Indisha Fine Arts & Trust conducted its ninth annual threeday Sadhana Festival between 19 and 21 November 2021. According to the organisers, the objective of presenting the Sadhana Sadhitham festival is to inspire students and rasikas by highlighting the true value of our credo by providing a platform for budding artists even while showcasing the skills of eminent veteran dancers and musicians.

The founder and director of Indisha, are the dancing couple Indu and Nidheesh—Kalakshetra alumni who have acquired diploma and post-diploma certificates from the institution. They are the recipients of the Yuvakala Bharathi title from Bharath Kalachar in 2015.

The festival was inaugurated by veteran Bharatanatyam exponents and natyacharyas, Shanta and V.P. Dhananjayan. The first performance was by Shobana Bhalchandra— one of the early disciples of the Indisha’s Sadhana Sadhitham festival Dhananjayans in Chennai. She is a seasoned and versatile artist and a recognised senior dance teacher with her dance school Taranginee School of Bharatanatyam, Chennai. She is also currently the executive creative director of Bharatakalanjali, the institution founded and run by the Dhananjayans.

Shobana started with a Siva stuti in Gambheera Nata raga followed by a traditional Kambhoji varnam by Kalyanasundaram Pillai. This ageold classic was very well performed with the right emphasis on nritta and abhinaya. It was pleasing to watch the crisp and precise dance patterns without the dancer indulging too much in the present trend of prolonging these sequences. Shobana is known to strictly adhere to tradition, and she fully exemplified this quality in the performance of this piece. The varnam was followed by two padams and a tillana in Desh raga composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman. This was preceded by an excerpt from Subramania Bharati’s poem wherein the poet requests for a dance to relieve his anguish, and the tillana was showcased as a response to this. Shobana was honoured by veteran Kathakali exponent and guru Sadanam Balakrishnan, who praised Shobana’s performance, especially for the crisp and short jatis, which pleased him greatly.

The next performance was by senior dancer and teacher J. Suryanarayana Murthy, who hails from the traditional Bhagavatulu family from Kuchipudi in Andhra Pradesh. He has learnt Bharatanatyam at Kalakshetra and has also been guided by the Dhananjayans from time to time. He has been a faculty of Kalakshetra for the past thirty years. He is the recipient of the Kalaimamani and many more awards. He is a examiner for dance at the Open University.

He started his performance with a Natyanjali in ragamalika and talamalika, followed by the Rama varnam in Kharaharapriya. It is an old and popular piece composed and choreographed by the Dhananjayans, which was executed with competence. The music team was led efficiently by Shanta Dhananjayan (nattuvangam), and special mention must be made of the excellent singing by Dipu Nair.

Coincidentally, Suryanarayana Murthy had his dance arangetram on the same date, 19 November, in 1988. During that performance, he also performed the Rama varnam, and when he was invited to this festival, it was a walk down memory lane for him to perform the same piece in front of his gurus, the Dhananjayans. He had requested his gurus to do the nattuvangam for this performance and he expressed his gratefulness to them for taking the time and effort to participate and extend a helping hand to enable him perform as he did.

On day two, the programme commenced with Divya Shiva Sundar’s presentation. Divya comes from a family steeped in the arts. She is a disciple of the Dhananjayans and a dance teacher in her own right— having founded the Disha Centre for Arts to promote classical dance, music, and yoga. She started the day’s performance with Siddhi Vinayakam in Mohanakalyani raga, a composition of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar. For the main piece, she chose a composition of Periasami Thooran in ragamalika and talamalika with music by Turaiyur Rajagopala Sharma. This is a conversation between the heroine and her friend (sakhi). It is usually performed by two dancers enacting the two characters but Divya performed this piece alone with great finesse and competence. The choreography of the Dhananjayans was excellent, as always, and enhanced Divya’s performance. This was followed by an ashtapadi in Suddha Saveri and a Annamacharya kriti. Special mention is to be made for the excellence of her abhinaya. Shanta Dhananjayan again led the music team with Dipu Nair (vocal), Ishwar Ramakrishnan (violin), and Shivaprasad (mridangam).

The next performer was Nidheesh himself. As an alumnus of Kalakshetra, he has taken on lead roles in many of Rukmini Devi’s productions. He is a teacher and choreographer as well as the founder-director of Indisha and the organiser of this festival. He started with the Panchakshara stotra of Adi Sankara, followed by a Nandi chol—a composition of Ramesh Babu and choreographed for dance by Sheejith Krishna. The main piece was the varnam in Charukesi raga composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman. The dancing was good and energetic, but the sanchari was too elaborate, which is not required for a varnam as it disturbs the tempo of the piece. He concluded with Karna Vilapam, which was very well done with excellent abhinaya aptly suited to the theme of the piece.

The next dancer was K. Mahalakshmi—a seasoned dancer who heads Mahalakshmi Natyalaya, a fifty-year-old institution founded by her parents. She is a teacher of repute and a highly talented choreographer. She is both a brilliant solo dancer and has been part of many dance productions enacting significant roles in all of them.

Mahalakshmi started with a sabdam that she had choreographed; it was very well performed and appreciated. Then came a traditional varnam in Kambhoji raga of Kalyanasundaram Pillai. This was excellently performed with the right balance of nritta and abhinaya; it deserves a special mention as she was dancing it after a gap of eight years. Watching her dance, one feels regretful that she is not a regular performer. It is hoped that now that she has resumed, she will continue to perform and delight her audiences. She concluded with a Bharatiar song in ragamalika. The music team was headed by G. Narendra (nattuvangam) with Ramesh Babu, Kalaiarasan, and Vinu. Narendra spoke about the warm gesture of the veteran dance gurus, the Dhananjayans and C.V. Chandrasekhar. They make it a point to attend all such functions to encourage young artists, and more importantly, sit through the full performances. Something that younger artists must learn to emulate.

On day three, the first performer was Kayalvizhi Kabilan—a student of guru Krishnakumari Narendran in the Pandanallur style. She is the recipient of the Kalaimamani award and has to her credit many solo performances in a variety of forums.

She started with a Tyagaraja kriti in raga Saurashtram—an invocatory item on Lord Vinayaka. This was followed by the varnam in Sriranjani raga, dance choreography by Rukmini Devi Arundale.

She concluded with a Bharatiar poem. The music was pre-recorded.

The next performance was Nrithya Aradhana, a group production by the students of Anitha Guha who is a very popular Bharatanatyam nonperforming teacher. Her institute, Bharathanjali, has groomed a large number of dancers. She is also a versatile choreographer and composer and has staged a variety of nrityanatakams.

The first item was the Ganesa Pancharatnam of Adi Sankara. This was followed by the main piece, a Papanasam Sivan varnam in Natakurinji raga. Her prime disciple, Medha Hari, performed an Annamacharya kriti in the raga Telang, this was a solo piece. There was also a group presentation of excerpts from the Tiruppavai. The coordination of the group was excellent, and so too were the costumes of the dancers. The experience of handling such a large group of individuals was evident. This production was also danced to recorded music.

The final performance was Param - The Ultimate, by students of natyacharya Sheela Unnikrishnan of Sridevi Nrithyalaya. The group specialises in the Melattur style of Bharatanatyam and has completed three decades in serving the art form. Sheela has produced many successful solo artists and teachers, with many solo dances, thematic presentations and dance-dramas.

The group started with a pushpanjali, followed by a swarajati in Surati raga. The composition penned by Padmadevan has drawn inspiration from Meenakshi Pillai Tamil, and has been set to music by Kuldeep M. Pai. The main piece, the varnam, was in raga Mohanam, lyrics by Prof. S. Raghuraman and music by Hariprasad. This was followed by the famous padam in Khamas raga, Teruvil varano, as a group presentation. The performance concluded with a tillana. All group performances rely on perfect coordination of all the participants. This is probably the greatest challenge for the guru who conducts and visualises such presentations. This was particularly well done by the students of Sheela Unnikrishnan.

All in all, it was a very well organised festival by Indu and Nidheesh. They have taken a lot of effort to put together a festival to realise their aspirations for the propagation of the art, a commendable accomplishment.

BHAVANI RAVINDRAN

(Connoisseur of music and dance)