Janane Sethunarayanan impressed with her well-nuanced portrayals

Janane Sethunarayanan’s dynamic footwork and expressive storytelling skills came to the fore at The Music Academy’s HCL concert held in February 2025.

The Music Academy has been organising HCL concerts to encourage talented artistes in the field of performing arts to showcase their skills. Its recent edition featured Bharatanatyam dancer Janane Sethunarayanan. She began her performance with Shanmuga Kavuthuvam in Gowlai raga set to Adi tala. Her subtle depictions of the mayil, vel and Kavadi, associated with the persona of Muruga, combined with dynamic adavus and vibrant footwork, were impressive setting the tone for the recital.

‘Mogalakiri konden’, a varnam composed by Sivanandam, of the Thanjavur Quartet, in raga Thodi, in praise of Rajagopalaswamy of Mannargudi, dealt with the bhava of a nayika pining for her lord. Janane explored this well by using elements such as clouds, birds, bees and animals as sancharis to convey her love for the lord. The portrayal of the magnificent form of lord Rajagopala was dealt with in detail, as Janane highlighted the beauty of the draping of the dhoti for the deity, and the exquisite jewellery that adorn him. . A little more emphasis on abhinaya would enhance her presentation. While her clear footwork and adavus made the jathi korvais stand out Janane needs to infuse more variety in the movement patterns especially in the theermanams, as they looked more repetitive.

In the padam ‘Unnai thoodu anuppinen‘ in raga Saveri, a musical prelude was used to convey the context of the padam clearly. . The transition in the mood of the nayika — from anticipating the arrival of the sakhi who had gone as a messenger to her lord, and the shock on noticing the dishivelled state in which she returns, to the anger and anguish, after realising what would have transpired between them — was communicated well by Janane.

The performance concluded with a thillana, composed by the legendary K.N. Dandayudhapani Pillai, and choreographed by Rakesh, who also wielded the cymbals.

The orchestra comprised Srikanth Gopalakrishnan on the vocals, Shivprasadh on the mridangam , Vishwesh Devarajan on the violin, Nagaraj on the flute.