Inspiring choreography Inspiring Choreography by Lakshmi Ramaswamy

Rupa Srikanth Writes in The Hindu...

RUPA SRIKANTH Lakshmi Ramaswamy’s presentation on ‘Thriuvaranga Kalambakam,’ was a kaleidoscope of words, patterns and melodies.It must have been a Herculean effort for Professor Raghuraman, Tamil scholar, to cull out specific verses from about hundred poems in Pillai Perumal Iyengar’s ‘Thiruvaranga Kalambakam’ to represent the navarasas or the nine primary sentiments. It must have been as challenging for Vanaty Raghuraman, vocalist, to compose the music in the appropriate ragas and meters. It was left to Lakshmi Ramaswamy’s interpretational skills to capture the magnum opus in the Bharatanatyam idiom, which she did with sincerity. As productions go, it was vibrant with the group choreographies rating the highest. Though there is room for improvement in terms of the finish, the well-coordinated young group and some of the inspiring choreographies need to be lauded.
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Four celestial weddings presented by Lata and Gita.

A review titled Dance and drama laced with tinsel by LALITHASAI featured in The Hindu
The theme of the dance show of the duo Lata and Gita at the 108th year dance festival of this sabha was celestial weddings. ‘Vaibhogame’ featured the marriages of Sita, Valli, Rukmini and Meenakshi. Dressed tastefully in bright yell ow and green, the sisters introduced the heroes — Rama, Muruga,Krishna and Siva.
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Yin Yang By Lavanya Raghuraman.

Here is a reveiw by Rupa Srikanth on the presentation by Lavanya Raghuraman.

The ‘Yin and the Yang’ deals with an abstract concept on the nature of opposites that are in fact interdependent and related in a primal way.

This theory was extended to Indian concepts and myths such as the Surya and Chandra (sun and moon), Purusha and Prakriti (male and female), and Palai and Solai (desert and fertile land) through Tamil literature, Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam in the ‘Alchemy of Opposites,’ choreographed by Shantha and V.P.Dhananjayan and presented by their vibrant and talented student, Lavanya Raghuraman.

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Sheejith Krishna : Pace, a trifle slow

Sheejith Krishna is one of the fine dancers produced by Kalakshetra and has been seen in numerous roles in the institution’s group productions. His solo Bharatanatyam performance as part of The Music Academy Dance Festival stuck to the traditio nal pattern of his alma mater, in being unostentatious in dance, music or costume.

Sheejith began with the Siva Panchakshara stuti, ‘Nagendra Haraya Trilochanaya.’

After the plethora of hard hitting thandava compositions one is repeatedly treated to, his quiet approach was refreshing. The varnam, T.R.Subramaniam’s “Angayarkanni Neeye Arulvaye” in Mishra Sivaranjani, continued in the quiet vein. Adequately rendered, it did not however, seem to gain momentum.

A certain placidity of bhava and a lack of variety in the pace of the nritta kept the varnam from making a memorable statement.

Natural flow

To have a varnam without fireworks might be considered a statement in itself. However, there is a natural ebb and flow in the margam pattern, and the dancer can choose from a complementary set of songs. By following up this kind of varnam with a slow Kshetragna padam, “Manchi Dinamu,” the dancer set himself too daunting a task. To carry it off, he needed to have a much deeper command over bhava.

Next he chose a kirtanam in praise of Siva, “Ananda Natana Prakasam,” in Kedaram. Since this too was taken at a slow pace, it did not help the recital pick up.

To the dancer’s credit, it must be noted that it is difficult to maintain a high standard of nritta for such a long period at a slow pace. This Sheejith did, but the effort did not translate into a successful programme, because the spark was missing.

Sheejith ended with the by now well-known tillana in Nata Bhairavi composed by Veenai Krishnamachari, dedicated to Guru Rukmini Devi Arundale. His little off-beat touches in the least expected places, which added a bit of spirit to the performance, held out the message that with a performance plan better suited to his personality, Sheejith would be a dancer worth watching.

Hari Padman provided diligent nattuvangam. Deepu Nair’s singing was melodious but he slipped up at times in his Sanskrit and Telugu pronunciation.

Ramesh Babu on the mridangam, Sashidhar on the flute and Anantha Narayanan on the veena made up an experienced musical team.

Source: The Hindu

Prof C V Chandrasekhar thrills

A review by Srinivasa zGopalan in Chennaionline

It was a moment of enthusiasm and thrill at Music Academy to watch the 73-year-young Bharatanatyam exponent dance for more than one hour. Trained at the internationally renowned Kalakshetra School in Chennai under the tutelage and mentorship of Rukmini Devi Arundale, and served the Banaras Hindu University and M S University of Baroda and retired as the head and dean of the Faculty of Performing Arts of M S University of Baroda, Prof C V Chandrasekhar is one of the India's outstanding senior gurus and dancers.

Music Academy held a week-long dance festival and this lecture-demonstration was one of the very well-attended sessions. The Professor spoke of how important it is to use Deha Mudras - body movements - and not just hand gestures and facial expressions for Nritthyam. He elaborated in his lecture how dancers have to enunciate the rasaas more and not do too much of story telling for every item. He stressed how important music was for dance.

After the enlightening speech came the excellent presentation of a 'Guru Vandhanam' followed by a 45-minute Dhanyasi Varnam where he exhibited skill and mastery in every step.

Jaya Chandrasekharan, in spite of her age, handled nattuvaangam with clarity. The vocal support by Hariprasadh was extremely suitable for the dance. There was a perfect sync between the voice and the dancer's expressions. Probably this perfect unison is the most important factor that one expects in a good Nrittham.

Prof Chandrasekhar elaborated the subtelities of naatyam not only in his speech before the dance but established 'The Way' to dance, in his soul-stirring performance. The huge crowd at Music Academy filled with not only rasikas, dancers and students but many musicians to learn from the guru was heart warming. Many on lookers were seen in tears to watch the beauty of the ‘Rudhra Thandavam’ performed in Ragam Shankara.

There was standing ovation for the excellent art and the crowd roared in applause for more than 15 minutes. This world-acclaimed dancer, choreographer, researcher, musician, academician, composer and teacher of Bharatanatyam has been performing for the past six decades in India and all over the globe and is invited by many dancers the world over to teach and choreograph.

It was a memorable day filled with excellent thoughts of this exemplary ideal from whom every dancer will learn, cherish and follow.

Tulsi Badrinath's blend of art and bhakti

There was a restrained simplicity that characterised Tulsi Badrinath’s Bharatanatyam recital at the Pillaiyar Koil, in Besant Nagar, on Sunday.

A student of Bharatakalaanjali, and a person with a literary bent, Tulsi was poised and sweet, though a little held-in. She started her performance with a Ganesha Vandanam paying obeisance to Mooshika Vahanam.

Pleasing jati

She followed it up with the classic varnam, ‘Sakhiye Indha Velaiyil.’ Perhaps an hour’s performance does not allow sufficient time for a dancer to explore the potential for sancharam in this varnam. The ‘thadiku didiku jati’ was pleasing and if, in the charanam, Tulsi appeared a little distracted, the typically dignified nattuvangam of Guru Shantha Dhananjayan firmly brought it back.

In the bhajan that followed, ‘Bhajoman Ram Charan Sukhadayi,’ Tulsi performed with complete involvement. The significance of surrendering at the sukhadayi feet of Lord Rama was convincingly brought out through the stories of Ahalya, Guhan and Ganga. The programme concluded with a tillana in Hindolam.

Malathi Raghuram’s vocal rendering was competent and enjoyable, as was Kalaiarasan’s violin.

Kartikeyan’s mridangam was unobtrusive and yet fully supportive. Sunil Kumar (flute) came to the fore in the lovely Tulsidas Bhajan. The performance was one of a series of dance performances being held in the temple premises.

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.

Rajeswari Sainath’s performance.

" Clear footwork, energy and pleasing rhythmic patterns were the hallmarks of Rajeswari Sainath’s performance.", says Rupa Srikanth in her review in The Hindu.

There is a perceptible change in Rajeswari Sainath’s dance style –it is to do with the ratio between mathematics and mime. The dancer has a penchant for laya and this preoccupation usually dominates her recitals, but this time there was more balance. Both areas were given their due notwithstanding the disparity in the expertise- for, her mime is not as polished as her sense of rhythm.

Clear footwork, good energy, pleasing rhythmic patterns and a good range of adavus were the hallmarks of the performance. The dance by itself could do with more geometry and a tauter body.

On the musical side, Murali Parthasarthy (vocal) was not always on track, but Kandadevi S.Vijayaraghavan (violin) and Saravanan (flute) were alert enough to take over and ensure the smooth flow of melody. Srinivas (nattuvangam) and Nellai D.Kannan (mridangam) kept rhythm with precision through the hills and dales of varying speeds.

The recital commenced with a beautiful ‘Laya Kavidhai- Anbe Sivam’ (Priyadarshini ragam, misram) conceived by veteran mridangist Karaikudi Mani, penned by Su Ravi and composed by Balasai, that lived up to its claim of ‘poetry in rhythm.’ The verse and mnemonic syllables (Adit Narayanan) resonated in perfect harmony. While the vilamba and madhayama kaalam sollus were straightforward counts of seven, the dhurita kaalam was manipulated to include a third speed tisram sequence and a fourth speed misram section. In reverse order, the sequence turned a full circle and came back to a slow vilamba kaalam count-this descent was one of the most beautiful moments that evening. The Siva Tandava was both an aural and a visual treat.

The same technique of symbolism in nritta that worked in the opening composition was not as effective to espouse the theory of the three deities being one in ‘Trimurthi Tatvam’ (ragamalika, panchatalam, written by Kavi Kannan, tuned by Balasai). This was despite the liberal dose of spirituality provided by vedic chants compiled by Seshadri Ganapadigal and recited by G.K.Srinivasan.

The only composition that presented abhinaya without a framework of tala was the varnam, ‘Adiyarthanai’ (ragamalika, Adi, written by Rajkumar Bharathi and Kavi Kannan) on Vittala of Pandarpur. Karaikudi Mani composed the theermanams for this vibrant composition as well. Rajeswari portrayed the stories of Vittala’s devotees- Namadeva, Janabai and Chokkamela- with warmth and involvement. She was equally focused in the nritta portions as well; her fast paced ‘tha tai thams’ that featured in the second half of the 45-minute varnam said it all.

Season Glimpses

Excerpts from Narthaki reviews by Lalitha Venkat

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is one organization that offers its programs free for rasikas during the Chennai season. Being centrally located, these shows naturally attract a full house on most days.

DEC. 12.
Gangani concluded his Kathak recital at 6.50pm and there was mayhem after that. The hall was already full by now and there were many wanting to come in to see Sudharani Raghupathy and her troupe of 22 perform MAMMUDHA – FROM DUST TO LIFE. Being a free program, most of the family and friends of the performers had come that day. As a volunteer blocked the door saying there was no place, there was a near stampede as people pushed the man aside and moved in, most of them having to settle to standing along the walls to watch the show!

It was an almost plain backdrop of grey panels broken by the face of a half man-half woman – maybe symbolizing that Manmadha was not all macho but a bit effeminate too (As Sudharani described her visualization of Manmadha at the press conference earlier). It was refreshing to see a new theme being enacted. Mammudha (as he’s known in rural South India) or Manmatha, the God of Love, at the behest of Lord Indra trained his arrow on the meditating Shiva, only to bear the brunt of Shiva’s third eye which reduced him to ashes. Moved by his inconsolable wife Rathi’s tears, Shiva promised her that Manmatha would come back to life, but be visible only to her eyes! Through diligent research, the whole story was composed into a 1hr 45 minute long presentation, with production, concept, soundscape and direction by the talented KSR Aniruddha, the son of Sudharani Raghupathy.

Priya Murle as Indra was brilliant in her Therukoothu style portrayal. She was such a natural that she almost stole the show. Sasirekha Balasubramanian as the Therukoothu Kattiyakaran narrator was engaging. Aruna Subbiah as the narrator in Bharatanatyam style seemed superfluous. A talented dancer like her could have been used in a more meaningful role. Anusha Venkatramani as Nandi made an imposing figure. TM Sridevi was a pretty Rathi and the gorgeous guru Sudharani was an elegant Manmadha. Celebrating 60 years of her career in dance, this is the first time she is taking on a male role. The dummy horse dancers did a neat job. The well presented show was testimony to all the hard work put in over the months, but a couple of scenes, especially the dialogue between Manmadha and Shiva could have been edited a bit. Costumes of Manmadha, Rati, the folk dancers, narrators, Indra and Nandi by V V Ramani were striking. Lighting by theatre veteran Mithran Devenesan added sparkle to the production that has been running to full houses this season!

DEC 13

Programs at the Bhavan generally adhere to timings and (so) was 5 items on SKANDA, one of the names of Lord Muruga or Subramanya, presented by students of Chidambaram Academy of Fine Arts, conceptualized by guru Chitra Visweswaran. Though she was invited to perform herself, she could not bring herself to do so, so soon after her husband Visweswaran’s demise, so she is presenting her students during the season. She still cannot contain her tears when she announces a composition of her late husband. It was a neat and compact one hour presentation with a plain backdrop broken by peacock feathers. The dancers included Uma Namboodripad, Arupa Lahiri, Ashmita Raghavan, Supriya, Nivedha, Shalu and Jai Quehani. The supporting orchestra comprised of Sukanya and Mridul Vivek on nattuvangam, Murali Parthasarathy on vocal, Adyar K Gopinath on mridangam, R Thyagarajan on flute, G Sitarama Sharma on violin and C Munuswamy on tanpura. It was good to see the full auditorium.

DEC. 25

Starting with an invocation to Lord Venkata, the devotee finds climbing uphill difficult but is re-energized on getting a darshan of Devi. Then follows a description of what he sees at Thirumala, the different vehicles of the Lord and the audience broke into rapturous applause especially when she pulled the chariot! After entering the sanctum, the devotee describes the 16 upacharams in “Shodashakalanidhikku.” An item on athma pooja where the beautiful description is about body being the temple, head being the kalasam and so on. “Bhavayami Gopala Balam…” that is synonymous with MS Subbulakshmi, followed by an item in sringara bhava on love between Perumal and Thayar. The swing song was composed in folk tune and so was the next item “Brahmam Okate.” As we were enjoying Padma’s mind boggling array of a myriad facial expressions for the one line, the power went off resulting in total blackout. But the orchestra continued playing, Padma stood where she was, keeping beat with her ghungroos and when the power came back on in about 3 minutes, they continued the item from where they left off! Because of the T Nagar area being such a mess now, I thought that the audience turnout of about 100 or so was fairly good, but my dance critic friend disagreed with me and was most annoyed that programs were being presented to near empty halls.

DEC.28
Anita Ratnam always premiers her new production of the season at Krishna Gana Sabha and so it was too this year, with FACES on Dec 28. It shows familiar and loved persona from our cultural tapestry, but through depicting them, Anita’s idea is to convey the dominant emotion connected with that personality. “These faces were already there – have always been,” says Anita. “But they have been recognized as personalities rather than emotions. So when you look at them just as faces, they become easier to relate to, the emotion becomes personal.” It is not thematic but it is a collection of her favourite dances that she had created, but never performed. Annapoorni is the face of compassion, Durga vanquishing Mahisha is the face of rage, the forgotten face is an exercise in abhinaya to “aasai mugam marandhu pochey” sung soulfully by Sikkil Gurucharan to Anil Srnivasan’s plaintive piano notes, timeless faces from the Ramayana story uses an excerpt of the Ramayana alaap of Sikkil Gurucharan, Meera is the face of blissful surrender to OS Arun’s melodious rendition. The presentation uses lot of theatrical stage movement, and the backdrop with swinging bamboo poles is quite dramatic. Anil Srinivasan's musical arrangement uses traditional Carnatic music compositions sung as they are, not specifically tailor-made to suit set choreography or stage directions, so Anita’s choreographic inputs uses its natural flow. What is striking in the soundscape of Faces, are moments of stark silence. “The silence allows the mind to ponder, and form a coherent thought before being rushed into the next face/movement. The dance lies ultimately in the rasanabhuti of silence,” explains Anil.

he beautiful costumes have been designed by Delhi based Sandhya Raman. The idea is to bring out the classical grace of the feminine image without the heavy embellishment of traditional costumes. The costumes have been created with wraps and drapes, so the main tussar-toned basic costume is combined with green, chrome yellow or copper gold wrap, to facilitate lightning change for each item to reflect the respective emotion. The crystal-studded organza Benaras cutwork like a flowing Sufi costume for the final item is absolutely stunning. Long time collaborator Mithran Devanesen directs the lights and joining the team is dramaturg Aparna, who has worked with contemporary dance theater in Germany.

Considering that Krishna Gana Sabha is the most affected venue thanks to the messy flyover construction work in T Nagar, a fairly good number attended the program. Says Anita, “Since I danced NEELAM on Vaikunta Ekasasi day last year, Mr. Yagnaraman was so appreciative. He was so open minded and always encouraged my endeavors. I dedicate my work this year to his memory. Do you know, an organizer would not offer me a slot for ‘Faces’ since it had ‘Christian’ music?” Strange are the ways minds work!

Alekhya represented an inward journey.

Review by Rupa Srikanth in The Hindu

Seeking sanctuary, energy embraces me. I want to turn myself inside out to find primal roots. I dig thirsty roots for ancient, absorbing, eager, meditative whispers...” Thus began the dance theatre production, ‘Alekhya: Spilling Ink,’ which visualised ‘an inward and personal journey with no beginning or end.’ It was conceptualised and scripted by the United States-based dancer Vijay Palaparty with the help of theatre artist and literary consultant Jennifer A. Schaupp, co-choreographers Nalini Prakash and Padma S. Raghavan and dancers Ashwini Viswanathan and K.B.Madhusudhanan. Vijay’s intent in Alekhya was ‘to think outside the box’ and this he did by using the spoken word to punctuate and direct the visual representations of the journey.
The prism of the Bharatanatyam margam was the medium, and through this new facets in style and interpretation were explored along the way. Here was a new genre that held promise — promise of greater clarity of thought and greater dramatic impact. But ironically it was the cache of words that proved to be the weakest link. The poetry was too contrived and too wordy and the pace too monotonous to serve as gentle indicators of mood. Powerful words strung together simply overpowered the sentiment lying beneath.

There was also a problem with unexplained metaphors. For example, when the production opens with a passage about the search within, Vijay walks in with a pot but we do not know why. We realise later that it is a metaphorical pot to collect thoughts and energies. A beautiful metaphor wasted. On the other hand, the music, the dance and the lighting were delectable. The vibrant movement choreography whether in the tentative thattadavus at the start of the journey or in the exciting Kuchipudi- Bharatanatyam dialogue in the Atana Jathiswaram or in the contemplative Madurai N. Krishnan Thodi (Adi) tanavarnam, ‘Maye mayan sodariye’ made wonderful use of time, space and group dynamics. The interpretation steered away from mythology, pursuing the path of truth through meditation and prayer.

The Gayathri manthra and other chants and the ‘Letter to God’ within this piece were seamlessly woven into the beautiful tapestry of emotion. The varnam ended as it had begun with the dancers seated in a circle with arms raised in prayer and supplication. It was simple but eloquently contemplative. The accompanying musicians played with expertise and sensitivity. They were: Sasirekha Balasubramaniam (nattuvangam), Bhavani Kishore Kumar (vocal), M. Dhananjayan (mridangam), Kandadevi S. Vijayaraghavan (violin), T. Bhavaniprasad (veena), B. Muthukumar (flute) and K.S.R.Anirudha (special effects). Lighting was by Murugan. The final act was, in a sense, a silent finale packed with meaning. After the rigorous Brindavana Saranga thillana, the pot was brought back on stage, this time filled with a white powder. Each dancer took a handful and sprinkled it on stage. In silence. Literally spilling ink, you think?