2016 May - Kuchipudi Dance Performance by Deepika Potarazu

Kuchipudi dance performance by Deepika Potarazu

Vocal and Nattuvangam – DSV Sastri

Vocal – Lakshmi Narasimha

Violin – Melakkaveri K Thyagarajan

Mridangal – Guru Bharadwaj

Let me introduce two young writers Anika Krishnan and Aditi Krishnan who are in sixth grade and eighth grade respectively.  I was captivated by their deep understanding of the intricacies of the art form being dancers themselves.  I enjoyed their writing style and fearless expression of their opinions.  Kudos, Anika and Aditi!  Also, below is an introduction to Kuchipudi by their mother and dance teacher Shilpa Krishnan.

“The style that the dancer performed, Kuchipudi, is rather different from the style of dance I learn which is BharataNatyam. However, I did see a few things in common such as her posture, araimandi (half sitting), and abhinaya or expressions. What I especially liked about her performance was her exquisite abhinaya. These small and delicate gestures are very important. They convey the story that the composer is trying to communicate, and portray the emotions of the characters the dancer is imitating.

I thought Deepika’s costume and attire were very attractive and suited the performance really well. Also, many of her dances were on Krishna which allowed a lot of room for stories.

Overall I think that this program was a great success and gave me a chance to appreciate a different yet equally beautiful form of dance.”

By: Anika Krishnan 6^th Grade

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“I was really excited to watch a dance performance at the temple for the Spring season finally! I wish we had more dancers perform.  I loved that it was Kuchipudi since we typically see a lot more BharataNatyam programs.

I thought Deepika danced really well overall. I noticed immediately the similarities and differences in the dance styles. Kuchipudi has some unique movements and aspects of Nritta that were immediately obvious to me.  Some of the hand gestures she used are also components of BharataNatyam but not used as liberally as in Kuchipudi.  The footwork was also structured differently although the tala structure and sollu (rhythmic recitations) were the same.

I especially enjoyed the ashtapadi for a couple of reasons.  I liked the playful abhinaya she exposed in the item and also the ragamalika aspect of the song.”

By: Aditi Krishnan 8^th Grader

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About Kuchipudi:

Kuchipudi is the classical dance form from the South-East Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.  It derives its name from the village of Kuchelapuram, a small village about 65 kms from Vijaywada.  It is known for its graceful movements and its strong narrative/dramatic character.  Kuchipudi as we know it today acquired its present form in the 20th century.  A number of people were responsible for moving it from the villages to the performance stage.  One of the most notable was Guru Lakshminarayan Shastry.  After him, a number of other luminaries would mould it into its present shape.  Some notable names are Vempati Chinna Satyam, C.R. Acharyalu, and Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna. –

By: Mrs. Shilpa Krishnan – dance teacher from South Florida

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Let me start with the orchestra first.  Right from the invocation song mridangam captivated the audience.  The sound filled the auditorium and was apt for a dance performance.  The voice of Sri DSV Sasthri was deep and confident.  The other vocalist Lakshmi and violinist were subdued but very effective throughout the concert.  It was an effortless performance by the entire team through and through.

Sri Ganapathim in Sourashtram - good start to the program

Sanchara Adhara in Ragamalika – Performance picked up momentum in this song and the dancer never looked back.  Here the dancer, Deepika, had a lot of scope for abhinaya and bhava.  The dancer was completely immersed into the song, switching the show emotions from minute to minute.  Beautifully done.

Varnam – Omkara in Shanmugapriya – violin alapana to begin with was classy.  The song depicted how everything emanated from Omkara including shruthi, layam and ganam.  The song was composed by Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri M. Balamuralikrishna.  Again, beautifully delivered.

Etuvanti Vade Vadu in Kalyani and Mishra Chapu – another dance on Krishna’s childhood episodes.  The mischief of Krishna was acted out beautifully. 

Finally the Thillana in Hamsanandi – lots of energy and great footwork.  Deepika kept the audience in rapt attention through the entire concert.

Thanks to the Potarazu family who used to live in South Florida several years ago for coming back to give this wonderful performance.

2016 May 1 - Gayathri Venkataraghavan Vocal Concert

Vocal - Gayathri Venkataraghavan

Violin- Mysore Srikant 

Mridangam - Neyveli Skanda Subramanian
Tanpura - Sharada Ramakrishnan

MS Subbalakshmi centenary concert held on May 1, 2016

I am thrilled to introduce Anushka Radhakrishnan, an eighth grader to the readers.  She is one of the youngsters who regularly attend Carnatic music concerts.  My thanks to Anushka for her brave effort in writing up her views on today’s concert.  I appeal to all of you to encourage more participation from our youngsters.  Below is Anushka’s write-up about the concert:

“I greatly enjoyed the concert. The singer's voice was beautiful and she sang the ragams and sangathis very well. Her song choice was different and unique. I especially liked the Ragam - Thanam - Palavi that she sang. The Ragamalika in the Palavi was very good. The violin and mridhugam accompaniment nicely complimented her voice. However I felt their individual solos were a little too long. Overall I was very impressed by her performance – Anushka”

Let me first give a broad brush stroke before going to song-by-song.  Overall, I felt like I was in a roller coaster through the concert.  The team took a little bit to come together and then delivered some excellent krithis.  The highlight of the concert was the mesmerizing main piece in Sankarabharanam.  During and after the thani there was a bit of an energy drop and many among the audience left.  But they all missed a phenomenal rendition of MS Amma’s songs towards the end of the concert.  With a little better planning of the song sequence many more could have also enjoyed the popular MS segment.  This concert lasted almost 4-hours.  Last time I remember such a long concert was the one by Sudha Ragunathan in Miami Museum of Science.  

Nama pranavaya – nice meditative start to the concert 

Mathe malayadwaja in Kamas/Adi Daru varnam - Brisk rendition

Sri Maha Ganapathi ravathumam in Gowle/Mishra chapu – Good demonstration of her mastery over the ragam. High energy swaras. Team is taking a bit of time coming together though individually talented

Smarane onde salade in Malayamarutham/Adi – So, you think whistle is only for film songs?  Not so in our community.  There is a special segment of rasikas who would whistle for only Kannada songs in Carnatic music concert!  It put a smile on everyone’s face including the artists.  Alapana was pleasing with the singer nicely gliding through the notes. Singer took some risks which paid off.  Violin alap was excellent.  Long swara passages were pleasing. 

Ninuvina Nama yendu in Navarasa kanada/rupakam – First time in the concert the singer was showing some vocal acrobatics.  It was flawless.  Audience is getting deeper into the concert and there is genuine interaction with the artists. 

Rangapura vihara in Brindavana Saranga/Rupakam – Very beautiful song with MS Amma’s voice still ringing in many of our ears.  It is difficult to sing this song without a touch of MS’s style. Very nicely rendered. 

Main piece Sagaraga Sutha in Sankarabharanam /Adi (2) – This as I said was the highlight of the concert.  Long alapana that kept the audience engaged while she traversed through the ups and downs of the ragam.  Very good support from the violinist. Intricate gamakams were executed without flaw. Violin alap deserves special mention. Mastery over the ragam and instrument was clearly evident.  Both artists took us to musical heights. 

Lots of voice dynamics demonstrated so early in the song. Brigas and gamakams were tastefully inserted. She read the audience well by now.  Neraval on the word "mooladhara " was brilliant. Swaras anchored on the same spot in the song was energetic. She covered the range from low Ga to high Pa. Nicely done. 

Thani – frankly, too long.  But it was a treat for our young aspiring mridangam students who were sitting in rapt attention in the front row. 

RTP in Hemavathy and Khanda jathi jampa thalam – the thalam is 5-beats followed by 3-beats and 5-counts in each beat totaling 40-counts per cycle.  Quite a complicated “kanakku” or method of counting within a cycle.  It was very well  delivered.  But the audience was getting a bit restless.  Ragamalika section enjoyed by Anushka had several beautiful ragams – behag, Kapi, mohanam and sindu Bhairavi.

Unfortunately at this point several in the audience left but they missed a great MS Amma segment.  Ms. Gayathri Venkataraghavan sang the popular krithis made famous by MS like a couple of Meera Bhajans, Bhavayami Gopala Balam, Kurai onrum illai, Vahe Panduranga and more in rapid succession.  Each one was rendered so beautifully the audience kept wanting more and more.