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REVIEW / REPORTA recital that lingers on- Swarnima Jayaraje-mail: swarnima.jayaraj@gmail.com Photos: Aswin Vijay September 19, 2026 It was a visual and musical treat at the Bharatanatyam recital by Pallavi Anand - an evening where dance and music complemented each other beautifully at TDM Hall, Kochi.  The evening opened with an Alarippu in Chaturashra Jathi Dhruva Talam, choreographed by Shri @mavinkhoo - a delightful play of intricate adavu variations that immediately drew attention to Pallavi's technical command. Then came the Varnam, Mohamaana En Meedhil in Bhairavi, a composition by K. Ponnaiya Pillai. The Nayika's longing for her Lord, her yearning for his love and the ache of separation unfolded through Pallavi's abhinaya with remarkable sensitivity. Sringara Bhakti was explored here not merely as an idea, but as an emotion that one could almost feel. But what stayed with me most from the evening was something quite unexpected. The silence. There were moments when the music and movement seemed to arrive at an emotional crescendo - and then, suddenly, everything stopped. Silence. And strangely, the silence did not break the emotion. It held it. It gave the rasa space to breathe and settle. Even when the music and the movement ended, the emotion lingered.  This was particularly moving in the abhinaya piece that followed. The Nayika dreamt of motherhood with her beloved. She imagined the little world she would create with her child - swinging together, tying those tiny plaits, playing ball with her little one. Her dreams were simple, tender and deeply human. But somewhere along the way, the dream began to reveal its distance. Perhaps she realised that this life she imagined so vividly might never be hers. And once again, the piece ended in silence. It was a gripping closure. There was no dramatic musical flourish to tell us that the emotion had ended. Instead, we were left with the silence - and with the Nayika's longing suspended somewhere within it. The rasa did not end with the music. It continued in the silence. This piece was Pallavi's own concept and choreography, with Tamil lyrics by Jayakumar and music composed by Annapoorna Pradeep in Anandabhairavi and Sahana. The choice of ragas, the structure of the composition and the choreography felt refreshingly conceived. There was an innate tenderness to the entire piece - an almost tactile sense of motherly affection - which slowly gave way to an aching realisation. Pallavi's dance is in the details. She is an immensely emotive dancer, with eyes that seem to have a language of their own. There were moments when I found myself watching her eyes more than the movement itself. The years of training under stalwarts are clearly visible, but so is her individuality. And the recital was as much a musical experience as it was a visual one. The musicians did not merely support the dance; they inhabited its emotional world. The concert ended with a Thillana in raaga Shankarabharanam. Organised by BEAME (Bank Employees Art Movement, Ernakulam) at TDM Hall, Kochi, the recital brought together a wonderful team of musicians -Annapoorna Pradeep on vocals, Udayasankar Lal on nattuvangam, Suresh Namboothiri on violin and Arjun Kanth on mridangam. Swarnima Jayaraj is an Interior Stylist and Art enthusiast based in Kochi. She's a trained dancer herself who has recently started dabbling in the art of writing. |
