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 Ramakrishnam Bhajamyaham - Preethi Anand e-mail: preethi.ramachandran@gmail.com January 9, 2024 On 28th December, students of Kanagasabahai School of Bharatanatyam in alliance with dancer Sindhu Shyam and her students of Kalaasindhu School of Performing Arts, presented a thematic margam "Ramakrishnam Bhajamyaham" under the auspices of Kartik Fine Arts.  The program started with a neat and crisp Anjali in Vaasanthi which set the tone for the evening's main item "Bhavayami Raghuramam" that followed. This well-known composition of Swathi Thirunal, gives ample scope to set the stage for a central piece with a rich combination of swaras and sahithyam that describes the entire Ramayanam. This classic piece was effectively handled by the dancers under the meticulous choreography of Sasirekha Rammohan, whose recitation of the jathis were electrifying along with the mellifluous voice of Shravan on the vocal. Sindhu Shyam did complete justice playing the central character, Rama. All other characters were brought alive by the carefully chosen dancers who enthusiastically performed their part. Mantra's deception in persuading Kaikeyi to ask her two boons leading to Rama's exile, Bharata's request for Rama's paduka, Maricha's manipulation as a deer leading to Sita's abduction, the final war sequence were well knit with nuanced abhinaya which effectively aided the story telling in these episodes. Sita swayamvaram and the sethu bandhana scenes had hasya elements which made it lighter and interesting for the audience to travel along. The piece ended with a befitting grand finale of Rama's pattabishekam (coronation). Special mention to the lights technicians making it a visual treat. The brilliant jathis of nattuvanar Kamalarani and Chitra Visweswaran intertwined with the graceful Vazhuvoor bani of dance was a delightful takeaway for the viewers.  This was followed by "Adahodalle Makalu," a devaranama performed by Haritha, a very neat presentation of the item choreographed originally by Bragha Bessell, with inputs of Sasirekha Rammohan to suit the young artiste. The next piece performed by Sindhu was "Ennathavam seidhanai," which had well executed vatsalyam as the sthayi. The program ended with the lilting bhajan "Gopi Gopala bala" that depicted Rasaleela, where the dancers ably unfolded the joy and grace making it an apt summing up to this theme based margam recital.  Preethi Anand is a Bharatanatyam teacher and performer trained for over 20 years, initially under Uma Anand and currently under Jayanthi Subramaniam. She has learnt Nattuvangam from Bagavathulu Seetharama Sharma and Mohiniattam from Gopika Varma. She is also trained in Carnatic music and holds a Master's degree in Sanskrit from Madras University. |
