M'lore: Lakshmi Presents True Treat of Dance Solo at Bharatha Mani Festival 

Pics by Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SB)

Mangalore, Nov 4: Danseuse Lakshmi Parthasarathy Atreya’s Bharatanatyam performance on Tuesday November 3 at the Town Hall here marked a perfect beginning of Bharatha Mani national music and dance festival, a six-day cultural extravaganza jointly organized by Bharatha Nritya Saba and Mani Krishnaswami Academy.

Lakshmi from Mumbai, disciple of accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer, Chitra Visveswaran, demonstrated through her performance what solo performance is truly. Nimble-footed artiste, she captivated the audience throughout with her perfect ‘mandala’, ‘hasta mudras’ and apt expressions. Her performance had the capacity to turn an ordinary audience into ‘rasikas’, which is truly a gift for an artiste.

Among the four dance items performed by her, it was in ‘devarnama’, Neenyako ninna hangyako by dasa composer Purandaradasa that she really was at the peak. Her abhinaya as Draupadi while depicting the scene of vastrapaharana by Kauravas, particularly at the point where helpless Draupadi prays to the Lord Krishna to bail her out of the embarrassing situation and in turn gets a succour from the Lord, which she accepts whole-heartedly moved many an audience into tears. The expressions of helplessness and gratitude were so very subtly portrayed by the artiste that it left a lasting expression among art lovers.

She ended the performance with a unique Tillana, wherein she interlaced ‘Adhram Madhuram’, Madhurashtakam by saint poet Adi Shankaracharya. The postures and poses, very typical of Tillana were brought out superbly by Lakshmi. Accompanying artistes, Srinath in vocal, Muralidharan in Flute and Nellai Kannan in mridangam were a dream team, who aptly supported the danseuse to enhance her performance. Srinath’s flawless rendition of Neenyako was the highpoint of the evening and simply complimented the artiste’s performance. 

Earlier, Alva’s Education Foundation, Moodbidri chairman Dr M Mohan Alva inaugurated the programme and also felicitated danseuse Lakshmi and the other accompanying artistes. The evening began with the dance presentations by young upcoming local artistes followed by Bharatanatyam performance of Divya Sena of Chennai. State Yakshagana Academy chairman Kumble Sunder Rao, organizers, dance teacher Sharada Mani Shekar and Nityananda Rao were present