The Ananthasayana form of Lord Padmanabha was the focus of the thematic dance presentation ‘Aprameyah Padmanabha’ by Lakshmi Parthasarathy Athreya. Supported by a grant from the Ministry of Culture, the refreshing ambience of an open-air stage at the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Mandram enhanced the appeal of the performance.
Divided into three segments, the presentation began with the artist entering the stage as a palanquin-bearer, dancing to the musical strains of a Mallari. In an abrupt move, she took on the role of the devotee looking at the lord on the palanquin. The dancer then described the grandeur of the procession depicting in slow succession, the musical and percussion instruments heralding the arrival of the deity, the gait of the elephants and horses, the dancing girls, the alankaram with lively nritta passages and graceful postures. The piece was marked by clarity of lines and aesthetic movements.
The second composition, which spoke about the glory of Lord Padmanabha, was a collage of anecdotes, stories and the lord’s avatars. The music composed by Rajkumar Bharathi was a medley of lines from different compositions. Lines from songs like ‘Nannupalimpa’, ‘Parvai ondre podume’, ‘Karpuram Narumo’, ‘Nava kancha lochana’ and ‘Deva deva Kalaiyamite’ were interspersed with sollukattu passages. With assured confidence, the dancer moved from one passage to another, narrating the sequences with appropriate sancharis. The seamless flow of ideas was visually appealing though the composition could have had a stronger impact with intense expressions and nuanced interpretation. Hence, the piece did have much of an emotional connect.
The most inspired feature of the performance was the Chakra Alarippu. Following a traditional alarippu format, the dancer standing under a spotlight used the lotus motif to depict the various chakras of the body.
The musical ensemble consisting of Murli Parthasarathy (vocal), Neela Sukanya (nattuvangam), Shakthivel Muruganandam (mridangam) and Srilakshmi Venkatramani (violin) enhanced the performance with their melodic accompaniment.
