The Joy of Dance !

“Noopuraaram” brought a sense of satisfaction for the twin city’s dance aficionados, of having watched three wonderful Kuchipudi dance dramas, (which are rare to come by), three young dancers performing with passion and some extraordinary dance footage from old Telugu films


The three-day dance festival presented by Lasyakalpa Foundation for Arts, concluded on December 3, at Ravindra Bharathi. Gurus Uma Rama Rao and Shobha Naidu graced the occasion.

On the last day, dance choreographies of Kuchipudi maestros like Late Pasumarthi Krishna Murthy and Vedantham Jagannadha Sarma were depicted in the film, “Vendi Thera Kuchipudi Velugulu”. “ Bommane muddu gummane…” was Rajasulochana dancing to the tune of traditional Kuchipudi daruvu, “ Bhamane satya bhamane….”, and her “Kougiliye kailasamu”, young girls dancing in Donga Ramudu while a pretty Jamuna looks on, Ragini’s vivacious dance “Maaru balka vemiraa” from ‘Sathi Anasuya’ etc were shown. But the most electrifying was Kuchala Kumari and L Vijayalakshmi’s duo performing a lightning like “Rasikaraaja Sabhalo…..” from ‘Mahakavi Kalidasu’.

Sreelakshmy Govardhanan from Kerala did steal the show with an amazing solo performance in the Kuchipudi repertoire. Having been trained initially by Guru Vyjayanthi Kashi of Bengaluru, she is now a diligent student of Guru Pasumarthi Rattaiah Sarma of Kuchipudi village. Gifted with superb choreographic skills, her effortless nritta with well defined mudras was highly impressive. Starting with “Ardhanareeswara” in Mayamalavagoula ragam, she next took up a “Tarangam”( based on Poothana Moksham), not of Narayana Theertha, but one written by Vasudevan Namboodri, ( set to Carnatic music-Edapalli Ajith) and sung by Reju Narayanan Namboodri with faint shades of “sopana sangeetham”. The tala patterns of the tarangam were strictly followed and Sreelakshmy executed an elegantly perfect footwork on the brass plate. In this tarangam (ragamalika and talamalika) one could see her grip over abhinaya. Overflowing with maternal love and delicate expressions, she fully immersed herself in the character of Poothana, as she starts nursing him, the Supreme God in the baby, drawing the life out of her. Writhing in pain she dies and attains moksha. Endowed with a pleasing personality combined with grace and ease, Sreelakshmy danced, enjoying every moment. A dancer who delights in dancing always scores full marks and she won a standing ovation at the end of her recital.

“Sreerama Kathasaaram”, a dance drama written by DN Murthy and choreographed by Guru Pasumarthi Ramalinga Sastry (who also conducted the show with his typical electrifying enthusiasm) was staged as the finale. Set to music and sung by DSV Sastry (Padma Ramalinga Sastry for female voice), the ballet started with pretty girls dancing in attractive costumes. Lord Rama’s story was told through lengthy and extensive dances. Soorpanakha (Girija Kishore), Lakshmana (Surendra) and scenes from “Kishkinda” stood out. The dance of the monkeys to catchy music was enjoyed by all. Ravana (Guru Hari Rama Murthy) looked imposing. Rajagopalachari (mrudangam), Dinakar (violin), Phani narayana (veena), Murali (flute) gave able support.

The three day extravaganza left everyone satiated.