Lasya makes it delightful
RUPA SRIKANTH
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Aarti Mohan's adavus were tinged with a singular softness and grace.
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SENSITIVE: Aarti Mohan.
The cultural scene is vibrant today thanks to the presence of young but mature dancers. Aarti Mohan is a dancer who embodies all that is academic and proficient and sincere. This is reflected in the passion to learn and to acquit oneself well.
Aarti's posture is a delight to behold, both the straight shoulders and an impeccably held spine. Her dance is particularly delightful because of its lasya component. Here, the adavus are tinged with a singular softness and grace that she is able to maintain through the most arduous of sequences. Aarti's footwork is precise and well-timed for the most part, except for the theermana adavus or the finishing steps that could do with more clarity. An insufficient araimandi and the occasional bent elbow need to be worked on. These little details may sound trivial, but are issues that can mar an otherwise pretty picture. The Dhanyasi varnam, ``Nee inda mayam" (Papanasam Sivan, Adi taalam) was handled with poise. The dancer, guided by her guru Revathi Ramachandran on the nattuvangam, navigated the intricacies of the nritta sections with confidence and verve. Especially commendable was a theermanam that was replete with pirouettes, Kathak-style. Aarti is naturally expressive, so the nayika's yearning and admiration for the cowherd, Lord Krishna, was captured sensitively. There was more of Krishna in Annamacharya's ``Mudugare Yashoda" tuned in Kurinji ragam, Adi talam. Krishna's leelas equating Him to the nine gems gave enough scope for Aarti's histrionic talent to bloom. It is to the teacher's credit that there was no repetitiveness in the repertoire considering that every piece presented was about the same mythological figure. Aarti was able to flit from one story to another with minimal fuss while her mobile face captured imaginatively the successive scenarios.
Sasidharan, the singer, was at his best here with a very evocative rendering. He was skilfully supported by N. K. Kesavan, mridangam and Bhavani Prasad, veena. Dr. Balamurali Krishna's vibrant Brindavani thillana in Adi taalam with a dramatic shuddha nrittam segment concluded a polished recital.
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Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
