Performing solo on Sep 29th at DHAATU-Bangalore was a true blessing as it was much more than a performance. It was a life changing enriching experience for me . It was a perfect set up to realize my yearning to take Abhinaya to the next level & perform the same with a new understanding.
While the special NatyaShastra classes by Ganesh Sir had opened me to details of the Saathivika Abhinaya ,the performances of Dr.Padma Subramaniam & Mantap Prabhakar had greatly inspired me & deepened the desire to explore abhinaya in those dimensions. In the recent performance,i was able to explore emotions & situations with loka dharmi specially in scenes of present day celebrations of Ganesha festival on the streets of Mumbai & other cities.Emotions of various characters & situations gave a lot of scope for Saathvika Abhinaya in the Varnam " Hidako bidabyada" - very well tuned & choreographed by Paddu Akka .In nagumomu of Sri ,Thiagaraja I portrayed Sita in Ashokavana ,thinking of Rama's beautiful face & In the Tillana I showed the Kavadi celebrations. Best part was that I did not rehearse any of these with the musicians , I only explained the situation & tried it all out directly on stage ! I must say it is one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCES because i was NO MORE MYSELF....I HAD DISSOLVED IN THE SITUATION... I could feel sita & enjoyed being sita..i could feel Krishna & enjoyed being krishna , i loved smiling like Rama & walking like Rama. I enjoyed being in another time ...another space ..another era !!!
I enjoyed it so much that after the program i felt like i had passed through some amazing energy...The whole experience had done something to me.It left a deep sense of peace within. I am hoping & praying that these new doors that opened in this program will only lead me to deeper & higher levels of Rasaloka. Thanks Anupama, Dhaatu for all this magic. I am very happy to share some images taken by our friend Vinod Kumar. - Nirupama Rajendra
