Aniruddha Knight carries the Balasaraswati legacy mantle with elan

Aniruddha Knight presenting his lecdem cum performance at Dance For Dance festival, in Chennai, 2022.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

When Aniruddha Knight, grandson of T. Balasaraswati, and from a lineage of musicians and dancers who can be traced back to the Thanjavur Court, first appeared on the scene some decades ago, he seemed to disappoint — his Bharatanatyam technique was not quite up to expectations.

In his new avatar, Aniruddha is mature and polished, and seems ready to take on the mantle of his heritage. He has established himself as a teacher of merit, and chose to concentrate on the padam-javali aspect of Balasaraswati’s legacy.

Music is, however, Aniruddha’s strength. He sang, he emoted Balamma-style, with Anita Ratnam alongside, who prefaced each piece with heart-warming interesting tidbits. Combined with orchestral support par excellence, the programme titled ‘From the Heart of Tradition’ for the ‘Dance for Dance festival’ presented by Kalaavahini Trust, was a treat.

Aniruddha says he was brought up creating the abhinaya for a padam on the spot. “Of course, the kais were taught beforehand; I watched my mother (Lakshmi Knight) perform this way. There was always music in the house. When I was really young, about two or three, they would dress me up for entertainment. T. Viswanathan or T. Ranganathan would play or sing something and make me dance. My grandmother felt I would continue dancing.”

The show was part-lec-dem, part-performance. The vocalists (Usha Shivakumar, Vidya Shankaranarayanan), having sung for his mother Lakshmi Knight, have a long association with the bani. Music and dance went together in tandem, with music as the starting point.

Aniruddha demonstrated a few padams. He would start the song and the beat, and the musicians would take over. He would walk back and forth while emoting, true to the Balamma style. Every piece had an inherent rhythm, faster for a more superficial piece, and slower otherwise, but never too slow.

The dancer’s music and his expressions were both remarkable — is he a musician who can dance, or vice versa? He, however, gets distracted by the music, and that comes in the way of the flow of expressions. If he could only hold on to the expressions and the sthayi for a bit longer, the world will be at his feet.

Aniruddha Knight and Anita Ratnam at the Dance for Dance festival, in Chennai, 2022.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Aniruddha’s best was the 1700s padam ‘Shiva deeksha paru’ (Kurinji, Adi, Ghanam Seenaiya), when a young woman, who has taken to Shiva worship, gets smitten by Rajagopala himself. She is in two minds as to whom to choose. His expressions, in an effortless flow of abhinaya, were masterly. Another highlight was the Ninda stuti, ‘Kacchi rangan krupai’ (Kalyani, Adi, Ghanam Krishna Iyer), when the heroine chides the lord for his miserliness.

‘Tamarasaksha’ was demonstrated to show how many different ways ‘lotus-eyed’ can be shown. Aniruddha took up some Kshetrayya padams that evening (‘Chellanayanulera’- Sankarabharanam, ‘Mosamayya’- Ahiri, ‘Payyada’ – Nadanamakriya), the rich music flowing with dance in poetic confluence all through.

The stalwarts in the orchestra were Adyar Gopinath (mridangam), B.S. Purushothaman (kanjira), Devarajan (flute), Sikhamani (violin) and Joe Daly (tampura).