Lakshmi Ramaswamy explores the Nine rasas

The nine rasas explored

Meena Venkatt in New Indian Express

The poetical work by Pillai Perumal Iyengar of 14th century took a totally new dimension of music and dance to enchant the audience for one and half hours, thanks to the efforts of Smt. Vanathi Raguraman who composed the music for it and Dr. Raghuraman for his special guidance on the literary part.

One of the unique aspects of Thiruvaranga Kalambagam is the presence of all the nine rasas in the poetry, most of which were beautifully brought out by Lakshmi. The opening piece was Puya Vaguppu which talks about the valour of Thiruvarangan, in which the Sringara of Thalaivi is dealt with. Smt. Lakshmi used rendering of jathi chollus to enact the episodes of Krishna leela and Gajendra Moksham beautifully.

In the piece that followed the dancer depicted very aptly the concern of Sevili thaai on seeing her love laden daughter’s plight. The ‘Ammaanai’ part in the production was very much entertaining wherein the main aspect was haasyam.

The beauty of ‘Madakku’ poetry in Tamil literature enlightened the audience. Here, the same line takes a new meaning when the syllables are broken in a different manner while singing second time. All the dancers were well rehearsed and there was total co-ordination in the presentation.

Venue: Bharat Kalachar, YGP Auditorium, 7.30 p.m.

Date: January 8, 2008 Thiruvaranga Kalambagam- Thematic presentation: Sri Mudralaya,Chennai

Director/Choreographer/lead role/player: Lakshmi Ramaswamy

Vijayanthi Mala's rich tapestry of emotions

" The performance, by Vyjayantimala, who touched upon the miracles of Krishna, retained an old world charm."writes Rupa Srikanth In the Hindu

In the background, a violin pours forth a hauntingly beautiful Madhyamavathi melody while young, excited Gopis take centre stage.

One of them cautiously tests the temperature of the water with her toes before she calls out to her friends and steps in. It feels deliciously cold and they quickly submerge themselves.

Another Gopi holds her breath in the water for a count of 10 and challenges the others to do the same. Ablutions done, the Gopis come out of the water shivering, they find their clothes missing, and look up to see the prankster, it is none other than Krishna.

‘Irumen Saayal Nudanga Nudangi’ was one of many warm anecdotes describing the glory of ‘Tirumal’ in ‘Aiychiyar Kuravaik Kooththu.’ Taken from the Madurai Kandam of Ilango Adigal’s Silappadikaaram, the original kooththu had seven cowherd women who dance to ward off evil omens in the shepherdess Madhari’s home. This was choreographed and presented by Vyjayantimala Bali as a solo show.

The performance, though tailored for a proscenium and a limited timeframe, retained an old world charm because of the informal air the dancer maintained. The draped-not-stitched sari, the simple props and the largely unstructured style of presentation were some points of reference. For example, in the opening scene when Madhari and her daughter go to the cowshed to find the cows restless and the milk not set as curds, Vyjayantimala’s props were a humble wooden buttermilk churner and a rope. It was the simple things that made the greatest impact.

The music and the dance were however not so simple. Researched by M.A.Venkatakrishnan, Bhuma Venkatakrishnan and Prof. S.Raghuraman with the music composed by S.Ramanathan, the verses were presented with respect for its authentic reference. The seven dancers named according to the seven notes of the musical scale with each given a characterisation like Krishna, Balaram, etc. were details that were laid out clearly, as were the original pann and the adapted ragam for each verse.

The dancer wove a rich tapestry of emotions with bold colours and deft strokes. She touched upon the miracles of Krishna always leaving behind a trail of wonderment and devotion. There were many tales to tell and not always connected or in a chronological order, but it was in the simple telling that Vyjayantimala scored. From the mischief of the ‘Gopi vastra haran,’ the mood changed gears to the Kurukshetra battle field and Arjuna avenging Abhimanyu’s death. The dancer was as effective as a hapless father on a bloodied battlefield grieving over his son’s unfair killing. As involved in the rendering were Vyjayantimala’s musicians. Kandadevi S.Vijayaraghavan’s (violin) participation was most enthusiastic, while Vanathy Raghuraman (vocal) and C.K.Patanjali (flute) maintained strong melody. S.S.R. Krishnan (mridangam) and Jayashree Ramanathan (nattuvangam) kept unobtrusive yet effective rhythm.

Ashta nayikas on the 'Naadhabrahmam' opening day

Naadhabrahmam, a monthly music journal, conferred the title 'Naada Kovida' on violin maestro M. Chandra Sekaran and 'Abinaya Kovida' on Kalanidhi Narayanan, guru of abhinaya, at the inauguration of its sixth annual music festival on Dec. 5, 2007

Conferring the honour, V.Ramasubramanian, Judge, Madras High Court, said nowhere in the world were music and dance accorded such importance as in India. It was the only country where Saptabrahmam and Naadhabrahmam were worshipped. God was moved by music, and the same divine music gave joy to human beings.

Musicologist Dr. V.V. Srivatsa and N. Subramanian, Editor, Naadhabrahmam, felicitated the artists.

What followed the inaugural function was an aural treat. A dance ballet by eight leading dancers - 'Ashta nayika of Sangam Age'. Priyadarshini Govind, Bragha Bessel, Jayanthi Subramaniam, Roja Kannan, Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala, Radhika Shurajit, Shobhan Bhalchandra and Lakshmi Ramaswamy. Each dancer brought the emotions of one nayika each on stage!

Source: Kuthcheribuzz