Reviews

Life of Pi

Ganesh Vasudeva as Pi, the title role, shook the audience and bonded with them intimately. In addition to being the main dancer, the stage act was his conception. He also did the choreography and nattuvangam for the recorded music. The narration (in English), in the words of Pi, was by Ganesh as well, which made connecting the dialogues with abhinaya seamless.

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Manasaa, a Man a Manifest

Ganesh lived up to this expectation, by explaining the why and how behind each presentation. He even "owned" the first, Pancha Nadai Alaripu, since the concept and patterned sollukattu were originals. Many dancers start slow and then pick up steam, others do the opposite; with Ganesh, one has come to expect consistent. He started strong with clean lines and cross-linkages between adavu patterns.

Hari-Hara

Ganesh's own choreography lived up to the quality one has come to expect from him. It was balanced in that it leveraged upper and lower body, abhinaya and nritta, brevity and sanchari.

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Shivoham Shiveham

Ganesh Vasudeva followed with his very own Ganga Avatharana in Purvi Kalyani-rupaka. There is only one word for it - brilliant. The piece depicted Ganga, Bhagiratha and Shiva. Ganesh’s evocative angika abhinaya left no doubt about which role he was playing. His Ganga was fluid, prideful, and playful; his Shiva was majestic; Bhagiratha was dutiful.

Bharata

The interaction between father and son came alive, the former’s confident denial of a higher power contrasting well with the son’s staunch belief in it. Kanaka Dasa’s pleas also rang true. It was moving to see the western wall crumble and the idol turning around.

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Navarathna, Rare Gems of Tanjore Quartet

The choreography was brilliant; again, it felt as though there was no repetition. It was pure pleasure to watch the pure dance unfold; the dancers were holographic- as in, they seemed to fly through space and tala, making the journey through each line of verse seem both, like a discovery and deliberate thought.

Yuvabharati Concert

He completely drew the audience in during the Mahishasura Mardana scene which was powerful and succinct. He also performed a male oriented javali. Ganesh came off as a mature artiste presenting his own choreography with elan.

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Shades of Love

Ganesh succeeded in his depiction of a drishta nayaka here, with a myriad of expressions from showing his male ego, his superiority, his pacifying skills while still accusing his lover, his anger, guilt and finally rejection. This clearly was his best item in the show.

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