The lecture-demonstration series of The Music Academy’s Dance Festival got off to an auspicious start on January 4, if the morning’s tempestuous rain could be hailed as a traditional harbinger of good things. However, happy crowds and some fine performances by veterans notwithstanding, it was difficult to see how some of the sessions billed as lecture demonstrations were any d
ifferent from normal performances.Despite the wet weather and traffic jams, the opening session by Narasimhachari and Vasanthalakshmi attracted a sizeable audience.
“I like to do things differently, within the parameters of the form,” was the defining statement made by Narasimhachari. Illustrating the concept, the duo demonstrated various Bharatanatyam pieces they have choreographed using the Natya Sastra as textual material.
The demanding composition “Paravasam Tharum Kalai” presented the Natya Sastra in a nutshell. Starting from the concept of lasya and tandava, the lyrics, written by the poet Isai Amudan, went on to describe the different facets and ingredients of a dance production, such as the rasas, the bhavas, vibhavas, and so on, and the different types of abhinaya — angika, subdivided into facial expression, postures and dance movements, apart from vachika, aharya, and satvika.
The dramatic approach of lokadharmi and natyadharmi, the role of rhythm in portraying moods and also the effect of the production on the audience, according to the theories propounded in the Natya Sastra, were all dwelt on through the medium of dance and music.
Choreographed in the early 1970s, this piece must have been a pioneering work at the time.
The couple also performed a tillana, which Narasimhachari said was his first full-fledged music composition.
A verse from the Abhinaya Darpana of Nandikeswara — Yato hastastato drishtih — made up the sahitya portion of the tillana, and Narasimhachari noted that he had used verses from the shastras of dance in all his tillanas. Inspired by the late shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan’s Malkauns, he said he based the pallavi of this tillana, set to the corresponding Carnatic raga Hindolam, on the mukhra of the tarana played by the ustad.
Earlier, Vasanthalakshmi presented a Kshetragna padam, “Aligithe” in which a nayika out of patience with her lover complains about him. She explained the angry (khandita) nayika in detail: she is sweeya (married and loyal to her lover), and a soundarya garvita (conscious of her beauty). She speaks out sarcastically and yet is diffident in expressing herself. Ever a charmer, Vasanthalakshmi then shed didacticism to enact the nayika.
The orchestra consisted of M.S.Sukhi (nattuvangam), Radha Badri (vocal), Nagai Narayanan (mridangam), D. Muthukumar (flute), Bhavani Prasad (veena) and Parthasarathy on the edakka.
Intriguing piece
The following day’s lecture-demonstration was by Sudharani Raghupathy, who began the proceedings with “Pallandu,” a divya prabanda pasuram of Periazhwar. This was an intriguing piece inspired by the Araiyar Sevai performed at Srivalliputtur. Mentioning that she had researched this ancient Vaishnavite temple ritual at the behest of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Sudharani explained that in the traditional songs, each word has a mudra.
Sudharani then went on to other compositions. “Dhooranadem,” based on a song by D.V.Gundappa, addressed to a sculpture at Halebid, was evocative. She brought out different aspects of a nayika in her chosen presentations: naughtily innocent in the Kshetragna padam “Evvade,” anguished and angry in the Ashtapadi “Yahi Madhava” and at a loss in the javali “Geyliyaai.”
Educational morningOn the third morning, Vyjayantimala Bali presented Navasandhi kauthuvam. The veteran, who learnt the compositions from her guru Kittappa Pillai, gave a detailed explanation of each kauthuvam. Before these compositions became part of temple ritual, she said, they had been dedicated to entities like the sun, the moon and the four varnas.
The Navasandhi kauthuvams, dedicated to the guardians of the nine directions (the eight direction plus the centre), were considered the foremost in that genre. Providing details of each deity, such as the mount (vahana), the preferred tala, the hastas used, the consort, etc., Vyjayantimala went on to give an uninterrupted demonstration of the nine kauthuvams, each with a distinct structure and interspersing abhinaya and nritta. It was an educational morning, and with friends and fans making a beeline for the dancer afterwards, there was a ‘chakka jam’ of sorts in the wings.
Standing ovation Monday morning belonged to C.V.Chandrasekhar, who, like last year at the same venue, drew a moist-eyed standing ovation. The veteran dancer, musician and guru began by sharing his experience over the last 60 years as a male performer in the one scenario dominated by women.
As a male dancer, he said, he had suffered “brickbats” as well as “atrocious reviews” by writers who criticised not his dance but his gender. Saying he was happy he had finally been accepted, he pointed out that there should be no gender bias in the art, as, first, if a woman could dance as the Nataraja, or take up any role in a play, there was no reason why a man could not. Also, dance had been traditionally in the hands of men, who had contributed immeasurably to the development of every branch of the art, be it Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam or others.
But it was not just what he said that moved the audience. It was the conviction and sheer dedication of every moment of six decades and more of dancing, which showed in his polished movements, his uncompromising postures and his mandi and sarukkal adavus that would put far younger dancers to shame.Barring a fleeting moment here and there, the only place his age showed was in the mature treatment of the abhinaya. Take the majestic stance representing Gaganasadrisham in his opening sloka, Shantaakaaram Bhujagashayanam. With no overt attempt at depicting the firmament, he became magnificence personified.
In the Nattakurinji varnam “Chalamela”, as he explained, the dancer depicted the poet’s voice both as a devotee and as a nayika.
Some of the situations, such as the nayika ready with her thali of welcome, ignored and forlorn, or the bhakta rushing into the chamber and falling at the feet of the Lord, remained lingering images. And while each short jati drew applause, the mood never seemed disturbed, since the dancer remained immersed.
In the Ashtapadi “Maam Iyam Chalita Vilokya”, he depicted the searing sorrow of Krishna the repentant lover pining for Radha yet not able to face her.
At the end of the verse, he sank to the ground, listlessly moving his finger on the floor. It was an example of that essential shot of realism that gives life to stylised bhava. The music composition was his own, set to raga Ahir Bhairav.
The Sivashtapadi from the Siva Geethimala of Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, set to music by Bhagavatulu Seetharama Sarma, was a stunning work, embroidered with stories from Siva lore — the swallowing of poison, the destruction of Kamadeva, etc. — and gems of jatis.The orchestra was on par with the veteran’s calibre. Mridangam by the London-based stalwart Karaikkudi Krishnamurthy was a lesson in dance percussion. Enhancing the mood, he never distracted from the dancer’s work, whether in nritta or abhinaya, and yet provided delightful rhythmic effects in the appropriate spaces.
Vocalist Hariprasad is always a delight. Besides his melody, he takes care to break up the words in the right place during niraval singing. He sang Ahir Bhairav with beautiful inflexions. Shaji Lal on the nattuvangam was clear and spirited. Sikhamani’s violin produced some moving alaps.
