Nirmala Panicker, a senior disciple of the late maestro Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma, is noted for her innovative approach to the craft and content of Mohiniyattam. ‘Geethagovinda Saptam’, her latest choreography, was presented by two of her students, Sandra Pisharody and Parvathy Sreevallabhan, at T.D.M. Hall, Ernakulam.
Saptam is characterised as a dance-drama. The dancers began their recital with a prayer to Ganapathy and Bhagavathy. The story of Lord Krishna followed.Nandagopa arrives with child Krishna and he entrusts the child with Radha. Time flies and Krishna grows up. In the interim, the dancers came up with picturesque descriptions of the surroundings in which Lord Krishna grows up – dancing peacocks, singing cuckoos, enticing buds, flowers and creepers found eloquent expressions in the gestures, movements and expressions of the dancers.
They then stepped into the Ashtapadi ‘Pralayapayodhijale’, enabling them perform the Dasavatharam (10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu) in all its splendour. For the first three incarnations of Matsya (fish), Koorma (turtle) and Varaha (wild boar), slightly refined, new gestures were introduced. The dancers vied with each other in contributing to the emotional intensity that each incarnation of Vishnu demanded, like those of Narasimha, Vamana, Parasurama and Srirama. However, Narasimha, as enacted by the dancer, was too theatrical.
As part of the incarnation of Krishna, ‘Lalithalavangalatha’, an Ashtapadi, was performed, touching upon the all too familiar Rasakreeda in fast tempo. The dancers concluded with the enactment of the famous sloka, ‘Vedaanudharate’ .
‘Geethagovinda Saptam’ hinges heavily on ‘padarthabhinaya’, reminding viewers of Kathakali. As a dance-form, how far can a dancer or dancers of Mohiniyattam go in terms of the performance of the hand gestures’ language? Should the dancer perform gestures for each and every word of the pallavi, anupallavi and the charanams? These are questions pertaining to the identity of Mohiniyattam and calls for meticulous analysis. The recital concerned brings back such questions to the fore.
Nirmala Panicker told the audience at the outset that she had experimented with Sopanasangeetham, Carnatic and Hindustani music in the newly composed concert. However discerning listeners could hardly find perceptible tonal differences in the renditions of the various charanams of the Ashtapadi.
Aakaaraalapanam was one of the remarkable features of the vocal music tending towards bhakti. Music, on the whole, was devoid of subtle modulations and was at times a bit loud too. Nonetheless melody emanating from the flute of Murali Krishnan had a soothing effect on the spectators.
The programme was organised by Bank Employees’ Arts Movement.
