 Sirisha
– A Complete Dancer
 Shashank, the brilliant world-renowned flautist,
has every reason to be deeply concerned and, yet, he has every
reason to feel elated. His beautiful wife Sirisha Shashank is a
fine, complete dancer and also an accomplished vocalist, all set to
win fame for herself in her own right and steal the thunder from her
husband. But then, they will inspire each other most responsively,
responsibly—therefore, no problems!
Sirisha’s
solo-bharathanatyam recital, under the auspices of the Tchaikovsky
Music Club, jointly with the Russian Cultural Centre, at the
centre’s auditorium, Chennai-18, on Thursday evening, was quite
memorable.
It was Sirisha’s maiden
dance recital in Chennai, especially as Srimathi Shashank. Former
Supreme Court Judge, Justice S Mohan, who presided, quoted the
English poet John Keats when he pointed out, ‘How can I distinguish
the dance from the dancer?’. This warm-judgment was well-balanced
and based on facts, becoming of a distinguished
legal-luminary.
Sirisha, presently
trained by internationally-acclaimed danseuse Priyadarsini Govind,
performed six numbers, highlighted by the unique ‘dharu varnam’ (a
musical story-telling dance form) ‘Maathe Malayadhvaja
Pandyasajaathe’ (Muthiah Bhagavathar composition in Khamas-Aadhi),
graphically enunciating the multi-splendoured glory of the Lord of
Dance, Nataraja. Sirisha fulfilled all the exacting and exciting
requirements of Varnam faultlessly. Her guru Priyadarsini, had, in
an earlier aside, pointed out to me, that ‘Siri’ is an accomplished
dancer totally dedicated to dance. "She has grace, subtlety, verve,
elegance and wholesome depth in laya, and abhinaya. She has an
excellent grasp of all the nuances of Bharathanatyam."
 Well, Sirisha evidenced all these traits in her
recital. ‘Aadikkondar Andha Vedikkai Kaanakkan Aayiram Vendamo’
(‘won’t you require a 1,000 eyes to enjoy the dance of the Lord?),
the Purandaradasa devarnama ‘Jagadoddhaarana’ (Kaapi) and the
Brindavani Balamurali Thillana must have convinced all discerning
critics of her merits as a dancer of great talent.
However, it was the Padam
‘Chittike Vesike’ (‘if I snap my fingers just like this…’) in
Kalyani-Aadhi- that she mesmerised her audience totally. For a
change, Krishna woos a beautiful maiden, yes, unsuccessfully! All
his bravado taunts and jibes aimed at the maiden stressing his
winsome attributes fail to impress the stubborn damsel.
‘Venugopaludu Naa Peru’ (Venugopala is my name), ‘girls are waiting
in a long line for a glance from me’, have little or no effect on
her. This interlude between Krishna and the maid was ‘scornfully’
(‘scorn’ was the keynote of this piece centering on ‘advances’ from
the hero to the heroine), delightfully and deliciously
depicted.
Dwijendran (Nattuvangam),
Manasi Prasad (lovely vocal music), Sudhaman (mrudangam), Govind
Prasad (morsing), and Tyagarajan (flute) completed the orchestra
ensemble.
Sirisha, who compered her
own recital, took care to pay handsome tributes to her
Bangalore-based gurus Radha Sridhar and Narmada, as also to
Priyadarsini at Chennai and all her other associates.
R
Srinivasan |
