Yamini’s Kuchipudi dance recital, ragas Hemant & Purva scintillate

Pune: If the power of art can’t move you, nothing will.Kuchipudi dancer Yamini Reddy, daughter of well-known dancers Dr Raja and Radha Reddy, conveyed the message of musical integration, the power of an open mind and inclusiveness in a fitting and colourful manner as she stole the thunder on the penultimate day of the 69th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav on Saturday.It was a near full-house at Maharashtriya Mandal grounds in Mukundnagar. The aficionados were glued to their seats as Yamini unfolded various theme-based numbers in a dance form that has its origin in the temples and stages of Telengana and Andhra Pradesh.Though Telugu and Sanskrit were the primary languages, there was a fair sprinkling of Hindi too. At the end of her nearly two-hour performance, a feeling of witnessing something ‘adbhut’__ one of the nine rasas that she conveyed with effortless ease spread.The hallmark of her performance was the integration of Hindustani vocal, dance and Carnatic styles__both melodic and rhythmic.Yamini brought suppleness, balance, strength, stamina, body shapes and bhaav to the fore and mesmerized the viewers. She also used her midas touch while presenting “Bhajman Ram Charan”.The Shiva dance and a traditional Kuchipudi number on the rim of brass plate were particularly stunning. The latter is named ‘Shiva Tarangam’ and was based on raga Malika, “Shiv Shiv Bhav Sharanam”.The performance saw the colours of ragas Hansadhwani, Bairagi, Paraj, Jogiya, Bhairavi and Kedar. She was ably accompanied by Kaushalya Reddy, Aditi Sharma Garg (Hindustani vocal), DV Ravikanth (Carnatic vocal), Manohar Bhalchandra (mridangam), VSK Annadurai (violin) and Azaruddin Shaikh (flute).Earlier, young artist Prajakta Marathe (vocal) and the duo of Debapriya Adhikary (vocal)and Samanvay Sarkar (sitar) took the stage with Satyajit Talwalkar on tabla. The former sang raga Purva and some light compositions. Adhikary and Sarkar unfolded raga Hemant and a tappa. Marathe chose raga Purva for her presentation. The raga uses the same notes as raga Puriya Kalyan with a slight twist.Marathe conveyed the dusk’s mood, associated with the Puriya family with Komal Rishabh being the defining note, through her rendition.Her grandfather Ram Marathe had composed a stunning 16-beat teen taal composition “Chanchal Chatur”, the sign line of which started on the seventh beat. Priyanka tried to give justice to it.The tabla (Swapnil Bhise) and harmonium (Siddhesh Bicholkar) accompaniment was impressive but overbearing at times. Marathe also sang three semi-classical, light compositions, including “Soham Har Damaru Baaje”.Adhikary and Sarkar, who performed on this stage after 13 years, opted to embrace the shades of longing and romance of raga Hemant which is closer to raga Kaushik Dhwani in structure.They tried to bring in deep exploration and dhrupad elements. Some of the passages, including those in the 10-beat jhap taal, appeared staccato in nature. And hence, the delicacy that the composition demanded, going by the lyrics, was not experienced.Young Abhay Sopori, son of Bhajan Sopori, presented raga Nandkauns. Rishi Shankar Upadhyay joined him for the jod part on the pakhawaj for the composition in raga Bhajaneshwari.Eminent vocalist Parveen Sultana, the last performer on Saturday, after receiving the Vatsalatai Joshi Award constituted in memory of Bhimsen Joshi’s wife, said, “I am moved by the love and respect shown by the Joshi family. I was 16, when Panditji heard me in Jalandhar at the Harballabh festival. He introduced me to Maharashtra. He said, ‘Come here and be assured that your elder brother is with you’.”Sultana said she was down with a viral fever and was on antibiotics. She unfolded raga Rageshwari, including her signature vocal acrobatics, to end the eight-hour session at midnight with "Bhavani Dayani" in Mishra Bhairavi. Mukundraj Deo accompanied her on the tabla.