Ravindra Bharati was agog with Perini’s Thandava and Lasya dances performed by Penna Satwika, last week, under the aegis of Sri Lasya Academy to give a taste of these forms for the first time to the audience. Each of these forms were the brainchild of guru Nataraja Ramakrishna who made an attempt to revive these 11th century-old art form. He successfully revived Perini’s Thandava but efforts to bring in the lasya side of the dance could not be achieved in his life time. In fact it needed a lot of research into ancient literature to prove the existence of Lasya form of Perini too. Kakatiya rulers’ army chief Jayapasena penned a book Nruttha Ratnavali , that contained the know-how of everything about Perini art. Presently the Telangana government is making efforts to focus on this art.
Speaking on the occasion, Mamidi Harikrishna, Director Culture and Language of Telangana, Telugu scholar Desapati Srinivas, Telugu University’s Vice Chancellor S.V. Satyanarayana, asserted in their inspiring speeches Perini was already made part of the curriculum in government’s Dance and Music colleges and in Telugu university. Dance gurus Vanaja Uday and Bhagavatula Seturam of the university too were also on the stage. Desapati Srinivas and Mamidi Harikrishna gave inspiring speeches hailing the greatness of the art form.
Thandava and Lasya
The dance of Satwika was focused on establishing that Perini dance is not limited to Thandava style only but embraces Lasya style too. Satwikapresentation of both Lasya and Thandava forms of Perini, the first of its kind solo; it was conducted by Nataraja Ramakrishna’s disciple Kalakrishna.
The dance began with ‘Vinayaka Strotram’ following the text ‘Bharatarnavam’ . This was set in rare Brahmananda Talam the creator being Brahma as said in Bharatarnavam . Satwika revealed her potential as a fine dancer in this very first number. This was followed by Geetham for which she had taken a composition from Sriranga Prabandham of Subbarama Dikshitulu. This was set in Hamsadhwani, Mathya talam. This gave scope for abhinaya too.
Satwika then chose to present a Nritta-based number designed by Nataraja Ramakrishna. This was called ‘Vishama Nruttam’ presented to loud sounds of percussion. Every move in her dance perfectly matched the time and spirit of the composition. Bhavani Koutukam a number picked out of the book ‘ Nandeeswara Bharatam ’ was in Bhairavi ragam, Aditalam, presented later was a pure rhythmic marvel.
The fifth number was a kind of ‘Sound and Vibration’ number that brought in the picture of Thandava Dance of Lord Shiva enjoined with subtle dances of Sri Krishna, nearer to Lasya style. This was in Kalyani ragam. This was created by Nataraja Ramakrishna.
Kaivaram was one of the five forms of Perini, traditionally presented by dancers to please Kakateeya rulers, for it was written in praise of Kakatiya ruler Ganapathi Deva and his God ‘Rudreswara’. This was set in Kalyani.
Well-planned show
Satwika concluded with a mini-number called M ela Prapti as described in Jayapa Sena’s Nrutta Ratnavali . This was also called Vishama Nrittam a form of Sabda pallavi in Amritavarshini.
It was a brilliant show, breezy and serene, according to the measure of the number’s intent. Satwika proved a wonderful dancer, who never missed a single a syllable of any jati be it breezy or slow in transferring into her footwork.
The entire theatre was agog with her performance applauding almost every number. Kalakrisna who had trained the artiste was indeed the real man behind the whole show and ensured she danced to every syllable he uttered and conducted. She could mange to interpret in dance complex jati structures with inbuilt body moves.
It was a show worth remembering.
Mantha Srinivas lent vocal support to B. Janardan’s mridangam. Others in the orchestra were Subbulakshmi on violin, Dattatreya on flute and Jayakumar Acharya providing special effects.
