Anirudh Knight presenting his lecture cum performance at the Dance for Dance festival in 2022 in Chennai. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
When Aniruddha Knight, grandson of T. Balasaraswathi, and from a lineage of musicians and dancers that can be traced back to the Thanjavur court, first appeared on the scene a few decades ago, he was disappointed – his Bharatanatyam technique was not quite up to expectations. .
In his new avatar, Anirudh is mature and sophisticated, and looks ready to handle his legacy. He has established himself as a teacher of merit, and has chosen to focus on the padam-javali aspect of Balasaraswati’s legacy.
However, music is Anirudh’s strength. He sang, he sang Balamma-style with Anita Ratnam, who peppered each piece with heartwarming tidbits. The program titled ‘From the Heart of Tradition’ for the ‘Dance for Dance Festival’ presented by Kalavahini Trust was a treat with excellent orchestral support.
Anirudh says that he was brought up in the same place while acting for Padam. “Case, of course, was taught first; I have seen my mother (Lakshmi Knight) doing this. There was always music in the house. When I was really young, about two or three, they used to make me up for fun. T. Viswanathan or T. Ranganathan would play or sing something and make me dance. My grandmother thought I would continue dancing.”
The show was part-lacé-dame, part-performance. The singers (Usha Sivakumar, Vidya Sankaranarayanan), who sang for her mother Lakshmi Night, have a long association with Bani. Music and dance went hand in hand, with music being seen as the starting point.
Anirudh showed some padmas. He would start the song and the rhythm, and the musicians would take over. He used to walk back and forth getting emotional according to Balamma style. Each piece had an underlying rhythm, faster for the more superficial pieces, and slower otherwise, but never slow.
Both the music of the dancer and his gestures were remarkable – is he a musician who can dance, or vice versa? However, he gets distracted by the music, and it comes in the way of the flow of emotion. If he could just hold on to the bhavas and the stable for a little longer, the world would be at his feet.
Anirudh Knight and Anita Ratnam at the Dance for Dance festival in Chennai in 2022. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Aniruddha’s best padam of 1700 was ‘Shiva Diksha Paru’ (Kurinji, Adi, Ghanam Senayya), when a young woman, who has gone to worship Shiva, becomes infatuated with Rajagopala himself. He is in two minds as to whom to choose. His expressions were excellent in the smooth flow of acting. Another highlight was the censure eulogy, ‘kachi rangan kripai’ (Kalyani, Adi, Ghanam Krishna Iyer), when the heroine scolds the god for her miserliness.
The ‘Tamarasaksha’ was performed to show how many different ways the ‘lotus-eye’ can be depicted. That evening Aniruddha took some Kshatriya Padams (‘Chelanayanulera’ – Shankarabharanam, ‘Moosamayya’ – Ahiri, ‘Payyada’ – Naadanamkriya), rich music flowing with dance in poetic confluence.
Among the stalwarts of the orchestra were Adyar Gopinath (mridangam), BS Purushothaman (kanjira), Devarajan (flute), Sikhamani (violin) and Joe Daly (tampura).