Music and Dance Reviews : Long Beach Arts Festival in Honor of Hindu Saint

A five-hour banquet of Indian music and dance in honor of the Hindu saint Puramdara Daasa at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach Saturday night proved a richly satisfying feast.

If a Westerner’s attention flagged now and then, a new tidbit soon brought the appetite back. Act I traced the story of Puramdara’s life and Act II evoked scenes from the life of Krishna, the subject of many of Puramdara’s songs.

Viji Prakash, a specialist in the ancient temple dance form, Bharata Natyam, assembled a large cast performing in several distinct musical and dance styles. Prakash, who has large, classically proportioned features and a dazzling smile, moved with a lithe ease. As the young Krishna tugging amorously at a maid’s sari, she was amusingly believable.

Kathak dancer Chitresh Das combined pliant and delicate movements of the wrists, fingers and arms with powerful spins and brilliantly percussive footwork. Shifting moods drifted across his expressive face like cloud patterns in unstable weather.

Shyly graceful Odissi dancer Nandita Behera traced the gently rounded shapes--arched arms, one cantilevered hip--of this rarely seen form, based on temple sculptures at Orissa. Angular lunges and jabs flavored Ramaa Bharadvaj’s interpretation of the Kuchipudi dance form. Although her small face puts her at a theatrical disadvantage, tall Mythili Kumar infuses Bharata Natyam with a serene grace.

The most extraordinary performer was the singer Lakshmi Shankar, a grandmotherly woman sitting with downcast eyes, who produces effortless, long phrases of otherworldly sound. Violinist Viji Krishnan-Natarajan, veena player Geetha Ramanathan Bennett and mridangam (drum) player Frank Bennett must also be singled out for improvising moments of great poignancy and beauty.