Dance / “Parijatham”, Sadhanalaya School of Arts, Gungahlin Theatre, November 6. Reviewed by HELEN MUSA.

THIS production of “Parijatham” by the Sadhanalaya School of Arts marks the welcome return to the stage of this well-known dance drama.

One of the earliest choreographic works by the late Vempati Chinna Satyam, who regularised the Kuchipudi dance form in India, it was in the repertoire of Canberra’s Kailash dance company during the ’90s. Among his pupils were Padma Menon and Vanaja Dasika, the founding director of Sadhanalaya.

Like many dancers in the Kuchipudi repertoire, it represents a form of devotion to the Lord Krishna, the playful blue-skinned avatar/god known for his flute playing and his dalliances with earthly cowgirls and heavenly consorts.

The subject matter is light.

“Parijatham”, named after the sweetly-scented night jasmine, depicts Krishna’s dilemma over which of his paramours, the graceful Rukmini or the fiery Satyabhama, he should give the flower to. In Greek literature Paris has to decide which goddess should get to the golden apple of discord, but here the outcome is devotional.

Kuchipudi, closer to the ground than its southern-Indian counterpart Bharatanatyam, is characterised by animated facial expressions and usually a tour de force breakout section where one of the principals (these days usually all female) dances on a brass platter, but in this production due to a medical condition in the cast, that athletically challenging segment was not possible.

But with the liveliness of the production, this was not missed.

Costumed in brilliant colour, the performance on a nearly bare stage was backed by recorded music in the Carnatic style, with both male and female vocalists matched by the facial mime of the dancers.

In keeping with the positive subject matter, devotion to Krishna, the tone was comic throughout, especially in the character of the sage Narada, normally male, but here represented with female characteristics by Jade Das. He/she is the mischief maker, who gives rise to the conflict in the drama.

As the demure Jamila Rukmini, Suhasini Sumithra displayed the graceful shoulder and arm movements of the Kuchipudi form, and, in a spectacular pas de deux with Divyusha Polepalli as Krishna, some extraordinary toe movements. This segment, symbolising harmony, and love, was an early highlight.

Vanaja Dasika as the proud and vain Satyachama, Rukmini’s rival for the affections of Krishna, was initially a little more gentle than expected, although her mudras – hand gestures – were superbly calculated, and her movements lively and virtuosic.

But she quickly fired up to an explosive encounter with Rukmini, leaving Polepalli as Krishna, looking distinctly nervous, and the mischief-making. Narada looking very pleased with him/herself before the happy ending ensued. Here all the characters here showed expertise in the art of facial expression, Abhinaya.

This exciting debut production for the Sadhanalaya School of Arts was funded by Arts ACT, and should, I believe, have been performed in a more intimate stage situation to the allow the audience to relate better to the animated interplay of the characters.