|     |
|
| |
 A well-articulated performance of waves of desire - Anita Vallabh e-mail: anitavallabhofficial@gmail.com January 4, 2025 Aishwarya Balasubramanian's performance at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on December 23 under the aegis of Kartik Fine Arts was characterized by strength, poise, and inner beauty. She began her performance with a pushpanjali in Ragamalika, a composition of Easwar Ramakrishnan, followed by Annamacharya's kriti - Namo Namo Raghukula Nayaka. While the pushpanjali gave us a glimpse of her graceful and precise technique, the kriti revealed her engagement with Bhakti. It was heartwarming to watch Aishwarya perform this all-time favorite song with a deep understanding of Annamacharya's bhakti and the embedded message of love and surrender. She next presented the famous Tanjavur Quartet varnam in Todi - Mohalahiri konden Samy. Her interpretation and choreography depicted a Nayika impassioned in love and one who is not diminished by despair or tears. She is an Uttama Nayika, a woman whose experience of love grants her strength and inner resilience to confront and articulate the waves of desires that engulf her being. It is remarkable how she maintained her sthaayi throughout the varnam without any affectations or pretensions. Her enchantment of Krishna as "nagareega Lolla" lies in his grace and mastery of music. She concluded every line of the Pallavi and Anupallavi, with a lingering sense of longing, pondering the reason behind his indifference and skillfully built upon this emotion, drawing us into a deeper layer of love and desire, where the longing becomes unbearable. The only distraction for me as a rasika was the emphasis placed on nritta over abhinaya in the thatti mettu.  Subsequently, Aishwarya transitioned to Gopalakrishna Bharati's Vazhi Maraithirukkude. Nandanar's emotional outpourings of longing and despair, as he stands outside the gate of the Śiva temple in Thiruppungur, were sensitively and exquisitely portrayed. The most evocative moment for me occurred when she concealed her face in grief and, after a few moments sensing movement, gradually peered through her fingers, and with a look of astonishment realized the miracle of Nandi moving aside to bestow the magnificent vision of the Lord's form. It was an immersive experience for the audience. Aishwarya's performance of this piece was imbued by a profound sense of poignancy. This moment of Nandanar appears to also symbolize her own moment. Is it birth, residency, or worth? Aishwarya spent years training under an exacting Guru, Anita Guha, and is a very well established teacher in Massachusetts, USA. Her dedication to the craft is evident in her nuanced performance, in her confidence and in her ability to command our attention - a commendable feat indeed, given our attachment and submission to social media during performances. She was ably supported by Murali Parthasarathy on vocals, Jayashree Ramanathan on nattuvangam, Ram Shankar Babu on the mridangam, Easwar Ramakrishnan on violin and Sujith Naik on the flute.  Anita Vallabh is an Adjunct professor at the University of Hawaii, author, Yoga instructor and dance critic. She lives in Boston, USA. |
