

[madhan]

I lovvvvee Ms.Leela Samson's choreo for Shri Lalgudi's revathi thillana!!

[upasana]

Thank You, RShankar!

[preyas]

Recollecting ...

The usage of the stage space in terms of movement across the stage removed the fact that there was only 2 people on the stage. The best pieces of the program were the ones where both the team members participated. Some of the pieces of love portrayed so beautiful that the essence of a man and woman relationship was shown in a very sensitive and sensual manner. The two pieces where this was shown in particular was in the Alingana (Ardhanareeswara) and Prathama (Bhajan). Shijith comfort on the dancing came out in a very commanding manner. I have always noted a commonality with Kalashetra especially with the men - their grace, comfort and movement is like a common theme which seems to be their DNA essence. I found it tough to concentrate on Parvathy as I was watching Shijith prancing and dancing around the stage in glee. He made Krishna proud. I forced myself in some pieces to only see Parvathy so that I could appreciate and admire her movements and I did. Very few times have I felt that it would be nice if each of my eyes was able to take in a separate source of information and this was one of the cases.

The length of the varnam did not impact the viewer as the interpretation and the sancharis were done with creativity. The crocodile especially was represented very well by Shijith with his facial expression as well as elaborate movements. The Draupadi saree episode was done especially crisply with Shijith reaching out a number of times to Pravathy waist forcefully removing the saree brought what would have transpired starkly. The trust, comfort and the relationship between both the dancers was expertly used. The jathis were composed by Guru Karaikkudi R Mani and each jathi was different in its content. The jathis was danced either in combination, individually or as a jugal bandi and the creative extension of the adavus made them interesting diversions from the rest of the varnam.

The musical team support was very good with times when one did not know whom to look at the singer, the violinist or the subtle beating of the mridangam. This was especially very evident in Sakhya. I watched the singer watching the dancer emoting and this lead to more soulful singing which was in turn watched by the violinist who played in tandem while the nattuvanar and the mridangam played to highlight the movement. At the highest soul searching singing of the singer, I was reminded of O S Arun.

My favorite piece was the Bhajan. The comfort and the love and affection between the two dancers came out very well in their interaction and left a very lasting impression in ones mind. The relationship between Krishna and Radha - the flirting between the two, the subtle aggression of Krishna to get to know Radha, Radha not knowing why she was interested in Krishna, the relationship moving from an acquaintance to something more was depicted very well. It left a smile in your heart once the piece was over. The choreography of Leela Sampson was gentle and natural.

Leela Sampson choreography of a beautiful thilana summed up the evening very well. The choreography was very bold and crisp. There were big movements in the piece. They were executed very well by the dancers. Most of the time during this piece the dancers were smiling - I was not sure whether it was enjoying the piece or was it that the evening was over. I shall bet it was enjoying the piece. Leela Sampson strength in choreography was demonstrated very well and I shall wait anxiously to see the next piece choreographed by her as the first two I have seen was a wow experience.

Through out the dance there were times when the dancers used to look at each other acknowledge each others presence and continue dancing - sort of smiling at each other. I was not sure during those times whether they were dancing for us or for themselves. It is said that when one enjoys ones work, it shows and it did show in the performance.

I left the performance with a smile in my heart and discussing the dance with my family and friends and the overall impression was it was time very well spent.