Ritika,
I'm sure you are still tired, overwhelmed, proud, and emotional after the awesome performance you gave for all of us on Saturday night. May God bless you for the passion you have for this art form, as it definitely reflected on that day. I enjoyed every minute of your performance, and I'm not just saying because I love you, but from the bottom of my heart. As I'm from a strong Carnatic music family (just “from” so don’t ask me to sing), I focus on the lyrics and their meaning in every song/dance. I feel as though the singer or dancer should know the meaning of the song when he or she performs. I felt that you did justice to every song. Before I go into details, thanks to you and Mrs. Ramaa for choosing many of my favorite songs, especially " Thaaye Yesodha" , written by my great grandfather Oothukaadu Venkatasubbaiyar.
I have seen many dance and musical performances, and usually, the dancer takes a little while to get settled on stage, for the nervousness to go away, and to get used to the lighting and the audience. But you came out with a bang!! I didn't even see a slight hesitation when you started the Pushpanjali. The smile you had didn't die, even after the performance. The confidence you had in yourself was just amazing. The first few minutes gave me an idea of how the rest of the performance was going to be.
The Mahaganapathim, a very famous, well-known song to all Tamilians was a super hit. I could literally see Ganesha walk when you walked, and I enjoyed seeing your bhavam on writing with Ganesha’s tusk. The expression and foot work were so well done Ritika.
The Jagadheeshwari was intense. The way you ran around to kill the Asura, the anger you portrayed, and the killing scene with the Thri Soolam in hand looked like a scene right out of a movie!! It wasn't just me, the people I was sitting with were in awe!! It took a few seconds for all of us to come back to reality. The poses you showed of all Devis, few shantham (peaceful) and few ugaram (ferocious) were distinctly portrayed.
The Varanam!!! What can I say!! Ramaa aunty loves you tooooo much I guess! I kept checking my watch and it went past 30 minutes!! She knew you could do it and you did! I know the centerpiece Varanam is long but yours was loooooooong!!! It was a very complicated piece and you did it with ease. My foot was hurting when I saw you dance. For a few seconds I saw that you were a little tired but you recovered so quickly and finished it with pious. The blue and red costume you wore was sooo beautiful. I wish you wore that for few more songs!!
The Rama Ra Ra song was my favorite piece of the night. You mentioned that your dad taught you so much about the Indian culture and cleared the doubts you had with the Indian mythology, and he did a great job. You not only understood the story of Ramayana, but understood the emotional attachment that goes with it. The scene where all the Kings tried lifting the bow and arrow, you showed 3 or 4 different reactions, and each one was so beautiful. One King was very egoistic (in Tamil the right word is aanavam) and tried to lift the bow with one hand and failed. Another one was ashamed he couldn't lift it, whereas the 3rd King was embarrassed. All were shown soooo well. In Tamil culture the song " Seetha Kalyanamam Vaibhogamey" is sung the moment the bride and groom get married. It's a very emotional song for all Tamil women, as the moment we hear that song we naturally go back to the day we got married, and how we left our parents to join our husband for a new life. Your expression and the veena player's melody left me speechless!!! Your gestures of how Seetha was shy was out of this world!! I enjoyed seeing you act as Seetha reluctantly crossing the "Lakhman Rekha" and getting caught in the hands of Ravana. I also loved the little bit of Hanuman in the scene after. Overall this was my absolute favorite piece.
Anandha Natamaduvar was as good as Jagadeeswari. Your poses of Thillai Nataraja was beautiful. The churning of the ocean was excellent, especially the churning in different speeds and directions were amazingly shown. I enjoyed seeing how Parvati held Shiva's throat to stop the poison from spreading!! Enacting so many characters by one single dancer is not easy!! Hats off to you for that. I am sure anyone who didn't know the story too well would have enjoyed and understood the sequence.
Mischievous Krishna was sooo cute. I loved the scene where Krishna didn't want to share the butter but was forced to, so he gave a chunk to his friend, but took it back and gave half of it !! Hats off to Ramaa aunty for choreographing it in such fine detail and to you for executing it.
Throughout the performance I saw how well focused you were and never once got distracted. Your face showed confidence. I'm sooooo very proud of you. I'm sure the bell that fell off from your salangai hurt your foot, but none of us saw the "ouch" on your face.
Inviting hundreds of people, decorating the hall, giving everyone good food and gifts wasn't what the evening was about!! The quality of the dance you render is the respect you give for your audience and you did full justice to that. I could see the hard work you put in. Your mom always proudly talks about your passion for music and dance, and your performance proved it. Your talk was so touching and I could see that it was straight from your heart. I knew you meant every single word! You have a beautiful family who loves you so much, and the hard work your parents put in to bring this arangetram together was worth it. Thanks to you for giving them that proud moment, content and happiness. May God bless you. I'm looking forward to seeing more solo performances in the future. Make sure your mom invites me!!
Thanks,
Sangeetha Aunty
Kommentare