Pavitra Bhat’s nuanced portrayal

Pavitra Bhat impresses with his dance at the Kalakshetra’s annual festival

An aesthetic space, a soulful orchestral team and a receptive audience — young male dancer Pavitra Krishna Bhat was fortunate to have all these for his performance as a part of Kalakshetra’s 71st annual art festival.

Pavitra is under the tutelage of Nithyakalyani Vaidyanathan. He chose to showcase a traditional margam and classicism was the watchword of his performance.

After an anjali to lord Ganesha, he began with a Tisra dhruva alarippu, with clarity of adavus.

The Nattakurinji varnam ‘Swami naan undhan adimai’, where the devotee seeks the blessings of lord Shiva, was an apt choice for a male dancer. The intense desire and angst of a devotee craving for darshan, and the descriptions of the form of Shiva, including his dancing one, were the sancharis on which the dancer pegged his ideas.

Pavitra’s abhinaya was marked by nuances. In the initial sequence of the devotee doing his puja, the way he draped the panchakacham, placed the garland and applied kumkum were done with attention to detail. The depiction of varied dance poses of Nataraja and the transition between a male and female for Ardhanari, and the story narration of Markandeya were handled well. A little more intensity in internalising the emotion of the character, would take Pavitra’s abhinaya to the next level.

The initial chowka kalam of nritta in the first jathi was appealing, and as it gained momentum, there was synchrony between the dancer and the mridangist, with lively jathis, adding to the impact of the varnam.

Taking on a Kshetrayya padam ‘Choodare’, where the focus is on a woman gossiping with her friends about the other woman who shamelessly goes to the abode of Muvvagopala, can be a daunting task for a male dancer. Pavitra portrayed jealousy, disdain and quicksilver glances with restraint, without turning the depiction effeminate.