Jagyaseni Chatterjee’s ‘Flame to Fragrance’ was an ode to feminine energy

Jagyaseni Chatterjee’s ‘Flame to Fragrance’ celebrated womanhood.
| Photo Credit: SRINATH M

Jagyaseni Chatterjee, a senior disciple of Lakshmi Ramaswamy, recently presented a thematic Bharatanatyam recital, ‘From Flame to Fragrance: A Journey of Devotion, Desire and Dharma’, at Rasika Ranjani Sabha. Through a bouquet of traditional compositions, the dancer creatively explored diferent rasas.

The bright red and black costume and lighting design enhanced the visual impact of the first composition, ‘Thaka thaka endru aduvom’, by Subhramanya Bharati, which was an ode to the feminine energy. The dancer drew parallels among the multiple roles played by women. This was visualised through a powerful depiction of the goddess as a creator, destroyer, and an embodiment of the five elements.

Next came the varnam ‘Sakhiye inda velaiyil’, in Anandabhairavi. Here, the nayika’s wait for her hero was given a philosophical slant, describing it as a reflection of the expectations that each one of us have. Though this was the underlying thought conveyed during the commentary, the piece largely focussed on the traditional portrayal of a woman in love.

Jagyaseni chose a leisurely pace to convey the emotion of longing. However, at some point during the varnam, the dancer moved away from the routine depiction of pleading and cajoling, showing the nayika as a strong woman, who instructs the sakhi on how to behave when she meets the lord.

Jagyaseni Chatterjee captured the emotions of the longing nayika with sensitivity.
| Photo Credit:
SRINATH M

Interesting sancharis

The other sancharis such as a creeper clinging on to a tree, the torment of watching birds in love, and the moonlight burning her body were handled with conviction. The incorporation of Krishna’s leelas for the line ‘Magitalam pughazhum’, which highlights the stature of Mannargudi Rajagopalaswami, was distractive.

The jathi segments were short and filled with appealing pirouettes and poses. However, a little more azhutham in footwork would enhance Jagyaseni’s nritta.

Moving away from the routine representation of pleading and cajoling, Jagyaseni depicted the heroine as a dominant woman.
| Photo Credit:
SRINATH M

The song ‘Irakkam varamal ponadhu ‘ by Gopalkrishna Bharathi, where a devotee pleads for the benevolence of the lord, was a poignant portrayal. Next came a Purandaradasar kriti with enough dramatic moments. The Prahlada-Hiranyakashipu and Arjuna-Duryodhana episodes made the narrative interesting.

Thematic performances offer ample scope for the dancers to explore ideas. This could have been handled with more conviction in this presentation.

The playing of the flute and the violin when introducing each composition was disturbing. The orchestra comprised of vocalist Sai Sabapathy, mridangist Dhananjayan, violinst Anantaraman Balaji and flautist Yakeshwaran. Nattuvangam was by Jagyaseni’s guru Lakshmi Ramaswamy.

Jagyaseni Chatterjee performing Flames to Fragrance at R.R. Sabha.
| Photo Credit:
SRINATH M