Nature, in all its glory, was depicted by dance groups at the two-day festival of International Dance Alliance. NANDINI RAMANI narrates...

INTERNATIONAL DANCE Alliance, in association with Narada Gana Sabha, organised its 19th anniversary celebration, which was inaugurated by Kumara Rani Meena Muthiah. Dance exponents Sudharani Raghupathi and Chitra Visweswaran, were honoured on this occasion.

Srishti Shrinkhala, the exploration of the bonding of the Universe, with the integral elements of Nature and their continuity and forms of their earthly existence, was the topic of this year's event.

The IDA which has been promoting talented young dancers from different regions, had come out with this venture, giving once again, exposure to several enterprising, enthusiastic dancers. While some of them chose to stay within the traditional boundaries in concept and choreography, the others opted for free style and fusion modes, both in dance and music. Both live and recorded music were used by the dancers for the event, which focussed on the five elements (Space, Water, Fire, Wind and Earth).

Senior dancers, Radhika Surajith, and Revathi Ramachandran, council members of IDA under the guidance of Leela Sekhar (chairperson), had taken enormous efforts to co-ordinating all the twelve groups that participated in this event.

Creativity at its best

Excellent creativity, impressive choreography, apt visualisation and vibrant communication marked the presentation of Fire, by Y. G. Madhuvanti Arun. Madhu and Narendra Kumar, proved once again their ability to interpret themes with brilliance. As announced, Madhu and Narendra along with Anusha chose to express the main idea through movement technique, which conveyed the basic content successfully.

The depiction of Fire as the eternal purifier with a group of young students of Madhu and Anita Guha, portraying how different sects of religion (accompanied with respective religious chanting), use the element was interesting. Equally impressive was the innovative interpretation of Fire of Love and Hatred. The fitting finale came in the form of fire as Sakti. Artistes from Koothu-p-pattarai, accompanied the dancers in this folksy number with their drums. Digitally recorded music (by Divakar Subramaniam) was pleasant throughout. Lakshmi Ravichander's excellent voice over announcements added a new dimension.

Nritya Lakshana school of Bharatanatyam of senior dancer A. Lakshman deserves to be commended on tackling its subject — the Earth, bhoomi. Lakshman presented some of his talented disciples in a group and narrated the greatness of Mother Earth and her virtues. Lively lyrics by Prof. Raghuraman set to melodious tunes by A. S. Murali heightened the quality of the narrative. Choosing episodes from the epics such as the Varaha and Vaamana Avataras of Lord Vishnu, the group effectively conveyed the message through a traditional approach inviting full appreciation from the audience. The dancers gave a tranquil touch to the dignified choreography of A. Lakshman, who conducted the recital ably assisted by Hariprasad (vocal), and Nellai D.Kannan. ``Winds and Rains," enacted by Rajeswari Sainath, had enough suitable, supportive lyrical content (provided by Seshadri Ghanapadigal and Kavi Kannan) to present a compact, apt description glorifying Wind (``Vaazhi Vayu Devane"). The dancer dwelt upon the kinds of wind, that result in various types of rain clouds, all well-portrayed. Students who danced with Rajeswari exhibited perfect co-ordination, in offering their tributes to wind and rain (Tasmai Toyaatmane Namah).

In a pleasant narration Pallavi Krishnan with her accomplished group of Mohiniyattom artistes, rendered the beauties of the Seasons, using the poems of Rtu Samhara of Mahakavi Kalidasa and those of Rabindranath Tagore. The dance-form aptly and gently fitted into the thematic interpretation. Also the lively recorded musical accompaniment enriched the visual effect.

A team of students of Saroja Vaidyanathan, which included a Japanese and a Russian, had come all the way from New Delhi just for this brief appearance in which they dealt with seas and rivers. Although certain ideas seemed to overlap with the earlier presentations, the group managed to infuse interest by focussing on the water sport of Lord Krishna, particularly, scenes of Nowka Charitram , and that of Kalinga Nartana, with considerable talent.

On the inaugural day it was pleasant to see Kavita Ramu, talented dancer, appearing on stage with her presentation on Space, along with a dedicated team of dancers. In a nutshell, Kavita could visually bring out the all-encompassing nature of Space with a neat choreography by Narendra Kumar, interesting lyrics by Revathy Sankaran and pleasant fusion music composed by Rajesh Vaidhya.

Tastefully mingled

The second evening commenced with a graceful presentation by Santanu Chakravarty (Bhartanatyam) and Sanjeev Bhattacharya (Manipuri) from Delhi, who had tastefully woven the two forms of dance to depict Dasavatara through the verses of Ashtapadi poet Jayadeva. Santanu, followed by two Bharatanatyam dancers and accompanied by Sanjeev in Manipuri style and Purbita Mullick gave an elegant presentation that had a smooth, unbroken chain of movements.

Six of the well-known senior students Sudharani Raghupathi participated in the presentation on the theme of Mountains, and proved their skill and training in the nuances of choreography at Sri Bharatalaya. Sasirekha, the young Nattuvangam accompanist of this institution, is to be appreciated for locating Chandra Saila, mentioned in the Bala Kanda of Kamba Ramayanam and weaving the dance narrative around it. The senior disciples who had composed the dance format for this deserve praise for a neat, crisp visualisation of the songs that describe the Mountain and its grandeur, its appearance that resembles Karia Tirumal, and the Sun whose rays make it glitter like red gems. Aruna Subbiah and Nalini Prakash were strikingly vibrant among the group, especially in making swift movements, leaps and jumps. Madurai N. Krishnan's scholarly touch in the musical choreography was well nourished by vocalist Roshni of the Padma Seshadri Sisters.

Actress and dancer Shobhana and her group of talented students gave ample proof of their skill in aspects of rhythm, a favourite subject of Shobhana. The theme for this group was the joy of Spring. The focus was not on the advent of Vasantha but more a celebration of Love, and they danced for Ashtapadi to emphasise that. It was new wave Bharatanatyam sensuous and glamour-oriented. The music, the costumes and the over-all effect invoked images of the dazzling festivals of the tinsel world.

``Birds" by Divyasena and group highlighting the birds that became divine — Vulture (Jatayu), Crane (Naarai) and the Swan (Hamsa) from the epics and legends (lyrics and music by Venkata Subramanian), and ``Animals" by Hariharan's group were examples of sincere work. Noteworthy was the fine talent of Raja Bird who stood out for his role as the monkey, moving around. Hariprasad (vocal and music direction) and Prof. Raghuram (lyrics) provided support for this feature on animals (Maruti Leelai).

Binesh Mahadevan of Akshaya Arts, a disciple of Ranganayaki Jayaraman, with his group of dancers gave the concluding theme on Man, Woman and Child with a play on the birth of Hari Hara Sudha. Lyrics by Raghuraman and Ranganayaki Jayaraman, and music by Chitrambari Krishnakumar and Ranganayaki added strength to this dance-drama.

On stage, a symbolic representation of the universe and its multi extensions was displayed through a backdrop designed by V. V. Ramani. Murali of Narada Gana Sabha provided skilful lighting. Prof.