Punyakoti-a Vedic Ballet

[Guest guest]

Poignant depiction

 

RUPA SRIKANTH

 

Punyakoti, famous tale from Kannada folklore, came alive through

vivid portrayals.

 

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PHOTO: R. SHIVAJI RAO.

 

GRIPPING DRAMA: The ballet `Punyakoti' being presented at Narada

Gana Sabha, Chennai.

 

`Punyakoti,' a fundraiser for AIM for Seva, was presented by Prabhat

Arts International, Bangalore. Though projected as a full-length

production, the Tamil premier of the popular Kannada folk tale about

the honest cow, Punyakoti, featured only as the finale to an

assortment of abstract and narrative dance pieces.

 

With the backing of a poignant storyline, introduced by Swami

Dayanand Saraswati, eloquent translation of the Kannada folk song by

E.R.Palaniswamy and soulful musical score by Praveen D.Rao, the

dance theatre presentation was easily the highlight of the evening.

 

The introductory pieces painted the colours of the forest vividly

with the tribals, cows and tigers taking centre stage. The dramatic

quotient soon took over in the tear-jerking farewell between the cow

and its calf.

 

Involved portrayals by Shakuntala Prabhat as Punyakoti and Vaishnavi

as the calf, gave the poignancy depth.

 

Almost as effective was the other narrative, the Bhasmasura-Mohini

encounter, enacted by Satyanarayana Raju and Shakuntala, scripted

and directed by Raghavendra Prabhat and tuned by Praveen Rao. Though

the treatment was rather theatrical, some well-crafted segments like

the skeleton dance and the Siva-Parvati episode redeemed the multi-

media presentation. The dance competition between Bhasmasura and

Mohini would benefit with the addition of a wider range of

movements.

 

Strong storyline

 

 

It was interesting to see how easily audiences are able to associate

with a strong storyline as against the efficacy of an abstraction,

however well-intentioned. A case in point is the visualisation of

the vedic hymn `Purusha Suktam,' the interpretation of which was at

three levels: the yogic, the rithvik and the artistic. The three

groups on stage concurrently took turns giving shape to the concept

as the chanting of an abridged version of the text was punctuated

with orchestration. The asanas were executed with precision and the

dancers were sufficiently illustrative in their depiction of the

seasons, yet there was a pervading sense of the uninvolved use of

the symbolism. The continuous flow also took away from the

meditative quality of the hymn.

 

Arguably artistic license cannot be denied, but it is that much more

of a challenge to translate the metaphysical and to therefore touch

an audience using mere physicality.

 

Overall concept and visualisation was by Raghavendra, while most of

the choreography was done by Satyanarayana Raju and Shakuntala. An

exception was the invocatory Monayadasa, choreographed by guru Udipi

Laxminarayana that used movement at different levels to accentuate

the feeling of exuberance. This piece had been tuned by Thirumalai

Srinivas.

 

The co-ordination and precision of the group of dancers comprising

28 or so needs to be appreciated. Though a religious context in the

Indian classical dance repertoire is a given, abiding by Swami

Dayanand Saraswati's dictum that art should carry a message, made

the difference that evening.

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