From the Bookshelf
The Making of a Guru: Kelucharan Mohapatra: His Life and Times “The Making of a Guru” by Dr. Ileana Citaristi attempts to recreate the story of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s lifetime achievements and to capture the flavour of the times which saw his genius talent radiate, capturing the hearts of hundreds who came under his spell. This book shelf suggestion is in remembrance of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, one of the key architects of the revival of Odissi dance on his 16th death anniversary on 7th April 2020. Synopsis The life story of Kelucharan Mohapatra, one of the main architects of the revival of Odissi dance, is intimately interwoven with important events of the cultural life of Orissa for the last sixty years. It is also the story of the development and recognition of the dance itself. From the early years of apprenticeship and struggle to the Padma Vibhusan award which he received before his death, Kelucharan’s artistic journey was one of the continuous dedication and search for excellence. For him dance was sadhana, teaching his dharma. From his gurus he imbibed the essence, the passion and poetry of Odissi and these secrets he shared with his students. A great dance, a brilliant choreographer, a patient teacher and above all, a humble person, Kelucharan’s wisdom and undemanding simplicity gave him a unique vision and child-like purity. The Making of a Guru attempts to recreate the story of Kelucharan’s life and achievements and to capture the flavour of the times which saw his genius blossom and his talent radiate, capturing the hearts of hundreds who came under his spell. About the Author Italian by birth, Ileana Citaristi has done her doctoral research on ‘Psychoanalysis and Eastern Mythology’. She came to Indian dance after years of experience in the traditional as well as experimental theatre of Europe. Ileana Citaristi was the disciple of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, and has been living in Orissa, India, since 1979 in close contact with the Oriya people, their language and culture.She is the author of three books, The Making of a Guru: Kelucharan Mohapatra: His Life and Times (2001); Traditional Martial Practices in Orissa (2012); and My Journey: A Tale of Two Births (2015).
Apasaras Arts Chennai Season
Apsaras Arts at the Magical Marghazi Season, December 2019 Apsaras Arts continued its annual participation with performances in Chennai India in celebration of the most prestigious Marghazi (December Dance & Music Festival) season, that has been a ritual over the past three decades initiated by the Founders, Shri S Sathyalingam and Smt Neila Sathyalingam. During the past decade, Apsaras Arts has transformed its presence to become of the premier Performing Arts Company worldwide, and has been invited to present the company’s repertoire during this season at prestigious Sabha or conferences held at Chennai. December 2019 – January 2020 Apsaras Arts Dance Company was on tour presenting two of the iconic productions and a few other performances during a month long tour. The multidimensional purpose of performing in the evenings, attending sessions at the annual dance conferences Natya Kala Conference, witnessing the daily performances by the stalwart performers at the Madras Music Academy and Kalakshetra, were all part of this immersive experience during the season. The Apsaras Arts team also sneaked in visits to the studios of many leading dancers, shopping for costume materials and accessories amid their tight schedules. We are excited that we got the opportunity to present some of our Singaporean dancers to also perform at the prestigious platforms. ALAPADMA – The Louts Unfolds This repertoire production is one of the most popular works of the company. Premiered in 2015 presented by the Esplanade Theatres by the Bay for its Raaga series in 2015, ALAPADMA has been on many international tours including to several cities in India. Review of our production “ALAPADMA” on The Hindu, Chennai “Outside India, Indian classical art forms seemingly survive with more rigour. Dare I say that the Singapore-based Apsaras Arts Dance Company’s ‘Alapadma’ was a far more accomplished performance than anything I have seen on the Kalakshetra stage recently and few Indian dancers exhibit the perfection of the lovely young Nikita Menon who stole the show.” Please Click Here for full review ANJASA – Unravel the Wonders of The Buddhist Monuments of Asia. This production which premiered in Singapore in 2015, has seen repeat seasons in Singapore and several overseas tours to Bangalore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Kandy, London, Manchester and Liverpool. This time it was performed for the first time as part of Natya Kala Conference 2019 presented by the Krishna Gana Sabha convened by Rama Vaidhyanathan. Review of our production “ANJASA” on New Indian Express, Chennai “The dancers, each of them, had their own signature and managed to draw eyes even while being a part of an ensemble. Nikita Menon had my complete attention. It was a blessing to see Mohanapriyan Thavarajah bring exquisite form to his choreography as he joined the dancers in select acts. Given the high ideals of this production envisaged by Aravinth Kumarasamy, he hits every spot — from intrigue to familiarity — just right. With people around the globe still delighting in this work, five years since its debut, it is likely to come to your city again. When it does, drop everything to watch this and experience reverence in person.” Please Click Here for full review Solo Presentations Apsaras Arts presented Principal Dancer Mohanapriyan Thavarajah in a solo performance at the Narada Gana Sabha’s festival. Review of the Solo Presentation by Mohanapriyan Thavarajah by Dr Sunil Kothari for Narthaki. “His choreography is vibrant with athleticism and sensitivity by nuanced expressive elements of storytelling. He succeeds in creating new structures in Bharatanatyam form. Commencing his performance with a medley of Thevarams on Lord Shiva by saints Thirugnana Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar to the music by Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi, choreography by Sheejith Krishna, Mohanapriyan aptly evoked mood of bhakti during the Margazhi month. His choreography of Navarasa Varnam in praise of Goddess Meenakshi composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman was replete with sancharis for each rasa. Parvati’s expressions were well captured by him. The rasas found felicitous depiction with appropriate episodes.” Please Click Here for full review Apsaras Arts presented the following three solo works of Singaporean dancers which were developed as part of the Dance India Asia Pacific 2018-19. Mohini by Seema Hari Kumar Kamakshi by Madhuri Suresh Moonstruck by Nithyashree Nadesan These solo thematic works were created by the artistes under the mentorship of Priyadarsini Govind and Anjana Anand. Apsaras Arts’ Artistic Director Aravinth Kumarasamy was invited to be a speaker on the panel at the dance conference of Madras Music Academy and also moderated a panel discussion at the Natya Kala Conference. Apsara Arts team also presented a Lecture-Demonstration on the making of Anjasa, organised by C.P Ramaswami Iyer Foundation, Chennai. Review of the LecDem on New Indian Express “Short of making a visit and taking in the sites, the way we experience the monumental remnants of ancient history has remained the same for centuries — unquestioned school texts, impersonal tour-guide websites and perhaps a revelatory journal or two. But, for five years now, Aravinth Kumarasamy has been helping the world to indulge in the Buddhist marvels of South-East Asia through the exquisite medium of Bharatanatyam. The artiste’s fascination for architecture and practised expertise in setting a story to tune and dance find a perfect union in this production — Añjasa — Unravelling the Wonders of Buddhist Monuments. Having watched the sneak-peak demonstration of the performance, legendary classical dancer Padma Subrahmanyam remarked, “In one way, dance is also architecture. The architecture that the body creates; not through stone or cement but with the soul. And Aravinth has been able to bring the two arts together.” Please Click Here for full review The season 2019-2020 ended on a high note in January with a luncheon hosted by Apsaras Arts for all the Singapore based dancers and musicians who collaborated and contributed to the success of the season. It was definitely an immersive learning journey for our company dancers, performing, watching leading performers, attending the conferences and guided heritage tours etc. We look forward to continuing our learning journey during the future magical Marghazi seasons at Chennai.
My Memories of Neila Mami
“Vittuda Koodathu” meaning ‘Never give up’ was Neila Mami’s Mantra for life By Rhama Sankaran What were the principles, ideals and thought leadership of one of the most legendary and visionary dancer-choreographer-teacher and founder of Apsaras Arts, Smt Neila Sathyalingam? Rhama Sankaran, a board member of Loving Heart Multiservice Centre, Jurong, a Volunteer Welfare Organisation (VWO) and advisory board member of Apsaras Arts, gives a first person account of her observations, learnings and experiences in this rare blog.Mami was the unifying force during the launch of National Arts Festival in 1991 bringing together Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, Nriyalaya, Temple of Fine Arts and her own Apsaras Arts to produce a dance drama baed on the fusion of Indian and Buddhist theme. She had a tough time to get all the representatives from these major art institutions to agree to the production choreographed by Dr Padma Subramanyam of India. Mami worked tirelessly and used to conduct the meetings at the newly formed National Arts Council located at SLF building , Thomson Road. She also co- ordinated the Indian segment of the festival and made it as a unique blend of Indian art traditions by organising two other different events. ‘King Lear’ by French Director McRuvie staged in ancient Kathakali style and ‘Therukoothu’, reflecting an age old street theatre style of Tamilnadu, India. When Mami invited the Indian artistes to Singapore, she used to focus on 2 things. Getting them a good monetary reward and made them teach their dance traditions to the local students. She had an unique loving style of getting the remuneration demanded by artistes from even Government agencies as a mark of respect for their lineage and talent. I witnessed this selfless effort when artistes like Padma Subramanyam were invited. For Mami, the goal was clear. When she entered Singapore in 1974, she wanted the divine Indian dance form to reach the lower income families. She was determined to find a place for Indian art in the community centres, promoted by the grassroot agencies. Her aim was not just earning a place as an Indian dance teacher and artiste alone but to reach out to the multicultural audience of Singapore by developing a new generation of Indian dance teachers and dancers on all levels. With this noble vision she entered People’s Association as a choreographer and teacher in the early 80s. Mami took part in the Indian segments of the local festivals. Her productions made her popular with the other cultural art groups. Her dance production under the theme ‘Fire’ for the multi segmented cultural festival won her accolades from People’s Association and other art groups. She became successful in forming a children’s multicultural dance troupe and started flying around with these ‘Little Angels’ troupe. She could thus form and propagate the Singapore style of dancing in all National, religious and cultural events. Mami became the master choreographer of PA and took part in almost 15 Chingay parades. It created awareness and augmented the presence of Indians in the multicultural festivals. Mami, as a winner of Cultural Medallion Award inspired all those who wanted to enter the creative and teaching profession in Indian dance in the late 80s. They learnt just not the rhythm and expressions. But learnt the core values of Indian culture. Mami taught the way of dressing and choosing costumes. Mami herself was a stunning example when she walked around in Kanchipuram silk sarees and amazing regal jewellery. She was keen to maintain the wardrobe on her own. She trained the students as how to manage the costumes. She made them learn the basics of make up etc. I recall the moments of getting dancers from Mami at a short notice, sometimes just 5 to 6 hours with a ‘ready to dance’ mood and looks.She was an unassuming saviour suddenly when the performers didn’t turn up during the 48 days cultural festivals of temples. She taught a famous dancer of India how to dress up to dance when she was given an opportunity to perform in Singapore by Mami for the first time. She became popular as a film star later. Mami was a mentor to many. Mami’s pre production planning was very corporate in style. Not only the cost but technical aspects like lighting, sound effects, settings, costumes etc would be discussed in detail. Music and recording were very impactful always. When Mami was discussing the setting for ‘Kannagi’, a Tamil epic production with Ms Anita Rathnam I was there listening as a media person. I could imagine the grandeur of the show. Every aspect of it urged us to publicise it to make it as full house. Talking about Mami’s pre production planning skills, I would like to mention our meeting with film actor, Nazar, who was supposed to play the lead role in her ‘Sivakamiyin Selvan’.While the meeting was going on, Mami gave technical inputs on how to operate the lighting etc. It showed her extraordinary skills. The sequences appeared on the computer screen with her narration, proving her brilliant planning. Mami, through her tireless works acquired the media’s attention at Singapore. Beyond her talents as a dance use and teacher, Mami remains as a loving kind human being in our hearts. ‘Vittuda kootathu’ meaning ‘Never give up’ is her ‘Mantra’ for life.
Review Corner
Aavaratna News Letter April 2020 Edition Quintessence- An Odissi dance duet Performed on 21st March 2020 by Kalaivani Kumareswaran and Aarthi Subash Presented by Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, Singapore for its Raaga Series. Before the country was gripped with the cancellation news across all entertainment venues, the Odissi dance lovers got an opportunity to watch a captivating duet performance by two illustrious and beautiful dancers from Temple of Fine Arts, Kalai Kumareswaran and Aarthi Subash and choreographed by Guru Ratikant Mohapatra. The performance opened with one of the most familiar embodiment of duality- Ardhanariswara. As the dancers depicted duality, of Shiva and Shakti as opposing forces of Grit and Grace; they seamlessly delivered the message together in unison- as if they were one. The dance performance was inspired by the author Darlene Broke’s online magazine Grace and Grit project which is dedicated to raise and inspire strong, passionate women. While the opening left an indelible impact of this concept, what followed rest of the evening was a traditional repertoire that didn’t seem to have much relevance to the Grace and Grit project. As Odissi performances are rare treats for the Singapore audience, it was enjoyable to watch some of the most celebrated choreographies by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. “Ahe Nila Saila” – a song by Salabeg, a Muslim devotee of Lord Jagannath was performed by Subash; Hamswadhani Pallavi by the duo; followed by Shri Ramachandra by Kumareswaran and finally Mokshya by the duo. As a regular rasika of Raga series, we hope that seasoned dancers who are given this opportunity challenge themselves in presenting new thoughtful works that sets the example for the next generation of traditional dancers to not only execute what has been taught in class but to make it yours. From the backstage chatter, we understand that the production has multiple lessons learnt from business continuity perspective in the wake of COVID19. From live music to recorded music due to travel restrictions; from staging one show to repeating it twice due to social distancing measures; from ticket sales to technical support; the success of Quintessence was in its adaptive execution. Abhinaya- Musical Expressions of Dance Performed on 15th March 2020 by Vaishnavi Anand and Srividya Sriram. Presented by Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, Singapore for its Raaga Series. It was a novel attempt to present a Carnatic music concert using the content from various classical dance repertoire. Legendary composer-musician Dr Rajkumar Bharathi from India, who has been appointed by Esplanade to mentor Singapore based musicians as part of the Raaga Mentorship series, selected this repertoire for this performance and painstakingly trained the musicians for this presentation. With his experience and his eye for details, his mentorship made this experimental work an enjoyable experience. The concert featured a variety of items: Mallari (a temple processional music, which has been often adopted as an invocatory performance by Bharatanatyam dancers), two Jatheewarams and two Pada Varnams (one traditional and the other modern), a padam from the Mohiniattam tradtion, followed by an item in kuchippudi repertoire from its renowned Bhama Kalapam; and concluded with two thillanas of two composers of different eras. Kudos to the musicians who pulled off this dance music concert in the absence of a dancer who usually performs to the music played by the musicians. The selection of repertoire items, juxtaposing traditional compositions with modern ones, was an intelligent choice, in educating the audience in a delightful way. As most of the musicians in the team may not have had the experience of accompanying a dancer, the process of engaging the audience to visualise the dancer while listening to this concert, was clearly a challenge. We particularly missed the cross rhythmic interaction between the percussionist and the dancer, which is a predominant feature in any repertoire. Having Bhavani Prasad an experienced Veena artist from India as a guest musician enhanced the performance quality and aesthetics. Engaging a learned stalwart like Dr Rajkumar Bharathi for mentorship is refreshing. However, we hope Esplanade opens up this door for locally trained musicians to learn from the experts from India as part of the Raga series. Goddesses of Words- Angry Indian Women Performed on 15th March, 2020 by Grace Kalaiselvi The Angry Indian Women, is the second play in the Goddess of Words series featuring poems from Singaporean writers, Pooja Nansi and Deborah Emmanuel. Performed to a packed audience at the Play Den at Arts House as part of Textures 2020, the highlight of this performance was stories from personal experiences of the performers. The play featured three actors dressed in pure white who gradually turned red, as the vermillion smeared on the stage consumed them. This theatrical tool and others like use of gold masks, high stools, sharp lighting and flute effectively created subtle yet dramatic moments that both endeared and startled the audience. Many of the themes discussed by the actors empathised with the experiences of Singaporean women of Indian origin. Suppression of anger from childhood, treatment by others in the context of race, culture, sex were well executed by the three actors. The play sheds light on the deep emotions which manifest itself into anger, frustration, depression and dark humour. For some audiences, this play was illuminating, being unaware of the inner feelings of Indian women. Director, Grace Kalaiselvi used theatre to to convince the audience that their lives matter and the angry voices of the Indian Woman deserves to be heard. This work bears a deeper discussions across all members of Society, regardless of race, origin, culture or sex.
Remembering Neila Maami
Reflections of a dancer By Seema Hari Kumar I once had the privilege of joining Mr & Mrs Sathyalingam (Maama & Maami) on their customary visit to their alma mater – Kalakshetra during the Margazhi season, in 2005. Whilst Maama was immensely proud of the institution and readily took me around on a tour of the various cottages where he held memories, Maami raved about her memories of Guru Smt Rukmini Devi. Little did Neila Maami know then, that she would leave behind a comparable legacy at Singapore. Maami’s demise in March 2017 was, to many of us, untimely and unexpected. The days leading up to that and the many months that followed were gruelling for me, as I felt her stark absence and often battled within myself on how I could have sought a satisfactory closure with this suddenness. The opportunity came three years later when Apsaras Arts decided to inaugurate the “Remembering Neila Sathyalingam” Festival on her birthday weekend. The objective was to curate a series of programmes that would not just be limited to Maami’s choreography but also, showcase the evolutionary nature of Bharathanatyam with original new works. When Mr Aravinth Kumarasamy, Artistic Director at Apsaras Arts, approached Deva Priya and me to restage “Dvayam – Perspectives of Duality” at the inaugural festival, we had mixed feelings. This production was extremely special because when we staged it for the first time in 2011, we were premiering on a proscenium at the Esplanade Theatre Studio as a duo. But it didn’t come without the challenges of a normal production. Our founder, Mr Sathyalingam Maama passed away four days before the Show in 2011 and we paid a tearful tribute to him on stage. Maami never got to watch Dvayam and that became the only Apsaras Arts production she hadn’t watched before her demise. It may have been her divine wish to restage “Dwayam” again in 2020. Under Aravinth’s guidance, we worked on a refreshed perspective. While we retained a couple of the original items, we worked with Mohanapriyan Thavarajah, Resident Choreographer at Apsaras Arts on adding new choreographies. What completely surprised us was how Priyan’s choreography of the thillana aligned seamlessly to Maami’s original choreography of the pushpanjali that we performed on that evening. This speaks volumes of Maami’s vision into the future of this evolving dance form, that resembles the choreographies by a millennial choreographer. Post show, one of the audience members sent me congratulatory note and mentioned that while she has not met Maami before, she felt the presence of her gracious personality on that evening through the through the personal anecdotes of Mr Viswa Sadasivan, the chief guest and personal sharing by Mdm Som Said, as a close friend. At that moment, a realisation dawned on me- on how privileged I am to have received her blessings as a student.