Ashtanayika – Abhisarika – the heroines in love

In this DVD pack, ‘Padma Bhushan’ Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan along with Jayanthi Subramaniam, Bragha G Bessell and Ramya Harishankar. unfold the delights of Nayikabhava with an exposition on Ashtanayikas- the heroines categorized by the natyashastras under 8 different heads according to their emotional status.

In an exhaustive and aesthetic manner it presents the mindset, moods, conflicts, cogitations, tempers and tantrums of Abhisarika, the heroine who defies all accepted norms and ventures out to meet her lover at a predetermined place.

The highlight of this product is a classroom session involving ‘Padma Bhushan’ Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan, (‘Maami’ to her students), the greatest Abhinaya exponent of our times & a bevy of her senior students comprising Jayanthi Subramaniam, Bragha G Bessell and Ramya Harishankar.

‘Choodare’, a Kshetrayya padam forms the pivot of maami’s engaging elucidation of Abhisarika. In a pleasant departure from convention, instead of one, the demo is done by three dancers with each expressing a particular rasa.

In a long, no-holds-barred discussion, the attributes of each nayika are analyzed threadbare by the Guru who compares and contrasts Abhisarika with other nayikas to bring out the subtle differences between them.

The lively and informal student-teacher interaction is marked by enlightening digressions that cover different heroines, different contexts and a host of padams and javalis from the repertoire of well-known composers.

It brings into focus not only the intricacies of Nayikabhava, but also the unique teaching methodology of Kalanidhi maami and the intensity of Guru-Sishya relationship which is the cornerstone of our culture.

Maami provides some practical tips for teachers and also students at different levels- beginners, those reasonably well-trained and foreign students who are not very familiar with our cultural milieu.

There is a wealth of information on how to approach the composition, understand its meaning and the mood it portrays before actually getting down to performance.

Concept & Presentation byPriyadarsini Govind

Explained with

• Choodare
• Padam
• Sahana
• Misrachapu talam
• Kshetrayya

• Exhaustive content
• Each DVD dedicated to 1 Nayika
• Clear guidelines to teachers & students
• Lively classroom session involving senior danseuses
• Freewheeling discussion based on a padam or javali
• Full length demo by an eminent dancer
• Options to view demo in 3 different angles (only in DVDs)