The beautiful and innovative stage décor by P.Krishnamurthy linked the colours of each rasa with drapes of coloured cloth headed by a mask. This was best appreciated only on the first and last days of the festival. It was a creditable presentation all round, and every dancer had done his or her homework. Of course, some were more effective than the others; this was more to do with the presentational aspect. The comperes were good on the whole; of them, Srikanth stood out for his flowery language. The resource persons for the festival were abhinaya expert Smt.Kalanidhi Narayanan and musician T.M.Krishna.

The subtlety of sringara

Priyadarshini Govind's restrained abhinaya was well suited to portraying 'sringara' rasa. She built up the mood with Jayadeva's Ashtapadi 'Lalitha Lavang' in Vallachi ragam, and highlighted the different facets of love with verses from the Kamathupal section of the Thirukural, set in ragamalika. Govind's eyes are enough; her 'angika abhinaya' is indeed superfluous. Be it the exhilaration of falling in love or the pain of separation, each expression was in place and at the right time. But by nature of the unfamiliar verses, the item seemed lengthy. A poem by Tamarai, the poet of the evening, in Purvikalyani ragam, misra chapu talam, spoke of how much a woman is willing to do for a man she feels is worthy of her love. The poem was short and succinct.

A presentation of 'sringara' would have been incomplete without referring to the immortal lovers in Indian mythology, Radha and Krishna. Through verses from Radhika Santhvanam composed in Arabi ragam, and Jayadeva's Ashtapadi 'Kuru yadu nandana' in Behag ragam, their sensuous relationship came alive in Govind's delineation. The credits for the programme go to: Hariprasad, who was subdued but melodic; his music compositions too were praiseworthy; Nellai D.Kannan on the mridangam, Vinod with the violin, and Ramana on the flute gave excellent support. Neela Sukanya with the cymbals had a marginal role to play.

Anger without fire

In his delineation of 'krodham'- anger, A.Lakshmanan chose verses from the Natyasashtra citing reasons for anger and their specific characteristics, such as the enemy, guru, par-armour, feigned anger, and that over minions. Though lucid, Lakshman has a style that can get colloquial if he is not careful. His eyes are his biggest assets, and he would do well to develop a method of abhinaya that is less gestural and more internalised. The frequent shaking of the head is also distracting.

The poet Thamarai's 'Vidial' in Simhendra Madhyamam ragam dealt with an angry wife, who looks after the home, children, office and, husband single-handed. It was well planned and provided many moments of hilarity. Lakshman has a way with humour that he can inject into any situation. However, the presence of an easy chair to denote the inconsiderate husband was quite unnecessary.

The melodic marathi bhajan, 'Rusali Radha rusala Madhava' in Misra Kamas had Radha and Krishna brooding over a quarrel; the whole of Gokul is effected by their mood…. the flowers refuse to bloom, the deer refuse to play…, the build up of the mood was gradual and measured. Anger in its non-threatening form here contrasted with Subramanya Bharathi's 'Voolikoothu' where Devi kills Mahishan- a depiction of anger in all its fury. The battle between the two, as a theermanam was forceful. So was the dance of Chamundi after the killing of the demon. This was set in Mohanam ragam, adi talam. Music composition by Hariprasad was notable, as was his subdued melody. Priyadarshini Govind with the cymbals sounded tired. The rest of the orchestra were the same as the previous programme.

Crusading with compassion

'Karuna' or compassion arises out of sorrow. Bearing this in mind, Sangeetha Ishwaran's delineation dealt with misery, and its 'vibhavams' or reasons: poverty, humiliation, fate and death. A certain sense of idealism prevailed through her presentation. 'Endraike Shiva kripai varumo' by Neelakanta Shivan in Mukhari ragam, dealt with poverty. Manushya Puthran's poem 'Oru adyalam illa musalmanin virupangal' and another poem written for this programme 'Vilangai irukku vizhaigindren' spoke about how man is humiliated by the lack of respect for one another. The music was composed by R.K.Sriramkumar and Vijayaraghavan. While Ishwaran is certainly an accomplished dancer, one feels her enthusiasm to project too many ideas at a time gets the better of her occasionally. The resulting effort can then become ambiguous.

In the moving piece written by Vairamuthu, 'Malarum malara malarnaan', a child is raped and turns to prostitution thereafter. Ishwaran is comfortable with the sinister expressions, and she revelled in their projection. The dancer's histrionic abilities were again confirmed in 'Udaruku azhuthanai yo, oirukku azuthanai yo' in ragamalika from the epic Manimeghalai, that dealt with death and the questioned the philosophy of crying for the body or the soul.

The proficiency in the dance was reflective of that in the orchestra. Vijayaraghavan on the violin was a pleasure to listen to. Savitri Jagannath Rao on the nattuvangam was totally in control; vocal by Sushanth and mridangam by Ramesh Babu were both excellent.

Hasya in what form?

An unconventional presentation of 'hasya' or laughter by Indira Kadambi, the winner of the Obul Reddy Endowment Award was probably one of the most controversial programmes of the festival. It would be prudish to dismiss off-hand her ingenuity, but it must also be mentioned here that Natyarangam encourages experimentation; that is their validation for a thematic festival, and for the development of a contemporary repertoire that includes contemporary poetry. This presentation was no doubt dance theatre, and as an experiment it seemed successful if one were to go by the audience response. T.V.Ramaprasad the well-known vocalist spearheaded the orchestra with superb timing and restrained rendition. Nattuvangam by Praveen Kumar, mridangam by Ramesh Babu and violin accompaniment by Vinod were excellent.

On the touchy subject of poking fun of a god- Ganesha in this case, don't dancers use Shiva to portray disgust? The dancer also quotes from the Natyasashtra, where Brahma says it is permissible to tease even the gods, but only for entertainment purposes. In this item on the deity of laughter, hilarity was generated through 'vachika' and 'aharya' abhinaya, i.e. through words and dress. 'Come O bulky stomach Ganapathi' was the icing on the cake, sung with a heavy classical intonation in Hamsadwani ragam.

A fresh look at Shiva's Neelakanta episode from Subhashita Ratna Bhandakara was entertaining, but resembled the fast-forwarding of a cartoon with its bustle and exaggeration. Incorporating Manushya Putran's verses, 'Koondal mudithalinda arasi,' a political spoof with Narada as the protagonist going around the world and experiencing today's reality was presented. Some hilarious situations arise when he comes to Chennai and Kadambi was tongue-in-cheek in her expose. It was an excellent script and it provoked non-stop mirth, but quite incongruous for a forum such as this. A verse from Abhinava Bharathi says that impropriety is the basic feature of hasya; was Kadambi trying to test this theory?

Balanced presentation on bhayam

Gayathri Balagurunathan's recital on 'bhayam' or fear was well balanced, without being too academic. While never deviating from the subject, she offered different perspectives of the same. Her mobile face and her clean lines in nritta at once spoke of her maturity and sincerity. Another strong point was her well-rehearsed orchestra consisting of: Nattuvangam, Neela Sukanya, vocal, Sashidharan, mridangam and maddalam Jagadish Janardhan, mridangam S.Karthik, and violin T.K.Padmanabhan.

The fear of a child was described in the Purandaradasa kriti 'Gummana karayudire Amma' in Thilang ragam, where the mischievous Kannan is threatened by the gopis. Balagurunathan's role-play was occasionally confusing; her switches could have been more obvious. Sangam literature afforded Balagurunathan the opportunity to present the fears of a young woman, worried about the absence of her lover, his safety and his loyalty. The music composition was by Padmanabhan, and the detailed dance choreography was by Krishnaveni Lakshmanan.

The harsh reality of fear as we know it today, was well presented in Krishangani's poem, where she declares that the understanding of fear comes only through the direct experience of it, listing examples of the earthquake and the communal riots. T.M.Krishna set it to music. Of particular interest was the recounting of the Independence Day march past in a school, with 'Sare jahan se achcha' in the background and suddenly the earth heaving under the children. The incident seemed to come alive with Balagurunathan's sensitive handling. However, the graphic details of the riots were too much; it was a case of overkill. Bharatiyar's 'Achcham illai' concluded the recital on a positive note.

Valour in a different light

It seemed confusing at first, when the legend of King Shibi from the Mahabharata was enumerated in a programme regarding 'veera' or valour. It turned out to be an example of dhaana veera, one among four different types of veera as enumerated in the Natyasashtra, the others being daya veera, rana veera and dharma veera. P.T.Narendran, the dancer showed a flair for the enactment of a story, and his sense of timing is laudable. However, he tended to be a little loose-limbed in his nritta. His posture could do with some improvement too.

The most effective were the Bakasura Vadham where the brave Bhima kills the asura, and Krishangini's poem 'Migha periya Uromal.' The latter conveyed concisely the message that fear and fearlessness are both within every human being. At first fearful, a man steels himself to seek the cause of the disturbing noise; on the top of a mountain he sees a drum and the long blades of grass that sounded the drum in the breeze. He destroys the cause of his fear, literally and figuratively thus. The portrayal and the music composition by Professor S.Rajaram, in ragamalika, Adi talam made for a telling presentation.

The outstanding orchestra consisted of M.S.Sukhi, nattuvangam, Hariprasad, vocal, T.K.Padmanabhan, violin, A.Jagadeesh Janardhan, mridangam and maddalam, T.V.Ramana, flute, and Haripadman, elathaalam.

Rama's feats recounted in the Sankarabarnam keerthanam 'Yaro yendrennamalai' taken from Arunachala Kavi's Rama Natakam further spoke of heroism from mythology, but disappointed with its literal expression. Narendran would have done well to focus more on the physical aspects of 'veera' in his delineation.

Disappointing display of bhibatsam

Inspite of the fact that J.Suryanarayana Murthy is a mature dancer whose dignified nritta and abhinaya is notable, his programme disappointed because 'Bhibatsam' or disgust- his allotted theme, was not predominantly tangible. It came out in full force only in the last item, the selected poet Ravi Subramaniam's contemporary poem 'Daagathoddu vodi kondirikiruthe kazhave neer.' The verse is the story of a street where many aspects fill him with disgust; the language and the abhinaya conveyed lucidly the appropriate sentiments.

'Voodayum pai puli thozhum' was an item painstakingly put together from different texts highlighting the irregularities in Shiva's habits and conduct, in ragamalika. Though the different facets of these abnormalities were depicted with disgust, it was not forceful enough. Unfortunately the dominant rasa remained bhakthi.

Totally irrelevant to the context was 'Pirappu, valarppu, irraippu' or the circle of life from Sundaramurthy Thevar's composition, 'Kaakamoodu kalage' that discussed philosophy of life. The transience of the body was spoken of, about how wild birds and beasts will eat up the body after death, and about the futility of concentrating one's energies on the body. But where was the disgust?

Musician Jayanthi Mohan was excellent; Shobana Balachander with the cymbals was proficient, supported by Sheejith Krishna, mridangam, and T.K.Padmanabhan, violin. The music composition was by both Jayanthi Mohan and T.K.Padmanabhan.

Wonders galore in mythology

Lakshmi Ramaswamy had a wide range of stories to draw from, for 'adbutha' or wonder. She has a pleasing countenance, in addition to an excellent grip over nritta as her dramatic entry theermanam 'damaru kadakka' showed. Understandably her technique is indicative of her guru Chitra Visveswaran's fleet-footed style.

History and the puranas were represented in equal measure.

Ramaswamy's main exposition was divided into four sections: pudumai, perumai, sirumai and aakkam meaning, that which is new, exalted, lowly and that which involves a transformation. The stories of Neelakanta, Gnanasambandar who brings back his wife to life, Sundarar who brings back to life a boy and the crocodile that swallowed him, tales from the Shiva purana of the powerful desire-destroying third eye, of the queen of Madurai, Mangai Arasi who performed menial work in the temple, … the list of illustrations that the dancer used goes on. The numerous stories detailed back to back were a case of overload, and their brevity was their saving factor.

The poet Ravi Subramaniam endorsing the Darwin theory, tells of how Brahma created from the five elements trees, plants, planets, small creatures, birds, animals. He then creates man, and satisfied, closes his eyes, 'kannai moodi layathittan'. The musical interlude composed by Sankaranarayanan and Ramaswamy's imagination gave the excellent detailing clarity. Srikanth was proficient with the cymbals, but the same could not be said of Vanathi Raghuraman who was inconsistent with her music. The mridangist S.S.R.Krishnan, violinist Veeramani, flautist Saravanan were zealous in their efforts.

In her concluding remarks, Guru Kalanidhi Narayanan expressed unhappiness with the standard of presentations as a whole. Could it be because the dancers got mired in academic definitions instead of examining the subject with feeling and choosing items accordingly?