It is always interesting to watch an artist’s journey. Narthaki Nataraj is a disciple of the famed Guru K.P. Kittappa Pillai, one of the last members of the illustrious nattuvanar family, the Thanjavur Quartet, who shaped modern Bharatanatyam.
She came into the limelight with Guru Kittappa’s choreographies and later visualised her own. For a time, her delineations felt less classical and more filmy but has since matured.
Her recent performance highlighted the reason she became well-known in the first place - the passion and intensity she brings into dance. If she applies herself to improve its physicality with added effort and stamina, she can become a complete artist.
Narthaki commenced her performance rather unusually with a rare Jatiswaram (Purvikalyani) in sankeerna nadai, Adi tala, a rare composition of K. Ponniah Pillai of the Thanjavur Quartet, choreographed by Guru Kittappa. The slower pace of the steps and the matter of fact execution without any frills such as shaking of the head (attami) or even a teasing glance, spoke of her master’s style.
The Ashtalakshmi varnam (Ashtaragamalika, Adi, tuned by senior vocalist Subhashini Parthasarathy and singer Ashwath Narayanan), written and choreographed by Narthaki, also carried Guru Kittappa’s jathis. Each of the maestro’s short korvais, between four and six avarthanas, had so much character. Peppered with gaps and off-beat renderings, the effect was thrilling. The sequence with konnakkol syllables, ‘Naangidu thathi’ was most memorable.
The dramatic statements were delivered with relish in a unique biting style by mridangam artist Parthasarathy (nattuvangam) who hails from a family of nagaswaram vidwans from Kumbakonam. Together with Nagai Narayan (mridangam), they created fireworks. Narthaki’s nritta was woefully inadequate given the wonderful opportunity. The jatiswaram and varnam trikala jathi apart, the rest were indifferent.
‘Thiruve Thirumagale Thaaye’ had a lot more going on. The mukthayi swaras recapped the ragas backwards while the sahitya used the imagery of the beautiful lotus to describe Mahalakshmi, ‘Sri Madi Mukhamum Tamarai, Sael Vizhiyum, Sevvithazhum Tamarai…’ The appearance of Mahalakshmi with the churning of the ocean was shown in some detail. Adi Sankara’s prayer to Lakshmi through a spontaneous Kanakadhara stotra to alleviate an old lady’s poverty also had intensity.
Narthaki’s subsequent Kavadi Chindu, ‘Kaalukku Punnai Ilai” by the Tamil poet Bharathi dasan was too long and repetitive. A javali ‘Modi Jese Vaelaraa' (Pattabiramaiah, Khamas, Adi, choreography Kittappa Pillai) and an unusual thillana (Mandhari, Adi, Thanjavur Quartet, choreography Kittappa Pillai) that was addressed to neither a god nor a king, completed the list. Adding depth to the show was Murali Parthasarathy (vocal). His voice was strong and tuneful throughout, inspiring Kalaiarasan (violin) and Devaraj (flute) to greater heights. Make-up and costume were by Shakti Bhaskar. The presentation was certainly worth a watch.
J. Suryanarayana Murthy
Senior Bharatanatyam dancer and faculty member, Kalakshetra, J. Suryanarayana Murthy, hails from the Bhagavathulu parampara of Kuchipudi. He is an alumnus of Kalakshetra and is a disciple of gurus Shantha and V.P.Dhananjayan. He is also academically qualified in the arts with an M.Phil thesis in ‘Devadasis and Bharatanatyam in Tamil Nadu.’
Suryanarayana Murthy’s dance style is mellow and painstaking, reflecting his experience of thirty years. Every nuance and adavu carries dignity and austerity. The finishes are perfect and his adavus can be showcased for students to see and learn.
The repertoire that evening consisted of classic Kalakshetra and Bharata Kalanjali choreographies. An invocatory sloka on Ganesha, ‘Mooshika Vahana’ was followed by a Tisra Alarippu. The legendary social reformer and artist Rukmini Devi’s first varnam choreography, the Todi varnam ‘Roopamu Joochi’ was presented next.
The bhakti-sringara piece was a tana varnam (Adi, authorship disputed- Ramaswamy Dikshitar or Muthuswamy Dikshitar) that was converted into a pada varnam by veteran composer Tiger Varadachariar at the instance of Rukmini Devi. The interesting point is that since the devotional aspect dominates the composition, the varnam is handled by both male and female dancers. There are portions, two instances actually, when there is a direct ‘nayika’ bhava, but as Prof. Janardhanan says, it is basically a question of love for Tyagesa of Tiruvarur.
Suryanarayana Murthy was convincingly devout; one of the hallmarks of Kalakshetra choreographies is the absence of melodrama and sanchari embellishments. The clarity of thought and the uncluttered delineation was also seen in the short, crisp rhythmic sequences that were placed back to back, like commas punctuating a descriptive sentence. The dancer’s kita thaka tharikitatom, araimandi, sutral adavus, et al, shone.
His most involved portrayal was in saint-poet Tulsidas’s bhajan ‘Bhaj man Rama charana sukha dayi’ in ragamalika, misra chapu tala (Dhananjayans’ choreography) that spoke of the glory of Rama’s feet. Vamana’s toe that released the waters of the Ganga onto the Earth, Rama’s touch that lifted Ahalya’s curse, Bharata’s reverence for Rama’s sandals and the boatman Guha being blessed were the instances presented with beautiful visuals. A well-executed thillana (Behag, khanda eka, T.V.Gopalakrishnan) choreographed by the Dhananjayans and dedicated to Bharata Kalanjali was the finale to a dignified performance.
The fine co-artists were: Kaushik, the talented vocalist who tried to make room for some niraval singing, Jayakrishna from Kalakshetra who was the brave, last-minute nattuvanar, the pitch-perfect P.K. Sekar on the mridamgam and the in-form Kalaiarasan on the violin.
