Urmila's pilgrimage
Vaishnava Bharati, a thematic presentation, connecting the holy places of Vaishnava temples in the country is Urmila Satyanarayanan's special for this season.
She dedicated her first show of Vaishnava Bharati ' held on behalf of Kartik Fine Arts on Dec. 18 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan to the noted musicologist, arts promoter T. S. Parthasarathy.
An innovative backdrop with simple white and red lights to form a 'namam' shape, was apt for the theme.
An elaborate 'Dasavatharam' from Jayadeva's Ashtapadi set the mood for a pilgrimage to Vishnu temples.
The choice of Varanamayiram for the Ranganathaswamy temple, Srirangam and the dancer wearing the costume of Andal was another piece that drew applause from the audience.
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The presentation travelled to Guruvayur, Udupi, Pandarpur, Dwaraka through different compositions by Poonthanam, Purandara dasa, Namdev and Meera Bai.
The perfromance was a long one but the quick change of costumes by the dancer, the briefing before each piece and the music from the accompanying artistes kept the rasikas engaged.
Urmila will perform at Narada Gana Sabha on Dec. 25 at 7.30 pm and at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha on Dec. 31 at 7.30 pm
Flying French
This is also the season for arts students to fly into Chennai.
And take up classes. Call them crash courses. Call them quickie lessons.
It seems to work for some.
Like this group of France-based classical dance students who spent a week with guru Adyar K. Lakshman at his gurukulam in Gandhi Nagar.
Organised through his sishya Vasanthakumari, a Sri Lankan artiste-teacher based in the UK, the group spent long hours every day and have just flown back home. Thrown in were local tours and kutcheris.
Time for national tour organisers to consider the ‘December season’ as a tourist destination.
<< Kutcheribuzz would like to hear from visiting artistes and scholars who are here for the 'season'. Call us on 2499 4599 between 10 am and 1 pm. >>
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