Dancer Narthaki Nataraj, the renowned disciple of guru Kittappa Pillai, is also well-versed in ancient Tamil literature, thanks to his guidance. She presented some rare pieces, both devotional and folk — some were choreographed by her and the others under her guru’s guidance. The conceptualisation was by Shakti Bhaskar.
Narthaki commenced her performance at The Music Academy with an Abhirami Andadhi, ‘Kalaiyadha kalviyum’ in ragamalika, talamalika, in which Abhirami Bhattar is asking for many boons — a good wife, truthful children and so on, but at the end of which he asks for surrender at Devi’s feet.
‘Samiyai azhaithu vaadi sakhiye endan’, the well-known Khamas padavarnam (Adi tala) by the Thanjavur Quartet on Sundareshwarar of Madurai was dotted with Madurai-centric thiruvilaiyadals, such as his change of the dancing foot to please a concerned Pandya king and the disappearance of Madurai Meenakshi’s third breast with one glance.
The stories were shown in passing. Narthaki’s expressions are her strength. The detailed description of the ‘Sami’ was also interesting and different, as a five-faced Shiva with a garland of tortoises.
In the mukthayi sahitya, there was an unusual samyukta hasta presented with a small jump, as a patakam with thumbs bent, in front of the chest — Narthaki calls it the Ashta Sambhoga mudra, taught by guru Kittappa. It was followed by some poses referring to sambhoga shringara.
Unusual mudra
There was one more notable fact in the charanam, ‘Va, va’. She introduced a bird, with whom she was first annoyed with for making a noise when she’s in a state of agony due to separation. Then, she changes her mind and feeds it grains and water before handing over a letter. At the end of the piece, there is a footnote in which the forlorn nayika hears the bird — it returns with a letter of hope. The nayika bursts in joy, and kisses the bird in gratitude before leaving.
The varnam, being a guru Kittappa legacy, had lilting, soft-toned jathis, with tiny karvais. The Trikala one did not have a tisra segment. The second was unusual, starting with mandi adavus and perhaps one-two avartanams longer than usual. The third jathi, tisra, was complicated and elicited applause. The fourth had unusual sollus such as ‘tha dhin thangudu’. Each was a gem.
Narthaki executed every jathi with great timing, giving each step the respect due with an ease of familiarity. Her energy level, however, was not very high. The recitation was poetic — Parur Ananthashree’s intonation was even-keeled and respectful, giving the pauses their due. Shaktivel Muruganandam (mridangam) gave notable support.
While Srilakshmi Ramani (violin) and Muthukumar (flute) were consistently melodic, Kaushik Champakesan (vocal) was good in places.
The varnam was followed by a freedom fighter’s shringara composition visualised by Narthaki — Madura Kavi Kovilpatti Bhaskardas Swami’s ‘Singari oyyari’, as an admirer describing a beautiful woman.
‘Theruvil varandi velan’, a folksy Kavadi Chindu followed, with beautifully rhythmic lyrics such as ‘Mugathai parka pohalame, vaadi neengale munnumunutha kambi neeti vodi pongale’. The music and the mood was so upbeat that it got the whole auditorium to clap alongside. This visualisation proved how Narthaki treasures her inheritance.
Published - February 09, 2023 05:58 pm IST
