 In elite company
Sage Bharata’s Natyashastra avers that the opportunity to witness a classical dance recital is to be welcomed as one of the priceless God-given gifts! Bharata Muni adds that the best way to worship the Lord is through the dance form and not by routine rituals!
These thoughts flashed through my mind while witnessing the just-75 minute-5 piece-exquisite Bharatanatyam recital of Divya Kasturi under the aegis of the Nungambakkam Cultural Academy recently.
The crowd turn-out was not heartening. May be the rasikas have had a surfeit of dance performances during Margazhi and earlier. But then, the seminar organised by Kartik Fine Arts at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium during mid-Decemeber did address itself to "the steadily dwindling audience for dance" problem. Well, it seems we are not prepared to view dance as a divine gift, that is all!
Divya Kasturi is, undeniably, one of the better accomplished dancers among her contemporaries today. She is a highly talented artiste. Her fascinating expressions (bhava), attractive stage presence, lithe and lissom movements, well coordinated steps - sancharis, theermanams - and winsome elegance are all certain evidence that she has the perfect balance of nritta, nritya, and abhinaya in her dance make-up.
The Karaharapriya Varnam 'Mohamaginen' (K N Dhandayuthapani Pillai) had in it all the essential ingredients of classical dance. The theme was the ‘usual’ Cupid’s tiresome torment of the damsel in distress whose misery arises out of her intense, passionate longing for her beloved Lord. Divya’s coquetry, pouts, shy glances, eager personal preparations to win her Lord were highly and artistically expressive and authentically amorous, as the portrayal demanded. She passed the dancer’s acid test, ‘Varnam’, with facile distinction.
The Abhirami Andathi-based Ragamalika number, the Rasikapriya(!) Sanskrit panegyric 'Pavana Thanaya Palayamam', noteworthy for its imaginative choreography, and the Maand thillana (her guru Udupi Lakshminarayanan’s composition) served well to proclaim emphatically Divya Kasturi’s place in elite company.
Veteran guru Udupi Lakshminarayanan and his daughter Madhumathi Prakash directed the nattuvangam. Veeraraghavan’s lovely vocal renditions, Sakthivel’s mridangam beats and Veeramani’s violin were effective accompaniments.
It is worthwhile to note here that Divya Kasturi is also an electronics & communication engineer (as quite a few of the modern young female performing brigade are), a Kathak dancer, classical and light music vocalist, news-reader-compere, professional M.C. and voice-over dubbing artiste.
R Srinivasan
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