Mysore B. Nagaraj of Articulate Trust for Arts,  curated the 32nd Articulate Festival on Jan.20 at Veene Seshanna Bhavana, Ganabharathi, Kuvempunagar, Mysuru, that was beautiful and enraptured the audience. The evening saw two duets and two solo formats in Bharatanatyam and Odissi classical dance.

Vidya V. Thayoor, disciple of Guru Dr. Soundarya Srivatsa of Nartana Keertana Centre for Performing Arts, opened her Bharatanatyam Solo presentation with a Sanskrit composition  shringara lahari, shritajana shubhakari, in Raga: Neelambari, Taal: Adi as benediction to Devi Parvati in Shringara Rasa. She concluded with a Abhinaya composition in Tamil “Eppadi manam tunindado swami,” set to  Raga: Huseni, Taal: mishra chapu, culled from the abridged version of Ramayana, “Ramanatakam.”

Vidya sailed through the Devi composition that was interspersed with Nrutta between the phrases of  sahitya that was a bundle of Bhakti and caught, after warming up the evening, attention of the audience  through the emotions of Sita, when she heard the news of Rama’s Exile and his intention to go through it alone. Her abhinaya conveyed effectively the pain of impending separation and her determination to go along with him and share all the difficulties that comes in their path.

Kashmira Trivedi, trained under veteran Guru Deepak Mazumdar, performed Bharatanatyam with her disciple Swati Badle in a seamless presentation of four compositions. Opening with  obeisance to Lord Ganesha in Sanskrit, followed by Melaprapti that is the very genesis of Shuddha nritta enriched by enchanting rhythms, swaras and dance, presented Sri Adi Shankara’s “Shiv panchakshara stotra” before signing off with a keertana “Ksheera Sagara Shayana.”

Disciple Swati Badale performed the Melaprapti and Panchakshara stotra with brisk and sprighty movements and precise expressions when demanded by the percussion and the lyrics, while Kashmira performed with élan and grace the Ganesha Shloka and the Keertana. Her unfolding the episodes of Gajendra Moksha, Draupadi Chirharan and anecdotes from Ramayana, that was weaved in this narration, was unhurried in a pace that the audience could experience the satwika bhava that the dancer herself experienced in her radiant rendition. A seldom seen acts these days that tugged at the heart of the onlookers. The rasotpatti was delightfully intense.

Suranjana Endow, disciple  of Guru Sharmila Mukerjee of Sanjali Centre for Odissi Dance, opened her Odissi act with a Mangalacharan that includes Pushpanjali, bhumipranam and Trikhandi Pranam in  Raga: Shivaranjani Taal: Malika and concluded with a Pallavi in Raga: Charukshi set to Taal: Ektaali.

She immersed blissfully in her devotion to Goddess Lakshmi. Her delicate movements that described the Goddess, who was a terror to the terrible Kolasur, holder of sankha-chakra,  riding the Garuda and born from the ocean while churning, hooked the audience to her Bhakti Rasa. Her pallavi, as the name indicates, grew like a lovely creeper both in movement and cadence of the pure dance bringing the subtle sensuality without erotic inclinations and almost unfreezing the sculptures that stood in the niches of the temples in the regions of Utkala. She interpreted the charukeshi raaga in different dimensions of taal and laya to the delight of the prekshaka.

Shruti Abhishek and Deepika Potdar, graduates in Performing Arts, from the esteemed Nalanda Nrityakala Mahavidyalaya, Mumbai and disciples of Guru Vybhav Arekar, performed in a duet format their Bharatanatyam. Shruti  and Deepika commenced their recital with a Sanskrit obeisance in raaga: nattai, Taala: adi, a composition “Ananda nartana ganapatim bhaavaye” of Shri Ootukkaadu Venkata Subbaiyyar, wherein they prayed to the Lord of Muladhara Chakra Sri Ganapati, in his dancing form.

In the second segment of their presentation, a abhinaya number in  Tamil, a Ninda Stuthi, “edukku modidanum maku yendanmidaayyar” in raga: suruti, Taal: rupaka, written by Marimuttu Pillai, and  through the words of the poet very intelligently praise Lord Shiva hidden in accusations and friendly taunts. They concluded with a Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna’s kadana kutuhala Raga Taal: adi  Tillana.

Both Shruti and Deepika in all the three presentation were in absolute synchronisation in every step, in every move and in every freeze. They amazingly justified the choreography specially tailored for a duet format. One wondered if we were witnessing an object and a mirror image. Such was there harmonisation. The most interesting was the interpretation of the sahitya by  one as accusation and the other as devotion, two different emotion towards the same object, Lord Shiva. Between the taunts and requests, the two showed such diverse emotion and approach of seeking His attention, the audience were not left in confusion but were catered to simultaneous visual that did not clash in ones senses. It was brilliantly portrayed. One has seen many artistes perform the Tillana, but Shruti and Deepika’s approach to the presentation was very unique in all dimensions. It was simply dazzling.

Mysore B. Nagaraj’s statement that the artistes artistry will  haunt for days after the performance, is simply so true.