A breathtaking gale on stage

The graceful Bharatnatyam dancer

The evening started with a piece titled Shaktivandana -- an invocation to the different aspects of the divine being. Shakti can be constructive and all destructive, subtle and sensuous, beautiful and horrific -- the aspects are manifested in all humans.

With apt movements of her brows and lips, rhythmic footwork and intricate hand gestures, Valli embodied the spirit of Shakti. During the sequence, she transformed from Chandi, with a trishul in hand ready to strike down evil to the beautiful Lakshmi, poised gracefully on a lotus. She then appeared as Veenapani (the one with a veena in hand, referring to Saraswati), radiating knowledge and armed with a bow and flowers for arrows.

Ramani Thiagarajan on flute and violin, CK Vasudevan on cymbals, Hemant Raghunathan on mridangam (percussion) and Latha Ramchand's emotive vocal renditions provided an apposite ambiance.

The next piece, Varnam (composed by Valli and music/lyrics by Prema Ramamoorthy) depicted the indivisible link between love and devotion. The dancer articulated the yearning to be close to her beloved as she experiences the divine love in every element of nature. This eternal love can also be interpreted as devotion towards the divine spirit.

In the piece, the central character urges her sakhi (confidante) to reunite her with the one she loves and worships -- Lord Nataraja (Shiva). In the blistering sun, she envisions the forceful nature of Shiva, in the blue-black evening sky she sees 'Neelkantha', referring to the myth of Shiva ingesting poison that came out from 'Manthan' (churning the ocean for the divine elixir) which turned his throat blue.

Following the spectacular piece, Valli performed a composition based on a story from the Sangam anthology (a collection of Tamil poetry authored some 2000 years ago).

The composition narrated the story of a mother and daughter. The piece highlights the archetypal human emotion of possessiveness and learning to let go. In a simmering desert domain, a mother discovers her young daughter is missing; she has eloped with a man. The mother is deeply concerned for the daughter's safety and can hardly cope with the irreparable loss. When she meets three noble men crossing the desert and asks them of the young couple's whereabouts, the men try to console her. They refer to nature -- a pearl does not ornate mother ocean but the woman who wears it. The mountains do not enjoy the intoxicating aroma of growing sandalwood. The fragrance embellishes someone else.

Light designer Gautam Bhattacharya provided bright lights to give the effect of the blazing desert sun.

About her craft, Alarmel Valli said, "A dancer is poet, painter and singer. Poet because, she speaks the universal language of dance, delineating each emotion and expression through her every movement. She is a painter because she paints every tale with the shades of her art and she is a singer because a dancer sings with her body and music dances around her."

Articulate in every sense, Alarmel Valli left an impression on the audience. The experience will linger on for days to come.