A magical evening at Rudram 2010

It's been almost ten years since I last heard words like jatheeswaram and thillana at close corners. There's been a stray moment or two when flipping through channels, or that rare visit to the Vadapalani temple in Chennai where a dance school was performing for Navratri. But nothing more serious or deliberate. Neither by choice, or by chance. Let's just say it was what it was.

Until yesterday when I was browsing through burrp listings and saw this event scheduled for Sunday evening. It was called Rudram 2010 (seems to be happening every year) and was featuring famed Bharatanatyam dancer Shobana and her students. I've loved Shobana's performances back in the days when I followed each of the main streams of Bharatanatyam with a lot of interest. Her work is mostly in the dance drama genre rather than a pure recital - which means, you are treated to a lot more of bhava and abhinaya (expressions and emotions) than natya (footwork) or jathis (beats). Decided to check it out, especially since Sandy hadn't been to a traditional Bharatanatyam performance yet.

And what an evening it was! Chowdiah Memorial by itself is one of the few halls in Bangalore with excellent acoustics coupled with the perfect viewing experience. Add to that a fine artiste who not only does a fabulous job on stage, but also takes the time to give an introduction and explain the essence of each performance at the beginning.

The first half of the program was dedicated to expressing the nuances of classical dance with traditional yet rare themes from the Ramayana and Krishna Leela. Shobana's expressions and compositions were simply spellbinding. While I may have expected that from her, I definitely did not expect the kind of perfection and dedication from her students that was on display.
My favorites from the first half were definitely the Sita swayamvar and the Parvati Ganesh pieces. Simply stunning and definitely worth several ovations.

The second half was where we got a chance to witness the power of Shobana's choreography. We saw Bharatanatyam being performed for ARR's Vande Mataram, Bach, and a Radha Krishna finale.

A brilliant performance is like that perfect cup of coffee. You take it slow, sip it in, savor the taste for as long as you can, and then let it traverse down your throat. And when it's done, you want the taste to stay in your mouth for as long as possible. In that sense, it will be a while before Rudram fades into memory.