Clarity and precision marked Radhika Vairavelavan’s performance
The Hindu
Radhika Vairavelavan’s performance based on Desika Vinayakam Pillai’s poetry and translations merged art and reality
Natyarangam presented Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher Radhika Vairavelavan in ‘Suchinthai Malai’, an endowment programme in memory of the illustrious musician, Dr. S. Ramanathan. The recital was based on Desika Vinayakam Pillai’s Tamizh poetry and translations. That the repertoire was varied — from devotion to Shiva and Sufi philosophy to social issues, including a translation of Omar Khayyam’s Sufi quatrains and the story of Gautama Buddha — showcased the poet’s versatility.
It was conceptualised and visualised by Radhika with a team of experts: Dr. S. Raghuraman (resource person), Nandini Sharma Anand (music composition, vocal), Dr. Guru Bharadwaaj (jathi composition, mridangam), Sri Sudarshini (nattuvangam) and R. Kalaiarasan (violin).
The opening invocation on Shiva was taken from Vinayakam Pillai’s children’s anthology, Malarum Maalayum, set in Shivashakti raga. The talamalika, abstract sollus, which accompanied the crisp retelling of the dancing god’s attributes and leelas grabbed attention. A varnam, based on the Sufi quatrain, ‘The pots criticise the potter,’ drew a similarity between god and potter and the atma as the mud re-cast as different pots.
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