Dr Sandhya Purecha and Sarfojiraje Bhosale Centre presented the Bharata Natyam Arangetram of Damini Naik at the Y.B.Centre auditorium, opposite Mantralaya on March 1st. The performance was noteworthy for its considerable command over technique and expressional dancing.
Damini Naik is the disciple of the renowned Bharatanatyam exponent Dr Sandhya Purecha who recently was bestowed with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award. Sandhya is the disciple of the veteran Acharya Parvati Kumar whose exclusive research of Marathi Nirupanas of Tanjavur is considered his greatest contribution, besides his authoritative knowledge of Abhinaya Darpana and Natya Sastra. Sandhya has succeeded to a great extent in taking the legacy forward.
Damini commenced her sparkling performance with the invocatory numbers and proceeded on to perform the Hamsadhwani Alarippu and Khamaj Jatiswaram that revealed the dancers command over technique with precise execution of varied intricate movements. While the Sabdam portrayed the naughty little Krishna, the Varnam establishes the inter-relationship between the Lord and the heroine, as she suffers from ‘viraha tapam’ and questions him why have you drifted away from me?. Damini has a charming face and beautiful eyes. hence her expressions were natural and created a fine impact. Kalaithuki portrayed as to how Lord Shiva as Nataraja danced on one foot in the golden temple of Chidambaram on the peak of the Tilai mountain. The varied poses and movements were well executed. Kirtanam of Vallabhacharya Madhrashtakam described Lord Krishna as an epitome of beauty suffused with sweetness. Besides Adi Shankaracharya’s Shiva Panchakshara Shloka, abhang Abir Gulal, Damini concluded her performance with the Shankarabharanam Thillana with precise execution of intricate movements. With better concern towards the aesthetic quality of the dance, Damini can definitely aspire to become a better exponent.
Damini received fine orchestral support from Dr Sandhya Purecha and Rajendran Naidu on the nattuvangam, Shivaprasad for vocal, Satish Krishnamurthy for mridangam, Narayana Parthasarathy for violin, Atul Sharma for flute. Vijay for Ghatam and moorsing by Gopalan.
