Kamadeva, the god of love, must be heaving a big sigh of relief. From dawn to dusk, this Margazhi season, he was summoned to various sabhas in Chennai by the dancers, who have been the target of his flower arrow. They seek his help in freeing them from their pangs of love and separation for the nayaka in the varnams, they perform. Overworked, exhausted, he is gearing up for a much-needed vacation.

The Margazhi season and its fervour, led to a choc-o-block calendar of dance performances, morning, afternoon and evening, sometimes three to five performances in a day. It is impossible to watch all of them, but having watched many of them, here is a look at the season gone by.

Kutty Kutcheri

Even as the major auditoriums were reverberating to the sounds of music and dance, Rasoham, an initiative by Laasya Narasimhachari, conceptualised a festival of music, dance and theatre, in different venues to a small intimate gathering of art aficionados. Motivated by its success last year, this series aptly titled 'Kutty Kutcheri Festival' featured an interesting line-up of artists.

Beginning on a classical mode, the inaugural performance was a veena concert by B. Kannan, to set the tone of the festival. A small play by Gowri Ramnarayan looked at the mindset of six important women characters of the Ramayana, blending, music, movement and dialogue. It was an intimate abhinaya session, to experience padams and javalis. Meenakshi Chitharanjan's presentation was a delightful experience.

An Attavilakku, lit with two wicks facing the artistes and one facing the audience, a stool and the musician with a percussion instrument, all in a line, were under the spotlight. As the percussionist starts playing on his Mizhavu, the dancer glides in and sits cross legged on the stool. Koodiyattam artist, Sooraj Nambiar begins responding to the music and in the next half an hour, his expressive face and hand gestures, took the viewers on a journey into a magical world of storytelling. Devoid of the elaborate make up of this art form, watching his abhinaya at close quarters was a cherished experience. 

Dancing Duos

As the season unfolded, watching performances by two dancing Duos, back to back was a refreshing experience. The diversity in the presentation, style of dancing, use of stage space and lights, musical arrangements, was an interesting study into individualistic styles.

Parvathy Menon and Shijith Nambiar are slowly evolving their own signature style in their performances. From using and relying extensively on use of spotlights and mood lighting, exploring individual and shared moments, languorous poses to frenetic activity, experimenting with musical arrangements, the two, put in great effort to bring in that element of dramatisation and orchestrated movements to captivate the viewers. At Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, their delineation of the lord of Chidambaram with powerful visualisation orchestrated with finesse and coordination along with the musical ensemble, made a strong impact. 

Watching them again at another venue, one felt the need to caution them for bringing some restraint in their presentation. They need to address the fact, that by overstretching, over enacting their expressions and ideas, it becomes counter-productive and a feeling of weariness sets in, for the viewers 

Relying solely on their meritorious mastery over the traditional grammar of Bharatnatyam, Aswathy and Srikanth are a testimony to the everlasting power of the language of dance. The costumes, communicating pattern, alternating movements and the overall dance choreography, was steeped in the classical idiom. 

Their performance for Natyadarshan conference of Kartik Fine Arts titled Paraparame which meant connect, communicate and elevate was a delight to watch. Great synchrony of movements, the command over laya in the nritta segments, the power of conveying ideas through sensitive abhinaya, simple, suggestive choreography were the highlights. Srikanth is also an excellent musician, and he used that to his advantage by singing his lines, while dancing for a very interesting composition of Manikavasagar, Tiruchaazhal a game of repartee in a debate.

Male dancers

Male dancers are getting more performance opportunities in recent times at sabhas across different venues. Pavitra Krishna Bhat was given a prime slot in the 71st Kalakshetra Art festival, and his performance was noteworthy for its classicism. Under the tutelage of Nithyakalyani Vaidyanathan at present, the Nattakurinji Varnam, an elaborate choreography of Adyar Lakshman, was danced with competence by the dancer, with beautiful nritta patterns and sensitive abhinaya. In his rendition of the Padam Choodare, the nuances of gossip, jealousy, subtle taunts, and feminine gait were portrayed with dignity.

K P Rakesh's performance at The Music Academy festival was impressive, with his rendition of the Ashtapadi Kshanamaduna wherein the fine nuances and detailing of ideas in his abhinaya, conveying the emotions and persona of Radha and Krishna elevated the impact of his presentation.

Lakshminarayan Jena, a young Kathak dancer and Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardee, moving away from the normal format of chakkars and bold, gave an interesting performance at the dance festival of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The whole presentation was structured on highlighting the evolution of varied facets of Kathak style in an engrossing manner and his Shiva Stuti, Ghazal and Tarana, was impressive.

Praveen Kumar's solo performance for Kalavahini Trust and Kartik Fine Arts was divided into two segments. The first one spoke of the bond of friendship between Arjuna and Krishna and the second one about a hero pining for his beloved. It was the next half where he had conceptualised a new work Svaaa Vishwasa - Life's breath that was noteworthy for its vivid imagery, musical score and fine dancing, making it an aesthetic experience.

Himanshu Srivastava, a young dancer had conceptualised a new work UnEkalavya based on the story of Ekalavya. His presentation was noteworthy for communicating the story and emotions of the character with sensitivity.

Group productions

The popularity for this genre of dance, continued to hold sway during the season. Anita Guha and Sheela Unnikrishnan, who are well known in producing vibrant, appealing choreographies were repeated across various venues. Kalakshetra Natya Natakams continued their dream run, with a strong audience base, coming in year after year to watch their shows.

The Kuchipudi performance Triyambham by Jai Kishore Mosilakanti and his group for the Music Academy was a brilliantly choreographed presentation, marked by high degree of aesthetic excellence in musical accompaniment, costume colours, group formations and movements. An enriching experience.

Anuradha, a presentation by Apsaras Arts Singapore, aimed at focusing on the idea of looking at Radha as a goddess. Conceptualised by Aravinth Kumaraswamy; musical score by Bombay Jayashri; choreography by Mohanapriyan Thavarajah, guided by Rama Vaidyanathan, the presentation with no fresh ideas in choreographic patterns or visualisation, did not make an impact.

There are lot of opportunities for dancers across various venues, but does it augur well for dancers, remains a question mark. Many of the younger artistes get slotted in afternoon or early evening slots, with very few people in the audience. Some of them are very good, but seldom get noticed. The organisers too find it difficult to accommodate the demand for performance slots. It is indeed an uphill task for young dancers to make a mark, but with supply far exceeding demand, this scenario is bound to last. Rising above all these constraints, is the passion for dance that motivates young dancers on their artistic journey.