Jyotsna Vaidee interprets a traditional song for a contemporary audience

Jyotsna Vaidee chose a rare Tevaram to depict Shiva’s form and his attributes.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Beginning with a pushpanjali, Jyotsna Vaidee moved on to Subbaraya Sastri’s ‘Janani Ninnuvina’ for her performance at Krishna Gana Sabha. This composition extolling the goddess as a creator, was interpreted by the dancer by bringing into it her experiences as a mother. 

A rare Thevaram was used to depict Shiva’s form and his attributes, before Jyotsna moved to the varnam in Sankarabharanam, a composition by Papanasam Sivan in praise of Kapaleeswarar. The dancer shifted effortlessly from depicting admiration for Shiva in the line ‘Kapaleeswara darisanam’, to the state of a lovelorn nayika. The entire sequence of Adikara Nandi procession, with detailing of the nagaswaram and thavil accompaniments, the heroine falling in love with the lord and her tormented state due to his indifference, and the final jathi, where she incorporated peacock movements, were some of the significant moments.

Contrasting emotions

Jyotsna Vaidee.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

In the padam and javali, the dancer portrayed two contrasting emotions. The padam, ‘Unnai thoodhu anuppinen’ (Ghanam Krishna Iyer, raga Saveri), was about the nayika being distressed over the unfaithfulness of her friend for becoming close to the nayika’s beloved. In the javali, ‘Samayamide rara’ in raga Behag, the heroine is torn between her love for husband and another man. 

A thillana interspersed with the Kanda Sashti Kavacham, choreographed by Rama Vaidyanathan, was vibrant, but the Kavacham did not blend with the nritta-oriented piece. 

Venkateswaran Kuppuswamy’s singing was high on bhava. Guru Bharadwaj on the mridangam, Vijayakumar on the nattuvangam, Nandini Sai Giridhar on the violin and Anjani Srinivasan on the veena added value to the performance.