Nadasurabhi, the cultural service organisation located in Koramangala, is slowly emerging as one of the leading "sabhas" in the whole of Bangalore. Time and time again, they have been bringing top quality programmes free of charge to all lovers of Indian classical music and dance through their monthly programmes, different annual festivals and other activities.
The latest in their line-up of shows was the three-day Annual Youth Festival 2012 that concluded on Sunday at the Indian Heritage Academy Hall in Koramangala. The festival showcased the twin idea of giving a stage opportunity to talented youngsters and simultaneously presenting star performances of young artistes. On the first day there were two events - first, a group rendering of Carnatic vocal concert by the students of Guru Vidwan Vasudevan, consisting of popular compositions of saint composer Thyagaraja and later a full vocal recital by the young upcoming artiste from the city, Kumari Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath. Aishwarya was well supported by Aditi on the violin, Adamya on the 'mridangam' and Sunaad on the 'khanjira'. It was a regular two and a half hours recital which was well received by the audience.
The next day also saw the highly synchronised well-trained group rendering of Carnatic songs by the students of Guru Vidushi Usha Srinivasan, followed by a full concert by Chennai's young artiste Kumari Sriranjani Santhanagopalan. Sriranjani is daughter and disciple of leading Carnatic vocalist Neyveli Santhanagopalan. She was accompanied by Vittala Rangan on the violin, Akshay Anand on the mridangam and Sunaad on the khanjira. It was a very mature presentation which can be compared to that of any seasoned artiste on the Carnatic stage. Akshay looked too young for the task but did a decent job.
The grand finale consisted of a Bharathanatyam by the students of Guru Sumitra Nitin's troupe consisting of dancers Lakshmi Ramesh, Sruthi Vasudevan, Sreegowri Bhat and Priya Radhakrishnan. Sumitra Nitin herself led the orchestra as its lead singer and "nattuvanar". She was supported by her mother Vidushi Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, Subha Sampath, Janardhan and Meera Rajkumar were on the 'mridangam' and the violin respectively. Choosing the title of "Paalaya Jatadhara", the recital was on Lord Shiva to fit the Mahashivarathri festival which fell on the following day. The programme opened with the invocatory number Todaya Mangalam. The traditional Pushpanjali followed, after which there was the beautiful dance presentation for Thyagaraja's Pantuvarali kriti Shiva Shiva Shiva enaraada.
The main piece of the evening was the dance interpretation of Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi's "Jatadhara Shankara". The elaboration in Bharathanatyam of this grand 'Thodi' song was brilliant and mesmerising. Myriad moods, nuances and stories were brought out through 'abhinaya The programme concluded with a 'devarname' and 'thillana'.
The three-day extravaganza had a serene and pleasant ending with the Thyagaraja and Purandaradasa 'aradhana' function wherein Thyagaraja Pancharathna kritis and 'Pillari geethas' were presented.

--CITYPLUS NEWSDESK

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