S K Bhat
Maryland (US), Jul 12: It is unbelievable but true. American children of Indian origin made their parents and teachers proud and suprised all the Swamijis with a splended performance of 'Kamsa Vadha' Yakshagana episode for 25 minutes on Friday July 11.
The kids who attended summer camp in Maryland Chinmaya Mission were trained by Yaksha Manjusha team headed by Vidya Kolyur.
Patla Satish Shetty as Bhagawata, was at his best, and he had a different challenge of singing for those who did not know the Kannada language. Neither Padmanabha Upadhya's Maddale and Devanand Bhat' Chende have any language problem nor the students have any problem with the language of Chende-Maddale. The extempore dialogues in English never became a impediment in concluding the Yakshagana within the given time frame.
Kamsa's role was played by Dheeraj, a 12-year-old who is studying in his 6th grade, and Krishna's role by Amoolya. Jahnavi played Akroora, Anisha Shankar as Rajaka, Anjali Paliam as Balarama, Chintan and Ritika as Chanoora- Musthika. Vidya,Varsha, Sahasra, Anisha, Mythili, Ramya played Bala Krishnas.
Today professionals too prefer to do Kamsa's role without headgear. They opt for a more comfortable drama style rather than the traditional Yakshagana. But Americans witnessed the traditional style of the art. The scene of Kamsa's dream came out so well that the Krishna Leela was enacted in just 35 seconds. Vidya Kolyour choreographed the sequence in such a way, involving so many kids, that the show was received with 10 minutes of standing ovation.
This was a special show organised on the eve of Swamy Dhirendra's completion of 25 years service in Maryland Chinmaya mission.