HYDERABAD: The dance production ‘Karpura Vasantha Rayalu’ was as beautiful as it is written and described in Cingireddi Narayana Reddy’s book with the same name. The long poem came alive on stage for the first time at Ravindra Bharathi on his 93rd birth anniversary. Among the many pioneering works in Telugu literature by C Narayana Reddy, popularly known as CiNaRe in the Telugu states, the dance production stands out for its beautiful poetic composition, showcasing his expertise.
It depicts the love between a medieval Reddy king, Kumara Giri, and his court dancer, Lakuma Devi. Organised by the Smt Susheela Narayana Reddy Trust and directed by Anupama Kylash, Professor of Kuchipudi at the University of Silicon Andhra, this production enchanted the audience with its emotional depth and visualisation. Set in the context of the Kondaveedu Kingdom in the early 14th century, the storyline revolves around King Kumaragiri Reddy, AKA Karpura Vasantarayalu, played by Pramod Reddy, and the courtesan Lakuma Devi, poignantly portrayed by Vyshnavi Korlakunta.
As the king sees her dancing, he becomes infatuated with Lakuma and soon falls in love with her. “I heard of CiNaRe’s ‘Karpura Vasantarayalu’ long ago, and playing this role is a great experience. As a Bharatanatyam dancer, adapting to a narrative format was an interesting exploration.
In my 30 years of experience, this is one work where I am trying intense Abhinaya and becoming a character for a full-length production. A complete shift from Bhakti-based works to a sensual, romantic, and historic character brought out in poetic nuances was challenging,” Pramod Reddy told CE. Time flies in the love of Lakuma and Kumaragiri, and the king is always with her, disinterested in court matters.
As Lakuma dances, the king pens a Vasantarajiyam, a text on dance. The absence of the king in court creates chaos in the kingdom, and the queen is upset that the king has abandoned his duties. Lakuma learns of the country’s suffering and, with no other means to leave the king, decides to take her own life.
She performs her last dance for the king and then stabs herself for the kingdom. Vyshnavi said that studying and becoming Lakuma has been a demanding yet delightful process for her. “Condensing her entire life’s spectrum of emotions into just an hour and having to shift between these quickly was an intense experience, as this production placed a strong emphasis on her emotional journey.
Portraying her youthful vitality, her submission to the king, her agony of separation, and her internal conflict felt quite relatable and engaging to me. However, understanding and embodying her mental state during her death dance was the most challenging. In that state, she transcended pain, grief, and all emotions with a firm resolve to sacrifice for her land.
I enjoyed every part of this process.” The presentation features two additional characters, Sutradhari and the Moon, added by the choreographer. The Sutradhari, portrayed by Dr Anupama, is invisible to the characters but conveys their emotions to the audience and interacts only with the surreal character of the Moon, portrayed by Ajeesh Menon.
The Moon, not present in the original text, was personified due to multiple references and the poet’s relationship with it. The Moon serves as the friend and confidante of the characters and represents their innermost emotions. “Depicting a fictional character in tune with the mood swings of the major characters was challenging in this production.
Anupama Kylash gave me a right character where I can be myself. I strongly felt a connection with the character as it is close to my traits in life, being mischievous, quirky, and sympathetic. I also gave the male vocals to the production and it has been an interesting feat.
As a non-Telugu dancer musician, singing for a Telugu production was an enriching experience due to the musicality of the language and the literary values,” said Ajeesh Menon. The original text is about 600 verses, and a few of those were adapted in this work, while retaining some of the important sections in the poet’s original voice. CiNaRe’s majestic voice in the production added a narrative tone.
Dr Anupama mentioned that this is a creative adaptation of the verses to highlight the beauty of the phrases and lyrical structure of the work and isn’t a typical dance drama format. The beauty of this dance production lies in the diverse dance backgrounds of the performers: Dr Anupama in Kuchipudi and Vilasini Natyam, Pramod Reddy in Bharatanatyam, Vyshnavi in Kuchipudi, and Ajeesh in Mohiniyattam, which resulted in distinct body language and movement patterns. “C Narayana Reddy authored the kavyam, and this is an attempt to present it visually.
As it is a kavyam and not a work written for dance, there are no standard dance formats in this,” said Vyshnavi Korlakunta. The musical score by Sweta Prasad and Renuka Prasad was exemplary, aptly blending the lyrical beauty and melody. Lighting and sets by Basavaraju enriched the experience for the audience.
.
