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Sri Krishna Jayanthi
 Jayanthi
Subramaniam and her talented group of disciples – Pavithra,
Deeptha, Harini, Saraswati, Ashwini, Sridevi, Sumithra and baby
Malavika – staged a delightfully innovative dance ballet
titled ’Sri Krishna Leela Tarangini’ (of Narayana Tirtha) at
the Mylapore Fine Arts Club in Chennai recently.
Jayanthi is an
accomplished dancer with more than two decades of aesthetically
rich experience, as a performer, as a teacher and creative
choreographer. Her presentations are uniformly noteworthy for
their mature dignity, expressive abhinaya and striking nritta,
nritya and natya skills.
The Krishna
Leela Tarangini, composed by Narayana Tirtha, in chaste
Sanskrit, and set to melodious music, comprises 155 gitams in
about forty ragas, short daruvus, nearly 350 slokas –gadayams
and link prosodies. The title means ‘Delightful Waves of the
Sport of Sri Krishna’. The ennobling theme highlights the
Advaita philosophy propounding the unrivalled supremacy of the
Lord in emphatic, devotion- drenched terms.
Jayanthi
chose about a dozen verses from this ‘Bhakti Prabandha Kavya’
to depict, beautifully, the Krishna theme through memorable
episodes extending from Krishna Jananam to Rukmini Kalyanam. The
theme is a connoisseur’s delight. All the seven school girls,
ably guided and tutored by their guru, were able to portray each
episode with obvious commitment and fervent dedication. Mostly,
they danced in a group. Even so, it was plain that each one of
them had received purposeful training from their guru in the
nuances of the Natya Sastra. Every one of them had her own
opportunity to impress the distinguished audience with
individual skills. As a group, they combined harmoniously.
Jayanthi deserves warm commendation for her judicious on-stage
allotment in this context.
 Jayanthi
carried the thematic presentation to elevating heights through
her own special solo sequences via ‘Ekaharyam’. The ‘Avadhaaraya
Maam Isvaram’ (Poorvai Kalyani – Adi), Krishna’s advent
wherein he details his Divine supremacy, was emphatically
impressive.
‘Kalaya
Yasode Tava Balam’ (Kedaragaulam – Ata talam), ‘Kalabha
Gathi Shobha’, erotica- based dialogue between Radha and
Krishna, and ‘Krishnam Kalaya Sakhi’ (description of Sri
Krishna) deserve particular mention for their sublime purity.
There is no special need to detail Jayanthi’s chaste and
brilliant style enshrined in these episodes.
The group’s
delineation of ‘Kaliya Mardhanam’ and ‘Rukmini Kalyanam’
were praiseworthily heart- warming. It would be invidious to
isolate them for individual mention. Baby Malavika had the plum
role of Sri Krishna and, therefore, invited special attention.
Nattuvangam
by danseuse Roja Kannan, vocal support by Rama and Geetha,
Jagadesh Janardhan’s percussion, Kalaiarasan's violin strings
and P.V. Ramana’s windy echoes helped greatly enhance the
ballet’s intrinsic merits.
Seetha Rajan’s
musical guidance was yet another supportive factor that deserve
wholehearted appreciation.
Jayanthi had
also staged, at another city venue, an equally impressive ‘Ula’
ballet titled ‘Aadhi Ula’, wherein she presented the seven
stages of woman, at a later date.
R. Srinvasan
18 A,IV Main Road,
R.A.Puram,
Chennai 600 028.
Phone 24355576
Published on 9thFeb, 2004
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