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Silapathigaram - Kalalaya's 20th Anniversary

Samarpana - II - The next generation

Funded in part by Arts Council Silicon Valley
abc

Yuvabharati opened their concert series for this year with yet another performance show casing the promising talents of young dancers, Anjana Dasu and Kaustavi Sarkar.

Anjana Dasu, senior disciple of Smt Mythili Kumar commenced her Bharatanatyam recital with a traditional pushpanjali seeking the blessings of the Almighty. She continued to present an Aandal Kouthvam based on the 10th century Tamil saint, Aandal. As a young girl Saint Aandal envisaged her groom to be none other than Lord Maha Vishnu himself. She composed several poems potraying her love for Lord Vishnu and her marriage with the Lord himself. Anjana’s presentation depicted vividly the story of Aandal from her birth to her marriage with the Lord.

Kaustavi Sarkar, disciple of Ratikant Mohapatra presented Mangalacharan, a traditional odissi invocatory number. The salutations to the presiding diety, to Mother Earth and to the audience were well executed.

Anjana proceeded to present a quintessential item of the Bharatanatyam repertoire – Mohamanna, a varnam of the Tanjore Quartet. This popular varnam set in Bhairavi depicts the plight of the heroine who pines in love for her lord and pleads with him to join her. Anjana brought out the sthayi bhava of this piece well aided by the elaborate sancharis. The torment the heroine faces due to the onset of cupid’s arrows on her was succinctly portrayed by Anjana in her rendition. The elaborate Jathis of this varnam were effortlessly executed with flourish by young Anjana.

Kaustavi’s next piece was a heavy Pallavi. The intricate Nritta or pure dance sequences is the foundation of this piece. The highlight of Kaustavi’s pallavi was the Question and Answer section between rhythm and dance. Kasutavi kindled quite an excitement in the audience with her energetic and well timed rendition of this section.

Anjana presented a pure Abhinaya piece , Mavalla Kadamma. The heroine here complains to Mother Yashoda about the never ending pranks of Krishna. Khandita Nayika or an angry chiding protagonist was the centre character of this piece and was charmingly delivered by Anjana.

The next piece composed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra describes the plight of the heroine who is so deeply in love with Krishna, that she is willing to ignore his unfaithfulness to her. Virohotkanditha or a heroine seperated from her lover and pining for him was well presented by Kaustavi.

Anjana concluded her part of the evening by a popular thillana by Dr BalamuraliKrishna set in ragam Kuntalavarali. Sculpturesque poses and intricate footwork dominated this chirpy number and was a fit ending to Anjana’s energetic recital.

Kaustavi ended her part of the evening with Ardha Narishwarar. The two fold nature of Lord siva encompassing both the Masculine and Feminine is the concept behind the Ardhinari form of the Lord. Without the use of any extra props but by merely covering part of her face with her hand, Kaustavi was able to bring the duality of the masculine and feminine in Ardha Narishwarar precisely. The piece was choreographed by the legendary Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra himself.

Both the dancers showed extreme energy and vigor from the start to the finish. Kaustavi’s costume change for all her songs was a treat to the eye. Yuvabharati’s first performance of this year definitely set the bars for this year very high!