Saturday, August 1, 2015

2015 Aug 1 - Arangetram by Abhinav and Ayushi Koppu

Abhinav and Ayushi Koppu successfully completed their brother-sister Bharathanatyam Arangetra on Aug 1, 2015 at the John A Ferguson High School auditorium.  We have not had a male artist go up to this stage among the South Florida based Indian community.  In that sense Abhinav is a trend setter and it is a proud moment for the entire community.  Hopefully many youngsters who watched Abhinav perform get motivated to join this beautiful art form.  Having two dancers on stage gave a lot of scope of choreography and abhinaya which was fully capitalized by the teacher Smt. Harija Sivakumar.  Our hearty congratulations go Vandana and Ajay Koppu and to their entire family.

Ayushi, in my mind, is a prodigy.  She has just completed her eighth grade.  Her dance was powerful where it needs to be and graceful when the part required it.  Her facial expressions were beyond her age.  Jayanthi aunty joins me in wishing her a very long dance career in addition to receiving whatever her heart desires.  We wish to witness a solo performance from Ayushi very soon.  God bless!

Before going to song-by-song, let me give a broad brush stroke.  The stage presence of both Ayushi and Abhinav was fantastic.  Excellent choreography through the performance especially well done in the Varnam piece.  There were ample opportunities for each dancer to show their talent.  Kali Kowthuvam was an extremely powerful performance by Ayushi especially with Madhu was singing with his soulful voice.  There was quite a variety in the song selection with a Javali and Abhang added to the repertoire.  Regarding the performance of the orchestra, the Varnam song was the highlight in Ragam Kalyani.  Sri Srinivas in Mridangam showed his speed and power.  Support from flautist and violinist was enjoyable.  The program flow could have been tighter.

Program started with a Ganesha sthuti followed by Pushpanjali. 

Allarippu in Khanda Chapu – here the dancers show how they have mastered the fundamentals of dance.  Synchronized dancing from the brother-sister combo was a treat to watch

Jathiswaram in Bhairavi/Rupakam – done solo by Abhinav.  He had a quick smile to captivate the audience.  Abhinav showed his mastery over this pure dance item.  Nice job!

Kali Kowthuvam in Revathi – solo by Ayushi.  Kali is a powerful version of Goddess Parvathi who destroys the demons and establishes order.  The Ragam was set to Revathi which brought out the power in the lyrics.  Ayushi simply transformed herself into the character.  Her facial expressions and abhinaya (or acting out the part) were simply superb.  Great work!

Varnam in Kalyani/Adi – this is the longest piece in a Bharatha Natyam performance.  It tests not only the skill but the endurance as well.  Both Abhinav and Ayushi passed the test.  There were several incidences in Krishna’s life was depicted by the dancers.  They beautifully depicted Krishna playing ball with other kids followed by the fight with Kaliya, the snake.  Simple incidence of Krishna throwing a stone to break the mud pots carried by the Gopi – lot of scope for bhava (or expressions), well done.  We all particularly enjoyed the scene of Kuchela visiting Sri Krishna.  Choreography was breathtaking.

Nee Uraippai in Ragamalika – solo by Abhinav.  Here Lord Rama was narrating to Hanuman a few episodes of his life with Sita.  Abhinav demonstrated his story telling ability very well here.

Javali in Kamas – quite a lilting tune.  Ayushi as a solo performer showed her ability to dance with speed, grace and expression. 

Adenamma in Paras – Shiva-Parvathi dance performed by both.  The highlight of the song was the demonstration of the Navarasa or nine forms of expressions – love, valor, humor, anger, compassion, disgust, fearful, wonder and peace.  Lot of scope for both the dancers to show their ability to emote.  Very pleasing performance.

Abhang – this type of songs show pure devotion to Lord Krishna of Pandaripur. 

Thillana in Madhuvanti – This is a joyous number purely based on rhythm and symmetric patterns. There were also many sculpted poses.  Beautifully rendered by Abhinav and Ayushi , a fitting finale to the performance.


Thank you Abhinav and Ayushi for a memorable performance and congratulations to the teacher Smt. Harija.

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