The Articulate Festival, in its series 28 on 16th September, 2018 at Veene Seshanna Bhavana, Ganabharathi, Mysuru, saw four enchanting dance arts by four enchantresses. It was a visual cultural tour across the country from Andhra to Uttar Pradesh to Odisha and Tamil Nadu while a spectator just sat in the comforts of the auditorium’s chair. The show was curated by Mysore B. Nagaraj just to share the joy of dance art.
Nivedita Viswanathan from Chennai opened her act with an ode to Lord Ganesha through the lyrics of Saint Tyagaraja and sailed through a Uthukadu Venkata Subbaiah composition on Krishna. Despite her heavy frame, she had nimble feet that hoisted her every movement that depicted Lord Ganesha and his lighthearted commune with the devotee. Krishna’s sermon, on the battlefield, to Arjuna was the central theme in the second of her repertoire. What surprised was Nivedita preferred to do abhinaya describing the acts of Krishna while she precariously perched on the edge of the brass plate dexterously manipulating as against the often seen echoing the syllables of the mridanga. What one missed was the bejewelled Plait of Traditional Kuchipudi, that would be sensually held in the hand and swayed matching the gait. However, the energy of Nivedita maintained through the gruelling two dance numbers she chose to present.
