Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, teacher and founder of Nadee School of Movement, Aditi Rao Ashtaputre’s first Arangetram under her guidance by Chillamcharla twins- Tejasvi and Yashasvi, may have made her Guru Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant, Padma Shri and SNA awardee, happy and pleased when they performed in front of her, at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium, King Koti recently, thus passing the baton aptly and brilliantly.
Tejasvi & Yashasvi were initiated into Bharatanatyam at Shankarananda Kalakshetra and later moved to Guru Aditi Rao, under whom they have been learning for the past six years. The evening’s recital began with a prayer to Lord Ganapathi, followed by the traditional Pushpanjali in Ragam Nattai, Adi Talam and Alarippu in Misra Talam by the twin sisters. This was followed by a solo performance by Tejasvi to a composition of G N Balasubramaniam, ‘Saraswati Namostute’, in Ragam Saraswati and Rupaka Talam. The dancer clearly brought out Goddess Saraswati’s prayer song magnificently.
After solo by Tejasvi, the sisters performed on Ramaswamy Diskshitar’s composition, ‘Rupamu joochi varnam’ in Thodi Ragam and Adi Talam. The dancers did justice, while portraying the Varnam in praise of Lord Shiva, particularly in praise of Lord Thyagaraja of Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. The young maiden’s abhinaya of love and devotion was impeccable. The energy levels of the twins remained unaffected in the long Varnam.
In the second-half, Yashasvi took the audience to the banks of River Yamuna and Vrindavan, while performing Ootukkadu Venkata Subbaiyyar’s composition, ‘Nirupama Sundarakara’, in Panthu Varati Ragam and Adi Talam. Yashasvi captured the audience as a dreaming Gopika and her love for the Blue God.
It was an unusual Thillana set to Raag Desh and Adi Talam, where the sisters, who are basketball players exhibited their game skills in the dance event, chasing an imaginary ball, and using the stage very wisely. It was a pleasure to watch the abhinaya displaying the success of the one who won against the other and lost, finally one of them carrying the other on her shoulder and exiting the stage to a loud applause. Even in this unique Thillana, the grammar of the Natya shastra was intact.
The finale of the Arangetram was from Adi Shankaracharya’s Soundarya Lahiri, ‘Bhairavi Shatakam’. The regal chant was opulence in itself perfecting Nritta and Abhinaya evoking the blessings of Devi.
The music orchestra comprised of Aditi Rao Ashtaputre on Nattuvangam, Sweta Prasad on Vocals, IV Renuka Prasad on Mridangam, K Sai Kumar on Violin, Uma Venkateshwarulu on Flute and Vijay Panchal on Tabla. The Light Design was by Y Basavaraju.
