Braving incessant downpour, thousands of rasikas assembled at the sprawling Government High School ground of Vellinezhi village, which was the venue of a two-day event to celebrate the 60th birthday of leading percussionist Mattannoor Sankarankutty Marar. The highlight of the opening day was a Bharatanatyam recital by Shobhana.
Shobhana began her recital with ‘Panchakshari’,paying obeisanceto Lord Siva followed by a devotional description of his consort, Parvathi. The ‘lasya’ and ‘thandava’ associated with the Lord found fullest expression in many an image woven by the dancer. The audience was carried away by the magical cadence of her sanchari bhavas performed in a relatively fast tempo. The benevolence of the Devi and her fierce makeover when confronted with evil forces became graphic in the ‘angopangapratyangas’ of Shobhana.
By choosing Jayadeva’s ‘Lalithalavanga latapariseelana’, the dancer, through her immaculate angikaand satwikabhinayas, turned it into an evocative experience for the spectators. They experienced the presence of Lord Krishna and the gopikas on stage. ‘Soft sandal mountain winds caress quivering vines of clove/Forest huts hum with droning bees and crying cuckoos’ (Translation:Barbara Stoler Miller) became striking visual images in the immaculate artistry of Shobhana. Similarly her articulation of the line, ‘when spring’s mood is rich, Hari roams here/to dance with young women, friend – a cruel time for deserted lovers’ was poignant to the core. Natyadharmi profusely interspersed with lokadharmi turned out to be a treat for the rasikas.
Following the Ashtapadi was a Thillana that Shobhana performed with three of her disciples. The angular grace of pure dance and the rhythmic exuberance of the dancer had a tremendous impact on the spectators.
As the finale of the recital, Shobhana performed a truncated Javali, ‘Chentharsayaka’in raga Behag, a composition of Irayimman Thampi. Employing the Sakhi (companion) of the Nayika as the medium, the latter’s anguish over the separation from her beloved was amply portrayed in the literature. Shobhana described, in vivid visual metaphors, the situation involving the Nayika’s pangs of separation, thus doing justice to the lyrics.
