Smt.Bragha's show was a class apart from the many of the other shows I saw during the season! Her Ksetrayya padam left the audience tear-filled. The swathi thirunal padam she performed was very refreshing. In that piece, Lord Padmanabha comes to woo a small girl. The girl asks the Lord to go away and come back when she grows big so that she would be able to satisfy the lord's desires. Hardly anyone walked out during the 90 minute performance which consisted of only abhinayam pieces, which itself is an accomplishment in Chennai. A review of both their performances by Smt.Leela Venkatraman can be read
here.
Other full length abhinayam recitals that I went to, were the ones at Abhinaya Sudha (early in the season) in Chandralekha's Spaces. I saw Padmabhsuhan Swapna Sundari, Smt.Bragha Bessel and Shri N.Srikanth there. Shri N.Srikanth depicted vaatsalyam-sringaram-bhakthi. His sringaram was easily the best piece of the evening. He took the saranam of the Navaragamalika Varnam by Shri KND and elaborated it beautifully!
Smt.Priyadarsini Govind also performed at Brahma Gana Sabha. All of you know about her, so I'm not writing much here! I was impressed by her body control. She also has a good sense of positioning on stage. Shri KND's Mohamaaginen varnam, purvi thillana and a piece on kadhirkaaman deity in Srilanka in Hamir Kalyani were some of the items she performed that evening.
Smt.Aishwarya Ananth, Kum.Aishwarya Narayanaswamy, Ms. Bhargavi Gopalan, Kum.Kavitha Ramu and Ms.Uma.B.Ramesh also did a commendable job in their shows at BGS! Mrs. Leela Venkatraman's review of Ms. Uma . B . Ramesh's show is
here and Aishwarya Ananth's review from Indian Express is
here.
Kum. Aarabhi Badri, Selvan Bhavajan Kumar, Selvan Ganesh Vasudeva, Kum.Gayathri Rajaji, Selvan Kiran Rajagopalan, Kum.Nrithya Pillai,
Kum. Sivasri Iyer, Kum.Suchitra Ramaswamy and Kum.Sumithra Subramaniam are a few other young artistes whom I managed to see during the season. All of them were very promising and I look forward to seeing more of them in the future. (Most of them are good friends of mine and I don't think it would be fair enough for me to say nice things about them! :))
Smt. Radhika Shurajit's Muthamizh Maalai was a very laid-back watch. No jarring nritta, no fast movements, pleasing costumes, beautiful patterns on stage made it a very nice viewing experience. Read the review of the show
here.
Krishna Gana Sabha, to my knowledge, was the only Sabha that offered concession to students. I would be happy if other Sabhas followed suite. The moment a rasika pays for watching a show, he/she starts juding the show based on its worthiness for the amount paid, which I don't think is healthy! I also attended the first day of the Natyakala conference and was spell bound by Kalakshetra repertory's demonstration. Leela akka hosted the show so beautifully! The most surprising part of the day was the end when three students presented their research work!
Here is a report by Ms. Lalitha Venkatraman.
Narada Natya vizha (by Shri Swamimalai S.K. Suresh) featured some excellent performers and performances. Shri. Shankar Kandasamy and Kum.Shobhana's group were the best of them. Both of them displayed their talents as choreographers. Shankar anna's varnam had some neat portrayals. He supposedly had a sprained ankle and the ones watching him had no clue! Shobhana's post varnam pieces were a visual treat. Her student Anooropitha stood out from the others in terms of stage presence and clarity in presentation. On the last day Smt.Urmila Sathyanarayan and her students performed Panchali Sabadham set to music by Shri Lalgudi Jayaraman, which was a good effort overall.
I also watched Padmabhushan Alarmel Valli at the music academy! Being a big fan, I did go with a lot of expectations and it was quite not the Valli I was hoping to see. I am guessing she was sick that day. Her sangam poetry was awesome as always. She depicted the woes of a mother who went in search of her daughter who had eloped with another guy. She had complete control over her orchestra and the piece was really nice. Her nritta, that day, was not as it always is! I am guessing she was sick? But valli is always valli!!! :)
Smt. Janaki Rangarajan at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (for Kalapradarsini) gave a neat performance. I also managed to catch the only show of Anusham during the season. Shri Narendra is an exceptional performer and he proved it again that day!
The singers and the other accompanists were busier than the dancers themselves during the season. My favorite vocalists were Shri.G.Srikanth, Shri.Hariprasad, Smt. Nandini Anand Sharma and Smt.Preethy Mahesh. Kalaimamani T.K.Padmanabhan, Shri.Kandadevi Vijayaraghavan and Shri.G.Kalaiarasan - violinists; Shri.Nellai Kannan and Shri.Dhananjayan - Mridangam, and Shri Sasidhar on flute were really supportive to all artists they accompanied.
Sometimes more than the kutcheris, the discussion about it in the canteen turned out to be more informative and interesting. I spent hours with my friends in the canteen and parking area discussing dance and dancers. One of the most memorable sessions was one with Shri Kishore Mosalikanti. He talked about music for dance and how important it is to treat orchestra members with respect, because they are the ones who support the dancer on stage.
A talk session with Smt. Radhika Shurajit and her students for
Deccan chronicle and Dr.Padma's interview for NDTV Hindu's Keys and conversations with Anil Srinivasan were memorable. It is nice to listen to what people who have made it big, have to say..
Coming to the food.. Whats the season without the sabha canteens? Gnanambika caterers totally rocked..! Their friday lunches (paruppu podi, urulai kaarakari, keera kootu and a looottt of other items) and melagukozhambu + roast totally are to die for! Karpagambal mess is not like what it used to be 2 years back. Service has become horrible and prices have doubled. Their nei mundhiri cake was heavenly though!
Gnanambika caterers at NGS Pic courtesy: The Hindu
Two of my favorites who did not perform this season. Padmashri Prof.Sudharani Raghupathy and Padmashri Leela Samson! My season would have been complete if I had seen them on stage. The last time i saw Prof. Sudharani was at Shruthi's office. It was a life-time experience! Leela akka is simplicity personified. When she came to watch Bragha akka at BGS, she was asked to sit in the front. She simply refused and preferred to sit in one of the back rows and remain unnoticed!
With Prof. Sudharani and Leela akka
There is a lot of mediocrity in the field. Some of the youngsters, I think, are in a urge to come to the stage without knowing if they really deserve to be there and also handle the pressure! A lot of dancers do a neat show without any mistakes, but there are no "Wow (Sabaash) moments". When you get back home and think there is hardly anything about the show you can recollect. But on the whole, it was a very fulfilling and fun-filled season! I am already looking forward to the next!