SHRESHTHA BHARAT SANSKRITI SAMAGAM

March 5, 2020, 1:48 am

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NEWS & NOTES

A national cultural confluence

The Shreshtha Bharat Samskriti Samagam is a unique series of festivals featuring music, dance, drama, folk, tribal arts, puppetry and allied traditions, organised by the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, under the advice of the Prime Minister, in six directions of India, including smaller cities and towns. The confest is the brainchild of Chairman Shekhar Sen, whose desire it is to celebrate all branches of the performing arts at one venue. Apart from presenting these art forms through performances, seminars were also held wherein paper presentations by scholars of the respective forms were included. These have been documented and will be brought out as a volume for the benefit of future generations.

The mammoth project was launched at Bhubaneswar in Odisha (10-14 July 2018), and its success gave SNA enough impetus to hold the next events in different parts of the country: at Ahmedabad, Gujarat (west) in September 2018; Amritsar, Punjab (north west) in November 2018; Guwahati, Assam (north-east) in December 2018; and Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu (south) from 10 to 14 September 2019. The sixth one will probably be held at Indore in Madhya Pradesh (central India).

The fifth edition of the confluence was held in collaboration with the South Zone Cultural Centre, in Tanjavur—the ancient capital city of the Cholas, where culture flourished. This edition too covered music, dance, drama, folk, tribal arts, puppetry, and allied traditions. The pattern followed was also the same on all five days. The morning sessions, from 10.30 am to 1 pm, were devoted to seminars and discussions by stalwarts, while the evenings were devoted to performances by veterans. The topic for discussion was ‘The past, present, and future scenario of the performing art forms’. Some of the senior musicians who participated were Pushpraj Koshti, Neyveli R. Santhanagopalan, Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Kaivalyakumar, Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan, and Neela Ramgopal.

On the second day, stalwarts spoke on folk and tribal arts. Indumati Raman gave a spellbinding talk on the Bhagavata Mela tradition practiced and performed at Melattur on Narasimha Jayanti every year. M.V. Shimhachala Sastry, Harikatha exponent from Andhra Pradesh, presented an erudite and interesting paper on endeavours for the sustenance and development of the art form. Anupama Hoskere from Bengaluru was articulate about the puppet tradition of Karnataka, which encompasses several art forms, and is a rich repository of the social history of the land. Atashi Nanda Goswami spoke of the past, present, and future of glove puppets in West Bengal.

In the evening, there was a shadow puppet show of Karnataka on the theme of Gautama Buddha, to give the audience a taste of puppetry.

Among the speakers on dance were veterans Kanak Rele, who gave a glimpse of her work in the revival of Mohini Attam, and Saroja Vaidyanathan, who spoke about the past, present, and future of Bharatanatyam. Senior Kuchipudi dancer-teacher Vyjayanthi Kashi, traced the history and changing patronage of dance as well as the present scenario, while Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam exponent from Gujarat, Smita Shastri spoke about the evolution of Kuchipudi, the need to preserve, propagate tradition, and called for more interaction between generations.

Zafar Sanjari spoke on Nautanki, and Murari Rai Choudhury from West Bengal spoke on theatre. The topic of drama was taken up again on the last day where Deepak Karanjikar (Maharashtra), K.G. Krishnamurthy (Karnataka), R. Raju (Puduchery), Padamshri Josalkar (Goa), Naresh Chandra Lal (Andaman and Nicobar) and Debasish Mazumdar (West Bengal), gave their valuable inputs. Interestingly, Karanjikar threw light on the history of the Marathi Natya Sangeet tradition.

The performance segment included choral music by the Madras Youth Choir, a Carnatic violin concert by veteran M. Chandrasekharan—both from Tamil Nadu, and Hindustani vocal maestro M. Venkatesh Kumar from Karnataka. Shimhachala Sastry presented Harikatha, Khirod Khakhlari of Assam provided a glimpse into the tribal dance of the Bodos, and Ravi Kumar of Telengana performed Oggu Dolu with his troupe. Legendary T.A.R. Nadi Rao performed the rare poikkaal kuthiraiattam (dummy horse dance) along with N. Jeeva Rao of Tamil Nadu.

Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, headed by Rajdhari K. Jadu Singh, presented a mixed bag of breathtaking pung cholom,dhol cholom, and vasant ras. The team from Kathak Kendra, Delhi, led by senior artist Rajendra Gangani, presented the technique of Kathak in all its aspects.

The Dogri play Ghumayee, directed by Balwant Thakur of Natrang, Jammu, was a poignant presentation about a bride who refuses to blindly bow down to orthodox traditions. Bhasa’s Karnabharam, a Sanskrit play, directed by K.N. Panikkar of Sopanam Institute of Performing Arts and Research Centre, Kerala, was a gem presented with much sensitivity, bringing out the greatness of the protagonist, who in spite of being a brave warrior was led by circumstances to accept defeat. Kathakali was used abundantly in the drama.

Kapila Venu, Director, Natana Kairali Research Training and Performing Centre for Traditional Arts, Irinjalakuda, and an exponent of both Nangiar Koothu and Koodiyattam dramatised Kamsavadham in Koodiyattam style. She narrated the story from Devaki’s point of view and also wove in the navarasa. Since it was held in the open air, with bright electric light outsmarting the glow of the traditional oil lamp, the show was somewhat marred.

Rounding up the Tanjavur Samagam, Aruna Sairam, Vice-Chairman of the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, said that a common thread runs in all of us even if we hail from different regions. The deeply embedded  impulses are in our genes, though we may not be aware of them. She recalled the importance of the devadasis and the rituals performed by them, as narrated to her by her music guru T. Brinda. In summing up, she said that every art form goes back to the core values in each tradition. Over the years, the stories told cannot remain constant; even if they are reinvented in new forms by new artists, they build character and unite us as one cultural unit.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Department of Culture hope that the Samagam congregations would go a long way in the furtherance of their mission “to strengthen and propagate  all that is living and life-sustaining in India’s culture”.

TAPATI CHOWDHURIE

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Budding musicians present gharana perspectives

March 12, 2020, 1:03 am

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By Ashwin Bhandarkar

Kalanidhi, a music circle in Pune, kicked off its fifth year with its first chamber concert in the ‘Masik Sabha’ series on 19 January 2020.  In keeping with the theme of Exploring the intricacies of Jaipur Atrauligharana for the concert, the artists featured were two up-and-coming khayaliyas of the gharana - Nishad Matange and Devashree Navaghare-Bhargave. The former presented ragas Bahaduri Todi and Kukubh Bilawal, both being melodies that are closely identified with the Jaipur Atrauli gharana, while the latter presented ragas Komal Rishabh Asavari and Suddha Sarang, ragas that are frequently rendered by artists from other gharanas as well. 

Both artists gave a good account of the solid taleem that they have received from their respective gurus – Manik Bhide, Rajshekhar Mansoor and Ashwini Bhide Deshpande (for Matange), and Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar (for Navaghare-Bhargave). The distinct stylistics of the Jaipur Atrauli gharana - the usage of the khula aakaar, laya-oriented systematic development of the raga, maintaining of the sanctity of the structure of the bandish, use of behlava, were in evidence in both performances and elicited appreciation from the knowledgeable audience. Both performers were ably and unobtrusively accompanied on the tabla by Pranav Gurav, currently a student of Aneesh Pradhan, and on the harmonium by Ameya Bicchu, a student of Tanmay Devchakke

In addition to the objective of giving a concert platform to budding artists, the other objective of the ‘Masik Sabha’ series is for these artists to share their perspectives of the art form and how they relate to it. Both Matange and Navaghare-Bhargave spoke about and fielded questions from the audience on their individual takes on the relevance of gharanas and what this tradition means to them in the context of their grooming in the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. The take-away for the audience was that while influences – whether incorporated consciously or unconsciously - from other gharanasare inevitable in today’s day and age, the aesthetic viewpoint and the stylistic approach of performing imparted in the Jaipur Atrauli gharana is central to their art.  

The venue for the programme was the music chamber created by industrialists Shrinivas and Padmaja Gadre at their bungalow in Kothrud. With its intimate setting and excellent acoustics, it provided the perfect setting for the chamber concert (baithak or chotekhani mehfil). It is also heartening to note the increase in the number of music circles/sabhas in the Mumbai-Pune area that are organising chamber concerts and the encouraging turn-out for such concerts.  Several of them are run by musicians themselves – in the case of Kalanidhi, it is run by the Gurav family consisting of tabla artist Milind,  khayal exponent Aparna, their son, Pranav, and their daughter-in-law, Komal.

(The author is an IT professional, a rasika and blogger)                                  

(Photos courtesy Kalanidhi)

A precious insight into Harikatha

March 12, 2020, 1:36 am

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It isn’t on every Saturday morning that you gather at a  serene place covered with greenery and a vibrant aura, to get a glimpse into an ancient art form of India. Paathashala, the two-day workshop on the Techniques of Harikatha organised by Charsur Arts Foundation in collaboration with Vijayashri School of Harikatha, and conducted by well-known Harikatha exponent Vishaka Hari was more than enlightening. As a prerequisite, students filled out a short questionnaire on their basic qualifications, knowledge in Sanskrit, scriptures, and musical compositions—some of the essential criteria for participating in this workshop.

Vishaka Hari introduced the concept of Harikatha, which essentially is a one-person theatre art form, where the performer assumes the nature of the katha patram (character) and becomes one with his or her art. The topic for a Harikathais chosen according to the occasion, the story can be developed on any plane, and the themes are endless, she said. Providing more insights she said that a learner of this art has to focus on the right mix of singing, narration, philosophy and humour while building a story. All assertions made during the katha are based on dharma.

Vishaka Hari took the participants through the various styles of Harikatha across the country. Just like any other art form, what is practiced in the northeast to Tanjavur Krishna Bhagavatar’s style, Harikatha is like a potpourri of cultures infused with knowledge and aesthetics. Following this, youngsters explored the eightfold structure of a Harikatha, such as panchapati, prathamapada, poorvapeetika, tillana, tani avartana, katha nirupanam and mangalam. To present these features, Vishaka Hari stressed that the performer must be well qualified and have knowledge of at least five languages, and a strong hold over the itihasas,puranas and other relevant texts. She pointed out that a good memory, creativity, eloquence, knowledge in music and other fine arts, and above all dedication to ones guru, are some of the prerequisites for a Harikatha artist.

The workshop was more an interactive session rather than a regular instructive workshop.  That  the participants were encouraged to discuss and exchange ideas, made it even more interesting.  As a resource, Vishaka Hari was easily approachable and made even the complex subjects, simple to understand. Her subtle sense of  humour combined with her ‘bottom-up’ approach for visualising a story, was refreshing.

The following sessions included a practical exercise. The participants were asked to perform Harikatha on various topics. “We learnt how to present a Harikatha on Krishna Leela, with the aid of Sanskrit verses/slokas from the Govinda Kathamritam.  It was interesting to see how each set of verses conveyed a different story or leela of Lord Krishna. From the tales of Gokulato Brindavana leela, every stanza came to life through Visakha Hari’s explanation.”
She also pointed out how the voice has to be modulated, be aligned with sruti even while speaking, at times, and how the performer has to be eloquent yet calm at the same time. The tone of the voice during narration would be changed according to the bhava of the katha under exposition.

She also kindled the interest of the students to explore this art form through different approaches—like Nritya katha, where one could showcase her talent to dance while performing Harikatha.; or Chitra katha, where one could combine painting and Harikatha.

During the second session, students were given handouts on slokas from Sri Sri Anna’s work Govinda Kathamritam, which describes the divine pastimes of Lord  Krishna, in different metrical forms. Students were taught to sing the slokas, the word-for-word meanings and story were narrated in detail, and suitable songs of different composers were sung for each episode.

The evening was reserved for performances by the students, based on what they had assimilated in the morning. On day one, Prahlada Charitramwas presented by Varun, followed by Janani’s part one of Seeta Kalyanam. Snigdha Desiraju expounded on Bhavas in Tyagaraja Kritis, and Aradhana Anand performed Govardhana Leelai through Vishnu Shatpadi.  On the second evening, Janani performed the second part of Seeta Kalyanam, which was followed by Srinidhi’s  Prahlada Charitram, and Vignesh performing Ayyaval Charitram. The display of Harikatha by children, as small as 7-8 years, was a treat to watch; their coherence of thought and command over speech were beyond words. The audience thronged on both days to support the artists and the children. This two-day event was indeed a great initiative and an enriching experience for all the students who participated.

With inputs from

N. Bhairavi, S. Srinidhi, Snigdha Desiraju and Vignesh Chandrasekharan

On Nuances of Padams

March 12, 2020, 1:39 am

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By Siddharth Vijayaraghavan

Curated by ArtEry, the Nuance Series commenced its first lecture demonstration on 16 February 2020, with Sangita Kalanidhi S.  Sowmya’s presentation on Padams.

Vidushi Sowmya began by casting light on the etymology and the initial usage of the term ‘padam’ in Bharata’s Natya Sastra, and delved deep into the subject. She explained the various types of padams—from Jayadeva’s ashtapadis, padams of the Dasakoota, to sringara sankeertanas of Annamacharya. Sowmya then spoke about famous padam composers in Telugu -- Kshetrayya, Sarangapani, and Muvanallur Sabhapatiayya, and Tamil composers like Ghanam Krishna Iyer, Subbarama Iyer, and Mambazha Kavirayar. She even included specific compositions of Ramalinga Adigalar and Bharatiyar to illustrate the relevance of the padam as a musical form in modern times.

Throughout her presentation, Sowmya emphasised the importance of looking at the padam as a musical form far beyond the cliche of it being a slow, dense composition sung towards the end of the concert. Citing examples based on her learning from her gurus (vidushi T. Muktha, and  Sangita Kalanidhi S. Ramanathan), she brought forth the padam as a musical form, highlighted its musicality, and told us how to apply it judiciously in practice. An engaging workshop by vidushi Sowmya.

Varied Hues of Accompaniment

March 19, 2020, 2:30 am

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By Meena Banerjee  

The Zakir-mania gripped Kolkata once again on the eve of the Valentine’s Day! After witnessing the mind-blowing solo recital of the tabla wizard in January, Nazrul Manch geared up again to welcome him; but this once as an accompanist to a solo concert by sarod maestro Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, the organizer-cum-participant of the 8^th Swara Samrat Festival, day-four. Hoards of people stood in the aisles of this huge auditorium to get a few glimpses of the star-studded felicitation of Pandit Vijay Kichlu with a ‘Life-time Achievement Award’ and the act of music-making, reverently dedicated to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and also to Pandit Ravishankar on his birth centenary.

Majumdar approached Chhayanat like a man head over heels in love with his chosen raga. Stroking very softly, he seemed to appreciate the beautiful features of the raga in the alap segment before trying to arouse it from its dispassionate reverie. This melodious language of love was scripted with breezy oscillations and gently curving meends – all the way! Some meends spread wings across octaves and landed on the desired notes with pin-pointed accuracy.  The first soft and brief touch of komal nishad, followed by bold shuddh ni left the raga quivering with happiness. The jod arrived in slow tempo but with demanding gamaks that faded out in silence leaving a divine taste of melody before robust, powerful bolkaris, rose with refreshed quest, trailed by loving meends.

Frankly, the raga allows a lot of them at every bend, if, of course, its lover pays heed to it! This once Chhayanat was in good hands and evidently, Zakir sahib was touched by this contagious sensitivity. And that perhaps decided the style and mode of his art of accompaniment for the entire evening even though Majumdar opted to do gatkaris in Madhumalati, a raga invented by his guru, Ali Akbar Khan.

Art of Accompanimennt

As usual, from this point onwards, the evening was going to be totally under the spell of Ustad Zakir Hussain. With trepidation one also recalled another evening two years back at the same venue, of the same soiree, dedicated to the same legend known for his raga-worship by the same organisers but with a different artiste opposite Zakir sahib. He allowed himself to be showcased in the role of a hardcore entertainer; probably because the person in center wished to cater to amusement. To the utter disappointment of numerous music-addicts like this reporter, ‘sur’ (melody), offered by a heavy, evocative raga like Bageshri was mercilessly chopped off to coerce it into a cluster of lifeless, staccato ‘swaras’ (notes). Only the thrill of rhythm was served by both of them on that occasion.

In sheer, heartwarming contrast, this once he offered an exemplary art of tabla accompaniment which, much beyond the copybook techniques, spoke volumes about a sensitive musician’s emotional involvement with music – irrespective of the underlying demand for showmanship commensurate to his carefully crafted and jealously guarded image that has created a demand for ‘bouncers’ during music soirees!

Such was the impact of sur and the complex yet sweet raga, that after the brief aochar when the sarod began the slow teental gat, his tabla decided to tiptoe in quietly with the simple, straight theka – without the ornate fillers between the beats - apparently in deference to its pathos-ridden melodic pattern that sported both gandhars, madhyams and nishads. Like an unobtrusive tanpura, he allowed the composition to cling on to the tuneful, ringing beats and to unfurl its melodic beauty to the optimum.         

The first exhilarating repartee took a cue from the ekhara, stacatto phrase. Soon, different jati-based layakari began and the tabla reverted to play the role of an anchor with majestically impressive ‘simple’ theka. In reply to this longish passage, the tabla crafted identical designs. Next, when powerful bolkari based phrases created a crescendo and tapered down with a tihai, his jawabi sangat once again arrived as an example of his amazing melodic memory-based craftsmanship. A few dramatic pieces of saath-sangat displayed great anticipation on the part of table, almost like a mind reader. This was electric; and that is when the string snapped!

Without a blink, the following two-minute solo round of the tabla heightened the already warmed up mood with a rela interspersed with aesthetically studded bols of different aural effects. The following medium-paced jhaptal changed the texture with aad chhand interpolated by brisk four-stroke or five-stroke-patterns per beat. This opened up an interesting dialogue between the two maestros. After a few fast running taans, a quiet tihai very lovingly bowed the raga out.       

Yaman Manjh, as taught to Majumdar by Pandit Ravi Shankar during a project work, came as his homage to the legend. Lighter in character, the raga is a heady blend of Yaman and Khamaj. As expected the aochar was loaded with typical Ravi Shankar-nuances. The composition set to sitarkhani seemed to give a free license to Zakir to show his ornate, swaying and dancing style. During the mukam based saath-sangat, the tabla, interestingly, adopted the mukam-pattern and left the rest of the theka un-struck to give sarod a free space. This playful mood unleashed the entertainers in both; but both remained reverently loyal to the raga, playing technique and genre. 

In an era when solo concerts are fading out, such evenings, when one can witness several moods of the musicians, come as reassuring promise!   

Sathguru Thyagaraja Hamsadhwani Award

March 27, 2020, 10:36 pm

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Violin maestro M. Chandrasekharan was conferred the Sathguru Thyagaraja Hamsadhwani award on 26 February 2020 by M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India.  The function was hosted by Hamsadhwani at the Kalakshetra auditorium. Present on the occasion were M.Murali, Managing Director, Sri Krishna Sweets, Mohan Parasaran, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, Ramnath Mani President, Hamsadhwani,   D.Jayakumar, Minister, Government of Tamil Nadu, R. Sundar, Secretary, Hamsadhwani, Preetha Reddy, Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals, and Revathi Ramachandran, Director,  Kalakshetra. The award ceremony was followed by Kalakshetra's celebrated Maha Pattabhishekamdance drama.

Bhaanotsav (Marga Natya) PC Amarendra Nath Dutta

March 28, 2020, 12:03 am

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Meena Banerjee

Under the guidance of guru Piyal Bhattacharya, Chidakash Kalalay, the centre of learning ancient Indian art-forms, organised Bhaanotsav at Padatik Centre, Kolkata. The two-day celebrations aimed to establish a connection between the ancient and medieval ages. Bhattacharya’s gifted disciples cum troupe-members presented before a knowledgeable audience that included Ustad Bahauddin Dagar, Ratan Thiyam, Rudraprasad Sengupta, Sunil Kothari, Sandhya Purecha and several others from the music, theatre and dance fraternities.

Bhaanotsav, was based on monologues; Bhana, Vithi, Prakarana, and Prahasan are the types of roopaka that were employed as a tool to educate the society in which exist social evil - drawing from Bharata’s Natyasastra which showcased the marga (way) through marga-sangeet (music), marga-nritta(pure dance), and marga-natya(drama).

The word Bhaan rang a bell for all those who grew up on the stories of Gopal Bhaan/Bhaand, a court jester of Raja Krishnachandra of Nadia, Bengal (1710-1783). These Bangla stories, based on the exploits of Gopal Bhaan, are dipped in humour and yet offer valuable social messages. The long sustained notes of music of yore helped in meditation, the body movements of dance depicting the creation of the universe, helped in understanding the philosophy of life, and the satire-dipped drama openly described the social scenario of those times, with both its good and bad sides. The audience was free to draw the conclusions.

 

Roopaka

Naatya was categorized in dasaroopakas(ten distinct modes) led by natak, the grandest form of roopaka spanning a long period of time, stringed by its erudite sootradhar. Bhaan, on mundane (laukik) platform, covers only one day’s happenings narrated by a Vita, a character belonging to the middle class with his leanings towards amorous love and valour.  

From this angle, the storyline of Padma-Prabhritakam (the lotus consent), written by ancient Sanskrit-playwright Shudraka, blatantly exposes the hypocritical attitude towards the prostitutes who, like Siva, swallow the poison to allow the society flourish in art, culture and related etiquette. Sayak Mitra, as Vita, brilliantly applied the monologues (Bharati Vritti) supported by subtle aesthetic sense (Kaishiki Vritti) and ekaharya to portray several characters through light-hearted jibes and addressed serious social and psychological issues. The layout of the scenes added to the authenticity of the narratives, written and tuned by Mitra, a worthy disciple of Bhattacharya.

Upa-Roopakas

Day-two featured Bhanakand Bhanika, two upa-roopakas (abstract dance poetry), which heavily rely on music and dance. These minor dramatic forms that developed in the medieval period were employed to elevate spiritual awareness of society. Bhanak (Sayak Mitra), representing Siva, sits under a symbolic banyan tree brought in by the performers in a procession, and through song, dance and dialogues explained and related the seven notes with seven vortex centres and seven dimensions of consciousness. Bhanika (Pinki Mondal), a female raconteur who heard teachings of several wise ones, established different stages of human life through the saga of Dasavatara – as elucidated in Vajrayana Buddhism.

Bharatmuni opened the doors wide by prescribing any language or instrument capable of manifesting the desired rasa and moral value. The research team (Tanmay Bhattacharya, Rakesh Das, and Deep Ghosh) employed this well. Participating artists, Akash Mallik, Shubhendu Ghosh, Rinki Mondal, Manjira Dey and several others along with the musicians (Abhijit Ray, Joy Dalal, and Piyal Bhattacharya), designers and technicians infused life in the characters and their times.

KONARK FESTIVAL

March 31, 2020, 4:09 am

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TAPATI CHOWDHURIE

Started by guru Gangadhar Pradhan in the year 1986, the five-day Konark festival of dance is like no other and attracts people from all over the world. The festival is organized by Odisha Tourism and Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi. With the beautiful backdrop of the ancient Sun temple, all the performances are conducted in an open-air auditorium, and dancers emerge from their abode with the tinkle of their ankle bells and the sound of music from instruments combined with sonorous singing. The entire place, decorated with multi-coloured festoons of light and Odisha artefacts, created visual grandeur.

Odissi, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Mohiniattam and dancers from Bali, Indonesia were chosen to perform this year. Apart from the main dance festival, the beach of Chandrabhaga offers the famous Sand Art Festival, which also attracts sand artists from far corners of the world, as they compete to win a prize from the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation.

One performance on each day showcased the state’s very own Odissi dance. The festival opened with Anweshana, from Srjan, the house of revered guru, Kelucharan Mohapatra, currently spearheaded by its artistic director, Ratikant Mohapatra. Anwesha was a bouquet of Odissi dance; modern, yet classical. Commencing with an invocation to the Sun God, the foremost of the nine planets, his disciples performed the Hamsadhwani pallavi, a creation of guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, who had initially designed it for a solo performance. Ratikant Mohapatra had beautifully re-choreographed this piece to suit a group rendition. Prayer to Goddess Bhagawati and a tribute to the nation concluded his recital.

Aloka Kanungo also a direct disciple of guru Kelucharan Mohapatra presented a new idiom, Sabda Nrutya, which she had created by adding new sensibilities to the original form. Sabda Nrutya was presented by her along with her talented students in Dasa Mahavidya. The power of Shakti, the formidable energy-revealed through her ten manifestations with the use of tantra, mantra and yantra was the dancers’ tribute to all great women. Her strong musical ensemble consisting of guru Laxmikant Palit, Prof. Ramhari Das, Himanshu Swain and guru Dhaneswar Swain, guided her all through. A pallavi,  Mana sambhar in raga Sankaravarnam referred to the three times repetition of one of the four rhythms in the Odissi parlance. Jamuna kulare krushna eka dui jana was an expressional dance which blossomed fully with young gopis who were puzzled on finding two Krishnas on the banks of Yamuna. The emotion of wonder was suitably displayed in all its subtlety.

Swapnarani Sinha, a disciple of guru Durga Charan Ranbir (Deba Prasad school), and her group presented a different flavour with their vibrant dancing. Conceptualised by Swapnarani, her Triveni sangam dealt with the story of the confluence of the three rivers. Several mythological stories were collated to narrate the tale, upholding the sanctity and purity of the rivers. Professor Ramhari Das composed the music and wrote the script and guru Dhaneswar Swain composed the rhythm. Agni stuti in raag Bibhabari Kalyani to the rhythm of Dhaneswar Swain presented the story of Agni.

Prahlada Natakam, based on the popular folk dance of Ganjam district, by guru Gajendra Panda, however, did not fit the bill of Odissi.  Tandava nritya of the elephant headed God performed before the dance-drama embarked on Sabdaswarapata. This was performed to a packed audience until the story ended.

The grand finale of the festival was by Guru Kelucharan Odissi Research Centre (GKCM Odissi Research Centre, Bhubaneswar) with their presentation of  Hamsadooti–The Swan Messenger. It was one of those rare, mythological stories conceptualised by Sangita Gosai to music and rhythm composition of Swapneswar Chakraborty and Satchidananda Das, choreography by guru Kasturi Pattnaik. The story is from the Harivansa Maha Purana. The main characters of the story were the golden swans and the demon king Bajranava –enacted through an excellent rendition of Odissi dance by Yudhistir Nayek. Performed in the grand open-air stage, the piece was a gripping dance-drama.

Kathak was presented by the disciples of Nadroop of Pune run by guru Shama Bhate. Footprints of traditionshowcased tradition and also brought about different flavours in its rendition. Surya Vandana and presentation of Roopak taal comprising uthan, thaat, aamad, tatkar, natabari bol, paran and tihai preceding kaliyadaman and chaturangin raag Kedara, was an amalgamation of tarana, sargam sahitya and dance, accompanied by pakhawaj.   It was a sheer aesthetic delight to watch this group of well-trained dancers.

Mohiniattam dancer Jayprabha Menon was at her delightful best in Tatvam. Relying totally on sopana sangeetam of Kavalam Narayana Panicker, she struck a chord with their Rasa Ganapathy in ragam Kuntalavarali and talam Adi. Her group also performed Chandana charchita neela kalebara–an adulation of Krishna by the gopis who indulge in Ras Leela with him from the Geeta Govinda. In Narayana Guru’s Naga Tatvam she touched upon knowledge of the awakening of the primordial energy through the power of the snake in ragam Punnagavarali and Adi talam. Jayprabha effectively imitated the popular practice of playing the magudi by the snake charmer. Her fine expression and nritta along with her well-trained group of Mohinis said it all. In the finale, Jayaprabha and her group presented Jeeva, where they emphasized the rhythmic syllables in the 14-beat sopana sangeeta tala.

In their Kuchipudi presentation, veterans, Raja and Radha Reddy, portrayed the winds of change that are fast spreading in our motherland.  Through their dance-drama Bharata Bharati, they reminded us of the richness of our motherland and the message of peace, non-violence and truth we represent. Portraying Bharat as a land where the Natyasastra originated, as a land of the vedas, where many religious practices are followed, and yet people live amicably. Every detail of their presentation was rooted to tradition. The dancers had practised to perfection as they spread joy to the onlookers. Guru Raja and Radha Reddy’s appearance to act out the navarasas was applauded by the lay and the connoisseurs alike. Guru Kaushalya Reddy’s nattuvangam was praiseworthy.

Vaibhav Arekar, a bright star in the firmament of  Bharatanatyam is also a well-equipped theatre person. His Surya Namaskar was unique in more than one count. Beautiful light designs by Susant Jadav to highlight crucial parts of the presentation like that of the rising sun, which was portrayed elegantly by Vaibhav. Neat presentation and some wonderful rendition of dance units woven together with dance phrases were delightful to watch.

Vaibhav, along with his group, performed jatiswaram, transforming the pure nritta piece into a work of art never seen before! The ever-changing designs playing with the swaras were pleasurable. The piece, in the hands of Vaibhav, acquired a new character. Medieval poet Jaydeva’s Dasavatar also had a different take. He praised Kesava’s ten manifestations with much creativity. A polished dancer, he ignited his students to perform their very best. This reviewer has the aspiration to see Vaibhav work more wonders with traditional pieces that our eyes have got tired of seeing.

The Balinese dance group, Widya Budaya from Indonesia, performed Selat Segaraa contemporary choreography of a traditional temple courtyard dance to welcome the audience. The disappearance of Sita was taken from the Ramayana and presented in magnificently bejewelled and bedecked costumes; the dancing, unfortunately, had precious little to offer.  

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GURU DEBAPRASAD AWARD FESTIVAL

March 31, 2020, 4:16 am

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NITA VIDYARTHI

In memory of the legendary Odissi dancer and guru, Debaprasad Das, the prestigious Guru Debaprasad  Award Festivalis held every year on his birth anniversary for the past 12 years by Tridhara in Bhubaneswar. Debaprasad Das had created a unique style by amalgamating tribal and folk dance elements with classical Odissi with the scintillating sabdaswarapatha.

Under the leadership of  Gajendra Panda, director and torch-bearer of the Debaprasad school,  Tridhara honours acclaimed dancers, gurus and personalities, who have made a significant contribution to Indian art and culture on the opening day of their three-day annual festival.

The prestigious 13^th Guru Debaprasad Award for 2019 was presented to eminent personalities such as guru V.P.Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan (Bharatanatyam), veteran guru Durga Charan Ranbir (Odissi), Pt.Raghav Raj Bhatt and Bidushi Mangala Bhatt (Kathak) and senior art critic Nita Vidyarthi.

The Guru Debaprasad Prativa Award introduced last year to encourage promising young talents in Odissi dance, went to Binayak Panda (Ganjam), Amrita Das (Vardhaman), Rathimalar Govindarajoo (Malaysia), and Atasi Mishra (Rayagada).

Day one – Dance performances

After the inauguration and the award ceremony, the distinguished dancer and foremost disciple of Debaprasad Das, Durga Charan Ranbir, opened his performance with the Ektali based mangalacharan He Krishna karunasindhu set to raga Kalyan, mesmerizing with his tribhanga at the very outset. The chiselled,  baraha hasta mudra (boar hand gesture) in Baraha pidabhi Ram mrigamada tilakam and imagery of kundalkanta mandakamlighted up the underlying nuances of the lines.  His captivating abhinaya of the Jayadeva ashtapadi Mamiyamchalita bilokyam set to raga Kalabati (Triputa tala) in Ramahari Das’ music sung by Sukanta Kundu, saw the best of the exemplary veteran in his own choreography. Niranjan Patra’s pakhawaj, Abhiram Nanda’s flute and Ramchandra  Behera’s manjira provided understanding support. He concluded his recital with a short piece Pada shrinkhalam Madhava hridaya banam with his disciples Manoj Kumar and Gayatri.

The principal dancers of Tridhara presented the Odissi dance drama Yogini Yoga Rupa, portraying vividly some of the yoginis like Kalika, Chandika, Ramchandi, Bhadrakali and others from the 64 yoginis, which are the manifestations of the yogic power of Rudra (Lord Shiva) resulting from his meditation. Kedar Mishra’s script inspired by the hypaethral temples of Yogini Pitha in Ranipur-Jharial in Balangir district and Hirapur, near Bhubaneswar, illustrated the mystical female cult of 9^th century.

There is a popular belief that yoginis had their origins in animistic traditions of adivasis and they worshipped grama devatas (village goddesses). Gajendra Panda‘s invigorating choreography recreated the primal power of these folk traditions with a rustic touch, incorporating folk elements like Daskathia. What kept the interest alive was the rhythmic sabdaswarapatha   Chan Chan Chandrahans Chakitahara and Kali kankali naramundamali with briskly stepped movements around the stage of these goddesses (dancers) on their respective vahaanas like the buffaloes and the lovely dancers’ pyramid with Bhadrakali on top. Blended with sharp music by Gopal Chandra Panda and vibrant ukuta of guru Dhaneswar Swain, the rendition offered interpretative brilliance to the sahitya.

It was a real privilege to watch a dignified  Bharatanatyam duet on the second evening by the veteran dancing couple V.P.Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan. The unforgettable, involved rendition of the ashtapadis Yahi Madhava,  intertwining smoothly with Badasiyadi kinchidapi from Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, created a piece of dramatic spiritual significance with clear enunciation of the lyrics. Simple costumes, unhurried, extremely natural movements, restrained abhinaya, expansive ability and soft-focused visualisation of Priye charushiley, while sustaining the intense moments, captivated throughout the performance. Shanta Dhananjayan as Radha portrayed a strong woman accusing Krishna of being unchaste in love towards her and asks him to go away. VP Dhananjayan as Krishna implores forgiveness with a naughty look playing upon his twinkling eyes even at eighty!

Another senior couple Raghav Raj Bhatt and Mangala Bhatt brought home the essence of Durga Lal‘s Kathak in their performance. Raghav Raj Bhatt’s Madhurashtakamwas fulfilling with smooth Kathak elements. Mangala Bhatt’s  abhinaya in the thumri, Mohe Chhedona Nanda ke Chhail was communicative. The duet tarana in raga Kalavati composed by Pt. Birju Maharaj, saw innumerable variations and detailed treatment of the rhythm showing their mastery over rhythmic syllables of nritta.

Rathimalar Govindarajoo, a fit and strong dancer, has a complete understanding of the Debaprasad style. In her rendition of Ashtashambhoo, she communicated wonderfully with religious fervor, especially portraying  Marang barayate.

Amrita Das, principally a skilful dancer of the Kelubabu gharana had adapted the Debaprasad style competently. Her Durga tandava choreographed by Gajendra Panda was an effective enquiry into the iconography of the powerful mother goddess.

Day two – Music performances

It was heartening to see that Tridhara had devoted the entire closing evening to solo recitals of Chanda, Champu and Bhajan, the traditional songs of Odisha by stalwarts, luminaries and seasoned singers. The second evening opened with the melodious flute recital of Pt. Ajay Prasanna in raga Puriya Kalyan, vilambit, madhyalaya, and finally, a riveting drut accompanied by Prasenjit Poddar’s wizardry on the tabla.

Kavi SamratUpendra Bhanja recipient 82-year-old Shyamamani Devi, put forth an amazing theme and content in her full-throated rendition of Chapadhari Raghunath goley mrigamari , but the centerpiece was the cha champu, Thapire kaho thapirey priya sakhi, concluding with a soulful chanda, Aha dhanurdhar birabor. Age has not tarnished the sublime appeal in her rendition. Veteran Chittaranjan Pani, began with the highly popular  janana, Monima Sunima followed by the delicately tuned janana, Dinabandhu Ayi aali Srichhamurey (appeal to the almighty) with bhaktibhava.

Guru Ramhari Das introduced champu kavya as a work of exquisite literary composition of poetry and prose where all lines of a song begin with an assigned alphabet. There are only 34 songs. His recital started with the Odia alphabet “Ha”(Ha champu, Hari hambaro ek praner dhan) followed by the soul-stirring bhajan, Shymalroop Barna Sundar. Delineating the raga Simhendra Madyam, veteran Keshav Chandra Rout enthralled with  Sapatati moro re (Sa champu).

Sangita Panda, daughter and disciple of the stalwart Gopal Chandra Panda is a powerful singer.  A janana, Daya koro Dinabandhu sukhey jau aaro din, brought out the emotive aspects of raga Chakrakeli, and intensity of the lyrics. The chanda, Sriradha batuli premarasa tuli in raga  Krushna Kedar, reflected a textured depth in her singing.

The timbre in the renowned Sangita Gosain’svoice is extremely captivating. Hence the chanda, Aarey babu shyamghana and Dha champu, Dhira re ki dhana tu na dilu aaja took a different dimension.

Nazia Sayeed has a sweet and delicate high pitched voice just right for the La champu Leelanidhi hey. Her singing was refined with an elegant charm.

Photos courtesy: Tridhara

The Music Academy Dance Festival Some impressions

April 4, 2020, 2:07 am

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SEASON 2019-20 - Part 1

Leela Venkataraman

The inauguration ceremony at the Music Academy’s 14^th Dance Festival struck the right notes. Senior Bharatanatyam dancer Priyadarsini Govind was conferred the title of Nritya Kalanidhi 2020, and in her acceptance speech, she  thoughtfully thanked both—the legendary traditional families who had bestowed on India the great art of natya, and the later non-traditionalists who had worked to make the art suit the social and proscenium compulsions of the time, which had enabled dancers like her to take to the art form of Bharatanatyam. Chief guest Mark Van de Vreken, Consul General of the Kingdom of Belgium, Chennai, said he was working on increasing cultural exchange programmes between India and Belgium. Not the least was the thanksgiving by Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, member of the executive committee, wherein she meticulously mentioned every department contributing to the mounting of the mammoth festival.

With the scheduled 8.30 am start on the first three days, featuring panel discussions on Spirituality and classical dance, Insights and adaptations from folk dance and theatre, and The evolving classicaldance pedagogy, followed by performances in the main auditorium right up to 12.45 p.m., with the newly added post-lunch break recital from 2 pm to 3.15 pm, then again the final evening recitals from 6 pm to 9.15 pm—it was a daunting timetable for even the most ardent dance lovers. That all the sessions attracted good audiences, with the evening shows demanding early arrivals to command seats in the first few rows—were pointers to an event that has caught the public eye, and hopefully will continue to do so.

From the very senior to the very young, the selection committee would seem to have cast the net wide in its search for talented dancers across the spectrum, though with some surprising choices.

Among the senior frequently featured dancers, Malavika Sarukkai’s intense recital, evinced high-quality energy, starting with Tyagaraja’s Sambho Mahadeva in Pantuvarali, the dance elaborating on the paramadayakara Gangadhara depicting Ganga during her descent contained in the matted locks of Siva. In the Karnataka Kapi varnam of Swati Tirunal, Sumasayaka, the wonderment shifted to Padmanabhareclining on the serpent bed of eternity, with the lovelorn nayika, a victim of Manmatha’s wiles, ardently waiting for her beloved. Neela Sukanya’s nattuvangam, Vasudha Ravi’s vocal support, with Nellai A. Balaji (mridangam) and Srilakshmi Venkataramani (violin), made up the involved musicians. The best of the recital came in S.V. Seshadri’slyricAaparcchanam with music in Bhairavi by Meera Seshadri, woven round a brave ruler’s leave-taking of his mother before setting out for war. Malavika’s visualisation of the subjects enthusiastically responding to their King marching to battle, as the lonely mother looks  on from the balcony, with pride and trepidation, made for one of the most moving scenes. With Malavika’s known relish for rhythm and footwork, C.V. Chandrasekhar’s Laya in raga Durga made a fine ending.

The audience loved having Alarmel Valliback on stage after a period of forced absence, looking fresh and taking off from where she had left. Dance inspired by poetry has to become poetic to stand out. The evening commenced with Scents of the Earth, with its dance images stirred by verses from Ritu Samhar, from Bharatiyar’s songs, from verses for harmony from the Atharvana Veda—all serenading nature in a variety of hues, set off by Rajkumar Bharati’s ragamalika score. Valli’s varnam Kana aavalanen with Prema Ramamoorthy‘s ragamalika music, incorporated the sensual and the sacred in the nayika’s love, with spring beckoning, for her peerless Lord Siva Chidambaranathain Tillai. One salutes Valli’s sensitive selection and moving rendition of Pushpam Vilapam by Karunasri Jandhyala Papayya Sastry, describing the plaintive cry of a flowering plant.

Stage presence with the ability to communicate across cultures, are Rama Vaidyanathan’s plus points—she had designed her presentation as a beautiful bouquet of compositions in praise of Lord Subramanya. Subrahmanya bhujangam as invocation, performed to singer Sudha Raghuraman’s fine score in Chalanata, set the tone, narrating aspects of the deity, starting from his unusual birth. The concluding composition based on Devaraya Swamigal’s ragamalika Kanda Shashti Kavacham came as a soulful offering to Kartikeya, a deity dear to Tamil hearts.  Dandayudhapani Pillai’s varnam in Poorvikalyaani Swamiyai azhaittodi va, in the brilliant teermanams composed by the late Shivakumar saw Rama at her nritta best, with fine nattuvangam by S. Vasudevan. But the dancer endlessly spinning out statements like taamadamseyyalaaguma amounted to self-indulgence, naturalistic expressions and mannerisms (which all dancers have in some measure) at times overwhelming stylised interpretation. And the singer setting off on her own musical forays disturbed the togetherness of dance and music.

For choreographic originality, none could beat Praveen Kumar with his unique  interpretation of Muthiah Bhagavatar’s daru varnam Matey malayadhwaja in Khamas. His jatis were a class by themselves, each fitting with the sahitya it follows.  Equally rare were the other compositions with the Suddhananda Bharati composition in Durga, Aadum azhagai parade Ambalavan, where like a lakshana geeta, movement theory is touched upon—kaikalin vazhiyinil kangal irandum sella (where the hands go, there the eyes follow)! Subramania Bharati’s composition Teertha karaiyinileyshowed for a change, the love-struck hero waiting eagerly for the nayika who fails to turn up. In the Purandaradasa devarnama Yasoda amma ettikkolamma (carry me Amma), the oft-heard cry of little ones, was sensitively interpreted. Armed with his immaculate technique, Praveen is fast evolving into one of India’s finest Bharatanatyam performers. He had a fine singer in D.S. Srivatsa, with nattuvangam by D.V. Prasanna Kumar, mridangam by Lingaraju, and flute and violin by Mahesh Swamy and Mandya Nagaraj—all in perfect agreement.

Bijayini Satpathy took the Music Academy floor on an auspicious day—the birthday of guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She could have dedicated her recital to the great guru, instead of which she made the announcement dedicating the programme to register her opposition to the CAA. While she has every right to her opinions, one wondered if a dance/music festival which brings so many people together in like-minded enjoyment of the arts was the place to make an announcement, which in a palpable manner (even while there was clapping) brought in a feeling of the ‘we’ and the ‘they’. There are other platforms for voicing political views.

Starting with Kelucharan’s Mohapatra’s mangalacharan with Syamala dandakam as stuti, Bijayini rendered Srimati (choreographed by Surupa Sen with music by Raghunath Panigrahi) where a woman makes her beauty an offering to the Lord. While Bijayini’s Odissi is in a class of its own, I was surprised at the plain green costume with a small border which had nothing of the Odisha textile or design. The ashtapadi Sakhi he Kesi mathanam udaram,as choreographed by Surupa, was followed by the dramatic Seeta haran narrating the abduction of Seeta and the sacrifice of Jatayu who tries to rescue her from the clutches of Ravana. 

Having seen the same item performed by Bijayini ten days earlier at the Bharati Vidya Bhavan, I felt the old magic was missing, despite her singer Jateen Kumar Sahu being in better form than he was during the earlier performance. 

The standing ovation notwithstanding, for those who had witnessed the earlier performance, the best of Bijayini was, for some inexplicable reason, absent.

- to be continued in the next part. 

From the Editor

April 8, 2020, 6:18 am

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Dear Sruti readers,

This is the time of the month when we send Sruti magazine by post, and you 

look forward to receiving your copy.  This time, because of circumstances beyond 

our control we are really sorry that it's not going to be so. 

As all of you are aware, the corona Covid 19 virus has been playing 

havoc around the world and we are no exception. 

Even as we were working towards the monthly deadline,  the lockdown was declared 

and 144 imposed in Tamil Nadu. Although completing  the work was paramount 

in our minds, we realized that as responsible citizens we had to follow 

the government directives and appeals. As Safety and Well Being are top on the 

priority list, we are all homebound to ensure that we follow the rules, 

and play our part in containing the spread of the deadly virus. 

We hope and pray for better days soon, and hope to bring to you 

your favourite magazine after the lockdown is lifted.

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Meanwhile keep reading the Sruti blog, watch our YouTube channel, 

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S. Janaki

Editor-in-Chief

Sruti Magazine

Music Academy - Dance Season - Part II

April 11, 2020, 8:43 am

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Leela Venkataraman

Priyadarsini Govindlooking as stately as ever, presented Muthiah Bhagavatar’s composition Matey, with the charanam largely translated into statuesque poses. The post-varnam abhinaya largely involved some hasya rasa, one on the dysfunctional family of Siva, wherein the vahanas of the couple and their children are all at odds, each a sworn enemy of the other as the lion eying the bull, the peacock the snake, the snake the rat and so on, driving Siva, the head of the family into taking poison! The next was Parvati trying to bring peace between the quarrelling brothers Ganesa and Kartikeya. Amusing, but one missed Priyadarsini’s abhinaya depth in sringara.

Narthaki Nataraj’s Bharatanatyam, without contemporary trappings of the dance, presents Kittappa Pillai’s tradition in all its details. Starting with a sloka and Syama Sastry’s Devi meena netri in Sankarabharanam, one saw a picture of the goddess as visualised by her guru. The Tanjore Quartet’s varnam in Todi, Mamogalagiri konden swami, in a sanchari has the incident of Radha and Sri Rajagopala (Krishna) exchanging clothes in a change of identities, with the maya of division gradually disappearing in the large oneness, suggestively touched upon in the abhinaya. And of course, one saw the famous Kittappa Pillai teermanams.

The afternoon slots

Janaki Rangarajan, notwithstanding the surprisingly poor singing from Nandini Anand (who strangely, the same evening sang well for Alarmel Valli), perhaps due to an nth hour induction with the assigned singer not available, acquitted herself well—starting with the saptatalaragamalikajatiswaram, and moving on to the varnam in Manohari, Samika naatho inta jaala melara. The jatis in the Bharatanatyam format, without Bharatanrityam movements, were well executed. The best of her recital came in the ashtapadi in Behag (music composition by Hariprasad) Kuru Yadunandana, a much-evolved version from what one had seen the dancer perform on earlier occasions, combining restraint with intensity.

G. Narendra, featuring in a solo performance after a long time, proved he had not lost his flair or the spring in his step, starting with the varnam Velanai kaanbom vaareer by Lalitha and Ranganayaki Jayaraman inKhamas set to Adi tala. The azhagunathan atop his peacock vahana, the deva senapati destroying Sooran, and the delightful arudiin the charanam line Kandanai kaana kan tedinen yen manam  ilai kolladu—all had an original stamp. Dancing non-stop for an hour and more, with good accompaniment provided by Murali Parthasarathy (vocal), K. Mahalakshmi (nattuvangam), Veda Krishnan (mridangam) and Eashwar Ramakrishnan (violin), the dancer proved his mettle.

It was good to see Purva Dhanashree provide the audience an exposure to Vilasini Natyam. The churnikaand sabda pallavi Tom tanatadiratanadiranain Anandabhairavi, projecting the technique and style, followed by varied extremely subtle abhinaya elaborations in the varnam Sarasijakshulu nee vani in Kalyani, showing the nayika expressing steadfast love for Saundarya Gopala, regaled the audience with the aesthetics of this dance. If Kasturi Ranga’s composition Adadani janmamu ettina portrayed the nayika’s hopelessness and despair about married life without fulfilment despite the trappings of a large house, Sadasiva Brahmendra’s Gayati vanamali in Yamunakalyani had all the contrasting lilt of joy.

Jyotsna Jagannathancould have planned her programme better for, after a neat presentation of Dandayudhapani Pillai’s varnam Mohamaginen inda velaiyil, with the dancer making an exit searching for her Lord, asking the sakhi   Varuvaro solladi, moving on to the ashtapadi Yahi Madhava in Sindhubhairavi  showing Radha as khandita, did not allow for an effective contrast in tone.

Kathak by Gauri Diwakar, presenting her mentor Aditi Mangaldas’ choreography, earned enthusiastic standing applause for the selection of items and the presentation. The textual framework comprising Muslim poets ‘Hasrat’ by Sayyad Fazlul Hasan, Malik Muhammad Jayasi, Mian Wahid Ali, and Sayyad Mubarak Ali Bilgrami was on Radha and Krishna.  Resonance, an abstractionset to Teental in raga Kafi, was based on the sound of Krishna’s flute. The music in score and the full-throated vibrant singing by Samiullah Khan in Sahana and Suddha Sarang added tremendous verve to the dance which abounded in grace, perfection and emotive delicacy. The choreography was such that all the Kathak ingredients and bandishes, naturally flowed through the compositions, in different contexts.  Bilgrami’s poetry was used as a kavit.  Hariho gati meri inBairagiand Miyan ki Todi comprised the finish. Yogesh Gangani (tabla), Aashish Gangani (pakhawaj) and Ravindra Rajput (flute)  provided the right support.

--- to be continued 

pc: Music Academy

Music Academy Dance Season - Part III

April 11, 2020, 9:14 am

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Leela Venkataraman

Alapadma - The lotus unfolds,by Singapore’s Apsaras Arts, with Aravinth Kumaraswamy as artistic director, was very poetic. Starting with the Padma Alarippu,to segments built around the multi-faceted symbolism of the lotus signifying creation (srishti sarasija mythology, pada pankaja) romance (leela kamala), iconography (alankara ambuja) and sahasra padmam(human wisdom). What showed the dance to great advantage were the allied disciplines—the excellent lighting effects and the costuming, which were professional, adding up to one of the best productions one has seen of this group. Captivating and of great significance was the music composed by Aravinth Kumaraswamy, Chitra Poornima, Satish and Rajkumar Bharathi with the melodious rendition by the singers. And what a nattuvangam expert in Sheejith Krishna! With V. Vedakrishnan (mridangam), Ganapathi Venkatasubramaniam (percussions), Easwar Ramakrishnan (violin), Sruthi Sagar (flute) and Kasturi Sahadevan (veena), the musical team had the best of artists.

Young dancers

The younger brigade of dancers was particularly impressive. Youngest, Mahati Kannan, niece and disciple of dancer Padma Subrahmanyam, has all the talent, equipped with scholarly inputs including musical and dance knowhow. Her centrepiece, the varnam  Ka va Venkataramana, in Ramapriya raga set to Adi tala, choreographed by her guru, showed the young dancer at her best,  beginning with the ashta-aksharas recited from the temple tower, in an episodic treatment ending with the case of Salabeg, the Muslim poet. It depicted that the stalled ratha jatra of the Lord could be set in motion again (evocative veena and flute interventions of B. Kannan and C.K Pathanjali respectively), only through the intervention of the great Vaishnava devotee  Salabeg. The Sankarabharanam padam Dari joochu chunnadi needu priye projected an innocent mugdha. The dancer’s abhinaya, with time and experience, has the potential to acquire depth.

Meera Sreenarayan, continuing from what one had seen of her last year, enthralled with exceptional prowess in both interpretative dance and nritta. In the Husseni varnam in Roopakam, Emandayanara, the nayika addressing Pratapasimha whom she describes as Kamini jana chittachore (who has stolen so many of his subjects’ hearts) is chided for getting smitten by the one with the elephant-like walk. The meditative concentration and ability to lose herself in the moment imparts Meera’s dance with rare potency. With Indira Kadambi’s nattuvangam, were teermanam flourishes (ideas spawned by the guru crystallised admirably in the rendition of the sishya) like the unique way of dancing the kitatakatadinginatom by executing a circle with the entire body and different feet positions. Leaving certain syllables silent, by contrast, imparted new strength to the accented parts.  Jagadoddharana in Kapi, was followed by the humour of the less known javali, Taru marulade vemi bajari, Pattabhi Ramiah’s composition in Natakurinji. Edapalli Ajit Kumar’s tillana in Jog, with the foot-tapping rhythm to Adi tala combinations of 3,4,5,7 and 9, was also unusual.

Shweta Prachande, commencing from the  salutations to Soorya Bhagavan (music by Rajkumar Bharati, evocatively sung by Satish Venkatesh) showed herself to be a fast-evolving artist, compared with what one saw about a year and a half ago. Nritta inputs by G. Vijayaraghavan added to the impact. The interpretation of Lalgudi Jayaraman’s Charukesi varnam in Adi tala Innum en manam, brought out the quality of Shweta’s movements, blending assertive footwork and laya with springy light-footed agility. The charanam was rendered with tremendous involvement. The dancer was equally convincing in portraying the gossipy onlooker’s shock at the abhisarika, in  Choodare—Kshetrayya’s padam in Sahana.

Christopher Guruswamy’s wise selection of items starting from the Subbarama Dikshitar varnam Enta nine telepudurain Khamas set to Roopakam, (learnt from Roja Kannan) choreographed by Adyar K. Lakshman, showed not just his vastly improved capacity for expressional communication, but also his clean technique with light footed leaps, sarukkal, mandi adavu, and full leg stretches. With Murali Parthasarathy rendering vocal support, Christopher followed with the ashtapadi, Natha harey Jagannatha harey (set to raga Vasanti by Hariprasad) portraying the sakhi conveying to Krishna the picture of desolate Radha pining in her home.  Arunachala Kavi’s Ramanatakam piece, with Ravana insolently querying Hanuman (with the consequences which followed), made for a spirited finale.

Dakshina Vaidyanathan Baghelbegan with a Salaam daru by Shahaji. Pachimiriyam Adiappaiya’s varnam Viribonihad the sakhi as protagonist entreating Lord Rajagopala to answer the love call of her flowerlike friend stung by the arrows of Manmatha, who is no ordinary female. An intelligent dancer, Dakshina here needed a change of emphasis—while pleading the case of the friend, the sakhi needed to play down her own glamour and personality, while imploring the Lord to help her friend. Karaikudi Shivakumar’s jatis, with S. Vasudevan’s excellent nattuvangam, were performed with grace and laya emphasis. The abhinaya item from the bhajana sampradaya Momu jopura in Behag was moving, and equally impactful was Triveni (music by S.  Vasudevan) where Gangotri represents Saivism, Yamunotri represents Vaishnavism, and above all this representing the all-pervading Brahman is the river whose flow is unknown, namely, Saraswati.

After Dakshina, Kirti Ramgopal’s recital was like a peaceful lake with no ripples of any kind. The total peace in her dance without the slightest effort to project her persona is a quality one does not come across today. Even the varnam in Kharaharapriya, Mohamaginen had the same treatment with no hype.

One of the high points of the festival, with an intellectual resonance, was Apoorva Jayaraman’s Bharatanatyam, which, apart from the dance expertise, revealed the mind behind it. The beginning with Rig Veda’s Nasadiya Suktam posed the fundamental question of whence, how, and what of creation itself. In the swarajati in Khamas, Ma mohalagiri meerude by Namasivaya Pulavar, Apoorva portrayed the smitten nayika overwhelmed by the darts of Mara which threaten to consume her like fire, and implored the sakhi to deliver her love message by catching Kazhugachala Velavar Ettendiran at the appropriate moment. The dancer’s interpretative clarity (trained under Kalanidhi Narayanan and Priyadarsini Govind) was characterised by a measured quality of inner silence and gestural economy, with Satish Venkatesh’s melodious singing never distracting from the dancer. In the nritta interludes, Apoorva’s innovative flair in the movement units radiated originality. Jayashree Ramanathan (nattuvangam), Siva Prasad (mridangam) and Easwar Ramakrishnan (violin)  were all supportive.

It was a changed Parshwanath Upadhyhyeone saw, the savoured slowness of his abhinaya in the Quartet’s varnam Sarasijanabhain Kambhoji choreographed by his guru Sudharani Raghupathy, quite unlike the razzmatazz of his earlier presentations. One felt the inner stillness in moments showing Nee padame gati naanu raa as well as in phrases depicting padakamala, kamalanabha, and kamalasana. A very mature performance!

Pavitra Bhattmade an arresting start with Adi Sankaracharya’s Subramanya bhujangam, a ragamalika set basically in Misra Chapu excepting for the first sollukattu in Adi tala. It was good to see the dancer taking up a Tanjavur Quartet swarajati set to Chakravakam, with the nayika pining for Brihadeeswara. He had the right support in singer Venkatesh Kuppuswamy, and the jatis with Kalishwaran Pillai’s nattuvangam, sparkled with the dancer’s emphatic footwork and forceful movements. His rendition of Gopalakrishna Bharati’s Vazhi maraitirukkude,had emotive strength though the gesture showing the bull—held close to the body—failed to convey the message that the bull, like a mountain, was blocking his view of the shrine). The orchestra included Satish Krishnamoothy (mridangam), K.P. Nandini (violin) and J.B. Sruthi Sagar (flute).

Yakshagana by Sri Idagunji Mele, Keremane Shivananda Hegde’s group, was one of the most artistic presentations starting from costume, entries, stage formations and the way even the cloth curtain, with contrasting aesthetic borders, was held to form a square or loops around the characters. Vali Moksha, in an abridged form, brought out all the salient features of the characters involved. What a singer in Anant Hegde Bhagwah, with mellow chenda and maddala support from Krishna Yaji and Marasimh Hegde! Unfortunately, a large part of the audience started leaving. Surely Kannada is not difficult for the Tamilian to understand!

Absolutely brilliant was Vaibhav Arekar’s choreography and conceptualisation of Shrimant Yogi, on the life of Karmayogi Shivaraj Maharaj. This was dance theatre at its best and the ability to present the story without ever personifying the enemy in dance (crushing Mughal rule of the time was suggested through the sound tape and music), and scenes like the dancers hands tapping the floor with their hands in perfect syncopation to imitate the sounds of galloping horses, showed creative imagination of the highest order. The surprise was the reaction to what they thought was  “saffronisation”—in the yellow flags flown—with some people walking out; a typical case of reverse intolerance when people are not able to look at historical happenings without being coloured by the politics of the day! What a pity! This production, as many know, was created much before the present government dispensation was even thought of, the  yellow flags here symbolising Karma Yogi with no relationship with the politics of today. Unfortunately, it would now seem necessary for even the most non-political of choreographers to announce beforehand the time and intention of a production. Such lack of objectivity in the audience is surprising.

Dharti Ma – Song for the Earth

April 21, 2020, 12:36 am

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Shailaja Khanna

Earth Day Network’s 50^th anniversary has come at a time when the entire planet is facing one of the strangest times in memorable history. Being isolated in our homes, one suddenly appreciates the simple necessities of life that one has taken for granted – open spaces, pure water, sunshine, basic interaction with other living beings, animals included.

To commemorate gratitude to Planet Earth, nine outstanding artists from all genres got together and despite conditions of lockdown, separately recorded a tribute they entitled Dharti Ma. The track features Carnatic vocalists Bombay Jayashri and Abhishek Raghuram, North Indian classical vocalists Kaushiki Chakravorty and Mahesh Kale, Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans, and playback singers Shankar Mahadevan, Shweta Mohan, MD Pallavi and Abhay Jodhpurkar. The song has been recorded in Hindi Tamil Bengali Marathi Malayalam Gujarati Kannada and Punjabi.

Commissioned by Earth Day Network, the US based organization that operates in over 190 countries, the song was conceived by Karuna Singh, South East Regional Head, Earth Day Network to “unite people across borders, regardless of whether they speak the same language or not. My dream is this song gets sung in every existing language.”

The simple touching lyrics were written by Chetna Shrikant, a Mumbai based singer and writer. Dharti Ma, tujhe pranaam. Tujhpar nirbhar hum, sadeeyon se tumne sabhi ko dee jeevan.

Earth Day Network’s first Ambassador in India Bombay Jayashri shared “Composing the music was easy, it was writing the lyrics that were more a challenge; I was lucky to find someone whose ideas were in sync with mine. These words of Chetna’s moved me, and I sang Dharti Ma as a solo in Hindi last year. Recently, when Karuna Singh approached me again, and said it would be wonderful to record this in other languages too, I thought it was a great idea and a rallying song for all of in India who are facing a very challenging time. I truly feel the world as we know it will change forever. I was happy to record in Hindi, as I had done earlier. We put our heads together and approached other singers who we thought would be best suited to represent the diverse musical traditions India has, as also those who are known to be associated with a humane rather than strictly commercial approach to their music”.

Kaushiki Chakravorty, who sang in Bengali said “I feel happy and indeed privileged to be a part of this very special song, Dharti Ma. I think this lockdown period has taught us to connect with our inner selves; given us the time to introspect and see that’s the actual requirement for life. I hope this song and its message will inspire more people to introspect and do their bit to save the resources and protect Mother Earth.”

MD Pallavi, the very popular Kannada singer, and actress who has sung poignantly in Kannada agreed -“we need to recalibrate our equation with the earth. Hopefully we will emerge from the pandemic as more sensitive beings. It is an honour and privilege for me to be a part of this project for Mother Earth – Amrit’s music is really soulful and peaceful.”

Abhishek Raghuram who opens the song with a beautiful rendering in Tamil said “I do hope this song will go a long way in spreading awareness of how much Nature has given us.”

Twenty-one year old Carnatic vocalist Amrit Ramnath (Bombay Jayashri’s son) who composed the music, organised lyrics translations in the other languages, and also arranged and mixed the music, and video said “the entire song was composed arranged and produced remotely. I tuned each section, recorded at my studio at home, and sent each singer to record and send back. Then we spent many hours in the studio, placing each track, arranging instruments over them, and stringing them together to create the complete song. All my instrumentalist friends were so supportive; Sumesh Narayanan on mridangam, Sayee Rakshith on the violin, Abhinandan David on guitar, MT Aditya the tabla player and sound engineer”

Abhay Jodhpurkar, better known for his Hindi Tamil and Kannada playback singing, sung Dharti Ma in Gujarati; as he laughingly shared, “my first time singing in Gujarati. This multi lingual anthem, sung by such legendary singers, and that too for the best cause possible is really the need of the hour.

Hansraj Hans, “Sufi King” summed up the heartfelt desire of the musicians in collaborating musically under such conditions “we can only appeal to our Mother Earth to protect us; and being musicians we can only ask her through our music”.

Click here to listen to Dharti Ma https://youtu.be/VUi37kCC5ro

ABHAI Disburses Relief Fund

April 21, 2020, 8:22 am

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ABHAI ( Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India) is happy to share the information that we have been able to disburse the relief fund to the first set of beneficiaries which included performers, teachers,  veteran dance musicians, orchestra members and Kalari experts through the 'Artists for Artists Relief Fund'. We are absolutely grateful to all our donors and garnering ourselves for more relief work. Looking forward to the support of all our friends and well wishers.

The picture shows one of our beneficiaries veteran flautist C.P.Venkatesan who turned 101 years a couple of days back

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Coping with Circuit-Breaker in Singapore – Apsaras Arts

April 25, 2020, 7:58 pm

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#STAYATHOMESG 

Vidhya Nair

A dance tribute was created, dedicated to healthcare and frontline workers who have been working tirelessly to keep humanity safe from the current COVID-19 pandemic.   This was choreographed by Apsaras Arts’ resident choreographer Mohanapriyan Thavarajah featuring the company Bharatanatyam dancers as a tribute using the motif of the flute to depict that melodious music can be produced from one’s healthy breath. The dancers conveyed their gratitude for being able to stay healthy and for caring for those who have fallen ill during this pandemic. This message resonated and highlighted the healing quality of classical Indian dance and was featured as the number one stay-at-home activity in Singapore’s daily – the Straits Times.

https://youtu.be/D7kGR1nknlM

Singapore has over 200,000 Indian and Bangladeshi workers living in dormitories across the island with many of them isolated with little to do to occupy themselves. Apsaras Arts joined a movement created on Facebook @Project Dorm where creative content is being beamed to all these workers on their mobile phones.  Several dance performance videos featuring entertaining semi-classical Bharatanatyam and Kathak, Bharathiyar’s poetry Suttum vizhi were shared as many of these workers miss their families and are coping with mental anguish and anxieties.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/272XZ48PUKc

Video Link: https://youtu.be/5xIt01chqDY

Video Link: https://youtu.be/jrZDU9cpC18

Apsaras Arts launched their Spotlight Serieson Sunday 12 April with two sessions on the Zoom platform. This series is aimed to develop in-depth and interactive discussions on topics within the performing arts with eminent speakers for the benefit of arts practitioners and connoisseurs to gain new knowledge and find common ground. The first session was on the topic of margam featuring four Indian classical dances forms – Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathak and Bharatanatyam. Soumee De, Shivangi Dake, Mohanapriyan Thavarajah and Aravinth Kumarasamy. The session speakers, discussed the similarities and contrasts between the dance forms and provided greater clarity on the nuances of how a margam is created and some of its central characteristics.   

Watch Today

In the second session of the series on 26 April, three dancers from India have been invited to speak about their legendary gurus. The speakers will share their personal and inspirational insights about their gurus.

Sruti Lockdown diaries with Rasikas

April 29, 2020, 6:23 am

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Sruti has been receiving emails from artists, rasikas and Sruti readers on their inspirations, experiences this lockdown and what they are listening to during this period.

Sruti has compiled this series as lockdown diaries and sharing some of them with you.

#Fandiaries

The following piece is by Shankar Athreya, who is based in London and is an avid listener of Carnatic music (untrained he says!) 

I listened initially to Abhishek Raghuram in 2011 and then sporadically in 2015. In 2018, I was going through a challenging phase at work, when I had to go to office and effectively keep my chair warm. In order to not get agitated, I put on the headphones and listened to Carnatic music on YouTube. While I was listening to a KVN concert, I accidentally clicked on a Pallavi Darbarconcert of Abhishek Raghuram. The Nattakurunji pallavi was mesmerizing and therapeutic. It helped me relieve my stress immensely. Part of the credit should go to my bias for Nattakurunji as a ragam, but Abhishek’s singing was possibly close to divinity. 

I must have listened to it nonstop some ten times. From then on, it was catch up time. Hunting all possible concerts of Abhishek online, pestering all family members for concert links/CDs and the ilk. Regrettably, though I have never heard him live as visits to Chennai are infrequent.

Abhishek is on the top of the list, whether lockdown or otherwise. It’s just that there is no new inventory to listen! I also download concerts on to my phone and listen on the train. The journey from home to work is 40 minutes and it passes like a breeze. It’s not there now, so this is replaced by listening on the desk at home.

I also like Abhishek’s rendition of Sogasuga mridanga talamu. There is a five minute piece on YouTube; the mastery exposed was sheer breathtaking. There is also a Kiravani, Vannanai

This lock down I would really like Abhishek to render all or any of these online for his rasikas

# Sarvesha (bilahari)

#Innamum sandegham padalamo (Kiravani)

# Dikshitar’s Chaturdasha Ragamalika

# Any of his grandfather's composition 

PC: Akira Io

Sruti Lockdown diaries with Rasikas

May 1, 2020, 6:49 am

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Sruti has been receiving emails from artists, rasikas and Sruti readers on their inspirations, experiences this lockdown and what they are listening to during this period.

Sruti has compiled this series as lockdown diaries and sharing some of them with you.

#subscriberdiaries

The following article is by Dr. Vijay Sriram, Chennai’s leading pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, a budding flautist, photographer and a Sruti subscriber. 

This lockdown has had very few positives so far, at least personally. An out of work orthopaedic surgeon is not the best prescription for mental health. The fact that I am an amateur flautist is a blessing in disguise. This period of enforced house arrest has had me playing daily and doing three classes 

every week with my guru on Skype.  

In the last four weeks I have learnt kritis such as Mooladhara (Sri), Sarasamukhi (Gaudamalhar), Saravanabhava 

(Kannada) and Sriman Narayana (Bowli). Apart from learning new songs I have had ample time to practice the varnams and kritis that I have already learnt. All this practice I think has definitely improved my skill, as my family no longer shut the door on me when I start playing!

Aside from playing, there has been enough time to listen to music too (when I am not watching Netflix). I have been listening a lot to T.M. Krishna, Abhishek Raghuram, and Jayanthi Kumaresh (always a favourite). As always I continue to listen to the old masters like Semmangudi, KVN, GNB, and MLV.

Music has been the great healer in this period of house arrest. Without it I am sure I would have lost my mind by now and would be in dire need of my psychiatric colleagues.

Photo: A photograph of Dr Vijay Sriram's flute.

PC : Dr Vijay Sriram

The New York Kathak Festival

May 2, 2020, 3:27 am

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Classical dance festival goes online, making art accessible globally

The New York Kathak Festival is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that presents and promotes dancers, scholars, and practitioners of Kathak, a classical dance tracing its origins to India. Like so many arts organizations, the New York Kathak Festival (NYKF), had to cancel its flagship event this April. Dance, music, and theater cancelations have been devastating to artists and audiences. Artists are struggling to earn a living and have their work seen, whereas audiences are starved for cultural enrichment. So NYKF decided to pivot—they shifted the entire festival online. 

                                                       

On Sunday, 19 April, NYKF premiered an online festival (https://youtu.be/7gNT1V8m5Fw), held at a time to ensure audiences from around the world could tune in together. The lineup featured 12 artists from the U.S., Canada, Singapore, Trinidad & Tobago, and the United Kingdom. Artists introduced a new level of vulnerability into their performances—sharing not only their perspectives and worldviews through their work, but also bringing the audience right into their living spaces—offering an unprecedented look into their lives, and their personas on and off stage. Seetal Kaur, a performer from Leicester presented a traditional live solo, accompanied by her husband Kaviraj Singh on vocals and santoor, and brother-in-law Upneet Singh on tabla, showcasing the improvisation and musical exchange that are defining features of Kathak. Singapore-based dancer Sunena Gupta’s performance emphasized the storytelling aspect of the art form, as she presented her vision for what life could look like after the pandemic. 

Online presentations are not without their challenges for dancers. Meenakshi Lala, who leads the team’s sponsorship efforts, noted, “We heard from some artists that the NYKF Online presented new challenges for the performers. There’s no feedback loop through applause, nor energy to be drawn from a physically present audience. Performing within limited spaces in their homes is also difficult.” Despite the challenges, however, the New York Kathak Festival’s online event was an important effort towards fostering a sense of community. Hundreds tuned in to watch the event premiere together and expressed their appreciation for the artists and the arts community.The event was supported by the Indian Consulate in New York.

Sruti Lockdown diaries with Artists

May 2, 2020, 6:48 am

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Sruti has been receiving emails from artists, rasikas and Sruti readers on their inspirations, experiences this lockdown and what they are listening to during this period.

Sruti has compiled this series as lockdown diaries and sharing some of them with you.

#artistdiaries

 Priya Murle, Bharatanatyam dancer & teacher

The lockdown has taught me to live in the ‘Now’. At the beginning the power of this tiny virus eluded me. But  over time ( a concept of which we have all redefined) the enormity of the situation hit me.

During the early days of the lockdown it took sometime to settle into the new routine of domestication. The family time, which was a rarity, is something that all of us will treasure. Realised that the art of cooking is as intricate and exacting  as our dance movements  - a test that needs to be faced everyday, hopefully well!

The lockdown has given me time to reflect, introspect and rethink many of the issues that have been at the back of my mind. Acceptance and living in the Now is my new mantra. Attending some useful online workshops has put my mission and vision as a dancer in perspective. Working on some pieces for abhinaya and choreographing some items for my students have kept me engaged as also the online classes for my students. Whilst we did a short awareness presentation for an appeal for the  'ABHAI -Artiste to Artiste welfare fund', I read up on Janani  Prithvi, mother Earth,  who holds a pot in  her hand and is an embodiment of Lakshmi. She is Kamadhenu , who gives all that we need- water sunlight, food, clothing and shelter. I guess it's time to revere mother Earth and nourish her .

Researching, choreographing, dancing , exercising are some things that I am doing more. There are times my mind is blank, there were days when I am completely devastated about inhuman acts and thoughts of class, caste etc that still plague the society . But I get up every day thankful, hopeful as I always think the miracle is lurking at the corner , waiting to happen ..

I would like to sign of with this wonderful quote of Tolle, "Life is the dancer and you are the dance".

Vaibhav Arekar, Bharatanatyam dancer

Mid March 2020 the world turned upside down for all of us. It was an emotional roller coaster ride that started from the world of promise travelling through anxiety, doubt, worry, helplessness, acceptance, calmness and to the present state of unlimited hope. 

I drew a timetable and did, apart from household chores and cooking,  meditation, reading, ideating, and keeping the body in practice. My focus has been, and is, to observe where does my dance lead me from this point.Physically, emotionally and conceptually too.

But what has definitely most affected my life now is this:  The realisation that I too was running, always wanting to go ‘somewhere’ and to be ‘someone’. There is, it seems so for me, a lot of clarity in this aspect of life.

Vaibhav pc: Music Academy

Priya pc: ABHAI