Natyasruti celebrates anniversary with a dance

Sumitra Nitin
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Sumitra Nitin grew up in a home that nurtured the classical performing arts. That passion rubbed off on Sumitra too and today, she is not only a renowned name in the world of Bharatanatyam, but also an acclaimed Carnatic vocalist. The dancer-singer has come up with a special choreography to celebrate the completion of two decades of her dance school, Natyasruti, in Bengaluru.

Titled Pibare Krishna Rasam, it is will be presented by her students. The choreography, explains Sumitra, is a “thematic representation of Krishna, starting from his toddler days to his journey to the paramatma level. The production was originally conceived and presented in 1968 by my mother Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, a dancer and a scholar. She used material from her research and choreographed the original piece that was staged in New Delhi in 1968. The orchestra was then led by my grandmother, Ananthalakshmi Sadagopan, a renowned classical singer.”

From the dance production
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Sumitra revisted Pibare Krishna Rasam and rechoreographed the piece using the original music score, which was digitised. “The dance is not a dance, but a weaving together of many songs on a single theme and using the classical dance form to present it visually,” explains Sumitra, who has choreographed the dance using classical Bharatanatyam and Kathak, choreographed by Murari Sharan Gupta.

“It is not fusion dance, but the coming together of two pure classical forms.” Sumitra. says, the dance will also feature a bit of the traditional Vazhuvoor style of Bharatantyam.

Sumitra will lead the show on the nattuvangam and vocals. She will be accompanied by Mysore R Dayakar (violin),  Vivek Krishna (flute), Vinay Nagarajan (mridangam) and Shridatta MG (tabla). Thirteen students and a toddler feature in this production. 

‘Pibare Krishna Rasam’ will be presented February 5, 10am at Prabhath Kala Dwaraka Auditorium, on the premises of Koramangala Club. The event is open to all.