NCPA@home – Is There Some Way I Can Reach You? – Bharatanatyam by Alarmel Valli

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lmou4r6x1s

Alarmel Valli pays tribute to the verse – erotic and existential all at once – of the legendary Bhakti poet Annamacharya.

I. An excerpt from ALARULU KURIYAGAN –
One of the Sringara sankirtanas of Annamacharya. (Set to Ragam Shankaranarayanan and Adi Talam) Alamelmang danced so beautifully that there was a shower of flowers (pushpavrishti).Now coy (shy or innocent), now co quettish (a womens flirtatious manner.She danced behind a translucent curtain with low swung twists, with sounds of toe rings. There she leaps with a stamping gait with diamond-studded anklets glints beaming those glints hither-thither.

II. ELINAVADU –
An erotic or Sringara Sankirtana of Annamacharya (Set to Ragamalikai – Behag, Mohanam, Khamas & Tala – Misra Chapu and Tisra Nadai)
Many of Annamachraya’s poems, though written five centuries ago are strikingly modern in tone. Consider for instance, the supremely confident, tongue-in-cheek, even irreverent Goddess Alamelmanga portrayed in this unusual poem, Elinavadu Tanu – He is The Master.

III. EDUPAYAMU –
An existential or Adhyatmika Sankirtana of Annamacharya (Set To Raga Charukesi and Tala Misrachapu)
In Edu Upayamu – Is There Some Way I Can Reach You, the devotee’s voice is agonised, baffled, tearful, sometimes despairing, as he grapples with his all-consuming longing for the divine.

Please note: The videos will be available for a week post the streaming.