The Pandemic lockdown led Bharatanatyam dancer Praveen Kumar to revisit old compositions to achieve new insights. His recital commenced with ‘Ka va va’ (Papanasam Sivan; Varali), an invocation to Skanda of Pazhanimalai. He got here up with brisk imageries that described the epithets related with Muruga — the son of Shiva, who as a baby is seen seated on Parvati’s lap, is armed with a spear, wedded to Valli and Devayani, and is the bestower of the sacred mantra. The concluding visible was of devotees travelling to Pazhani carrying kavadi.
The varnam, Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sarma’s ‘Ninne nammi na nu ra’ (Atana), which was a part of Praveen’s arangetram, checked out Krishna from totally different views — good friend, lover, guardian and protector. Flawlessly executed jathis have been principally set in chatusra nadai (as within the old model), whereas the abhinaya portrayed vignettes of Krishna in a refreshing method. ‘Chinni krishna ra ra’, the devotees name Krishna, the brother of Balarama, who eats mud and opens his mouth to disclose the universe to his mom. Praveen has imbibed from his gurus Narmada and Prof. C.V. Chandrasekhar an built-in strategy to Bharatanatyam — his impeccable motion mixing properly with interpretative dance.
Praveen Kumar’s efficiency at The Music Academy’s Margazhi pageant, on January 04, 2023.
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RAGU R
The post-varnam, purely abhinaya, a part of the recital started with Marimutha Pillai’s composition ‘Ethai kandu ichhai kondai magale’ in Kalyani, a ninda stuti, set to Rupaka tala. While the phrases don’t in anyway point out the gender of the particular person talking, the lyric is historically understood to symbolize the phrases of an exasperated mom telling her daughter Parvati what she noticed in Shiva to lose her coronary heart to him. Praveen appeared on the phrases from the male perspective — of a father addressing the daughter. Drawing her consideration to Shiva’s idiosyncrasies, he says, “Is he not the one who swallowed poison and with the hearth of a 3rd eye burnt to ashes Manmatha? His bizarre costume contains an ash-smeared physique coated in tiger pores and skin, matted locks during which Ganga is lodged, and a snake for a garland. He additionally tells her how she is used to travelling in consolation in a palanquin, whereas Shiva’s mode of transport is a bull. The dancer concluded his convincing portrayal of an irate father, who, seeing his phrases having little impression on his daughter, stalks out with the expletive, “Suttha paitiyakkaran” (mad particular person).
The javali, ‘Oh my beautiful Lalana’, a Karur Shivaramiah composition (Karaharapriya) with its mixture of English and Tamil sahitya, was an unlikely alternative by the conservative Praveen, who portrayed a besotted nayak attempting to woo an detached nayika. Lalgudi Jayaraman’s thillana introduced a change of temper.
Praveen was supported by a workforce of skilled musicians — D.S. Srivatsa (vocal), D.V. Prasanna Kumar (nattuvangam), Harsha Samaga (mridangam), Mahesh Swamy (flute), and Gopal Venkataraman (veena).