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Bharatanatyam artistes, Renjith and Vijna share their experiences of dancing together and working on productions for Apsaras Arts. An Interview… Having watched ensemble work at the Kalakshetra, what is your relationship with ensemble work? For us, it is the coming together of dancing bodies to showcase an idea of the choreographer. It is about building a team that is capable of effectively expressing the choreographer’s vision. The important aspect of an ensemble work is not about bringing forth the individuality and ego of each dancer, but to be united with each other so that justice is done in bringing forth the conceived idea. As artistes, who largely perform together, envisaging space for two, how do things change when it comes to an ensemble? The difference is, two dancing bodies to many dancing bodies in the given space, which leads to change in the energy of a duet to a larger group. The similarity would be, unity and co-ordination amongst the dancers. In an ensemble work, there is more scope to explore because of the presence of many performers. In my experience of creating duet works for ourselves, we lay a lot of emphasis on using each of our individual strengths without letting either of us be dominant. However, the success of the final output whether it is duet or group really depends on the artistic choices made by the choreographer. You have watched Apsaras Arts productions in the past; what are some of the striking features of their work? We appreciate the company’s excellent vision and striking ideas, when it comes to stage presentation. Aravinth Kumarasamy is a versatile artiste and his way of presenting the script and narration, facilitates ease in visualisation and execution for the choreographer/ music composer and other artistes who are involved in the creation process. We are always amazed and in awe of how they bring large scale dance productions to the audience. You have been associated with Agathi and Anjaneyam; can you first tell us about Agathi and how the choreography process was like? Agathi – I (Renjith) was the guest choreographer for this production. Firstly, the theme was very moving and educational. I was very impressed with the way Aravinth Kumarasamy narrated the script to me, since it helped a lot to envision the choreographic ideas with ease. It was also a great learning for us, as we got to understand in-depth, the challenges and hardships faced by the refugees. What about Anjaneyam? It’s considered such a mammoth production; what did it require from you as dancers-choreographers and how was the experience? Anjaneyam – I(Renjith) was the rehearsal director for this production and also choreographed a few sequences of this mammoth work of Apsaras Arts. I would call it the experience of watching a Broadway musical. It was my first time working with a huge group of varied artistes from the world of dance, music and stage craft. I will always cherish the experience, lessons and memories that were made while working for Anjaneyam. What are you currently working on? I am at present, re-visiting some of the earlier duet works with the hope to present them in a new light. Along with this, we also have some new themes in the pipeline.
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“My life is sound… I breathe sound, I walk sound, I live sound,” says Sai Shravanam, Music Director, Music Arranger and Sound Engineer, even as he shared special moments from his journey with Apsaras Arts, over the years Sai ji, you have been associated with Apsaras Arts for so many years now. Can you share with us what have been the key highlights of this association? To me, it was always Aravinth Kumaraswamy and not Apsaras Arts. Because I have always interacted with Aravinth and not with any of the founders or other members of Apsaras Arts. All I know is AK, Aravinth Kumaraswamy. I have also seen him as the principal person there, and Apsaras Arts is such a part of him. To me, he is an extraordinary visionary. I think of him as a silent worker, low profile but full of high spirits. The way he handles everything for Apsaras Arts will make you feel that Apsaras Arts is Aravinth Kumaraswamy and Aravinth Kumaraswamy is Apsaras Arts. Honestly, I am not able to separate the organisation and an entity. But what I have known from Aravinth about Apsaras Arts is that he shared an incredible love for Neila Sathyalimgam Maami, the founder of Apsaras Arts, and every instance he keeps referring to her. Unfortunately, I have interacted with her only once. As a company, what I love the most about Apsaras Arts is that it is more than a mere company, it is a family. From day one of my association with Apsaras Arts, everyone there has been so warm and friendly, treating you like a member of the family and at no point as a client who works for a producer. That feeling, I must admit, is very beautiful. There is a great sense of belonging here. As a result, creating work for/with Apsaras Arts over the years has always been about the joy of creating whatever I’d like to create; it has been a very creatively fulfilling platform for me, personally and I think the person who enables it all is Aravinth Kumaraswamy. As a company, the spirit of Apsaras Arts is inherently collaborative. Can you share an experience from your years of working with them that demonstrates this idea of collaboration? Trust is a very important part of any collaboration. I do not believe in collaborations that happen because one is knowledgeable in the arts. Collaborations happen because of the amalgamation of heart and the arts. This is very important. I see Aravinth as a catalyst, in how he chooses people to do the work, the way he envisions a certain production and becoming the catalyst for people to realise their artistic dreams. What’s amazing is that he gives his collaborators space and freedom – be it lighting, composition, sound, stage, or an organisation like Esplanade that commissions Apsaras Arts to create and present a work. His vision to ensure that everyone comes together to ensure the success of a production is truly amazing. I think that is called freedom. If I have to share a story, I remember this production Angkor where we were working with the Cambodian Gamelan. It was all very new for us – the production was on on altogether different scale including the feeling of performing Bharatanatyam in collaboration with Cambodian musicians. It wasn’t easy for us to go overseas and create something just before the show. The risk therefore was that parts of the music were recorded and most of the music was live musicians, and some part of it would be a mix of live and recorded music, together. Honestly, it isn’t as easy as it sounds and it’s near impossible to pull this off without a great deal of homework and planning. The good news with Aravinth is that the homework part is incredibly good that I just can’t even begin to describe it. Right from the way he prepares an excel sheet, to the way the rehearsals are spaced out and planned, everything is rigorous and meticulous with great attention to detail. For the Angkor production too, the homework was so well done that the audience didn’t even know which part was recorded and which was done live or which parts were the coming together of both. You have had the privilege of creating soundscapes for Apsaras Arts’ productions both small and big, for a while now. Is the planning and process of each of these works different and how has processes like these helped you personally, grow as an artiste? Every time I have worked on soundscapes for Apsaras Arts, it has always been like a Eureka moment for me! Personally, I always like to put myself in situations that I am not comfortable in/with and win them over. That’s my inherent nature – the need to explore and not create within a boundary. So when the first production Angkor came in, I realised Aravinth’s vision was large, and it was impossible to do that with live musicians. It was not about the capability of the musicians but really more about the magnitude of the stage in Esplanade, the cast, etc. You need to have orchestral music for the sake of grandeur. Our Indian music is inherently horizontal and not vertical. We don’t have music with harmony. So it tends to be very monotonic. For the very first time, in this project, we created a success story by mixing live music, recorded music and managing to mix them both. I can say that it was probably one of the very first shows that successfully ran for two full shows with live, recorded and gamelan music. And this was a feather on my cap as well as for Apsaras Arts. The other production after this was Anjaneyam, which was even larger. Yet again, in this production too, we wanted to include recorded music, live music and add a slew of special effects to the music. The whole project was inspired by special effects, all of
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Past, Forward In our Portrait section this month, veteran Bharatanatyam exponent, VP Dhananjayan from Chennai, talk to us about his Natyam and his association with all things Apsaras Arts You have been associated with Apsaras Arts for a while now. What are some of your first thoughts when it comes to the work that Apsaras Arts has been doing? We (The Dhananjayans) have been associated with Apsaras Arts right from the inception of the institution in the year 1977. The founders of Apsaras Arts, Neila and Sathyalingam used to invite us to conduct Abhyasa saala for their students and teach our special repertoire for their student’s Arangetrams. For their granddaughter’s Arangetram, we were asked to compose a special repertoire suitable for a child of 9-10 years. We composed a Nrityopahaaramon Srikrishna (Guru Rajee Narayanan’s Kalyani Varnam) on Satyajit, who was also a teenager then. He went to Singapore along with Shanta and taught that item to the child. A couple of Apsaras students were sent to Bharatakalanjali Chennai to train for their Arangetram. Since we have had a close bond with them right from the Kalakshetra days, we have mutually benefited a lot in our growth, as successful professionals. In terms of ensemble productions, you have such a rich experience. What according to you are the crucial qualities that make an ensemble production shine and standout? Both Neila and Sathyalingam had a very liberal attitude and approach to artistic endeavours. They helped SIFAS (Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society), a pioneering cultural centre in Singapore in widening their horizon to group productions. On the advice of Neila and Sathyalingam, SIFAS commissioned us – thorough the Singapore government – to produce a mega group production for the South East Asian International Art Festival in 1984-85. Neila and Sathyalingam were instrumental in bringing the artistes fraternity together and established a spirit of camaraderie among the arts fraternity in Singapore. Under their guidance, SIFAS brought students and professionals from different institutions under one umbrella. After auditioning and selecting artistes we trained more than a hundred participants. Bharatakalanjali’s magnum opus production was re-created as a mega group production for the Singapore International Art festival. This was the beginning of group productions initiated by Apsaras Arts for SIFAS, and later they went on to continue their own group activities interacting with artistes from India, especially from Chennai. What according to you is the role of costume, lighting and technology in the context of ensemble productions. You have had the privilege of working as part of Anjaneyam and playing a crucial part in it. How was that experience and what were your key takeaways and learnings? In the four Abhinayas mentioned in the Naatya Shastra- Aangika(physical), Vaachika(verbal or vocal), Aahaarya(costume & stage) and Sathvika(finer expressions) – costume plays a very important role. Aahaarya includes stagecraft, characteristic make-up and external aesthetics enhancing the presentation without jeopardizing or compromising the quality of the other three aspects of Abhinaya. In our genuine opinion, technology could be judiciously employed only for visual enhancement but not to be distractingly overloaded. Especially in Naatya(dance drama), only artistically designed suggestive motives may be appropriate for our kind of idiom, where emphasis is given on body and facial expressions and emotions. My colleague, late Balagopalan and I were invited as guest artistes to participate in Anjaneyam, a mind-blowing production that was a learning experience for me, artistically and technologically. It was a magical broadway kind of presentation never found or experienced in our motherland Bhaarat. You have also been a part of Apsaras Arts’s DIAP and IPAC. Why do you think, as an artiste that lec-dems and presentations are very crucial for the student of the arts? IDAP and IPAC are dedicated ventures benefiting the students community, across the world, who are interested in Naatya and the allied subjects that facilitate them to interact with stalwarts in the fields of the arts. It was a great idea for Apsaras Arts to collaborate with Australian universities and making their students contribute to preserve, popularise and propagate the values of our Bharateeya Kala and its Samskriti. No one has ever attempted to venture into such service- riented online sessions. Kudos to Aravinth, the brain behind it. You have also had a long association with Apsaras Arts’. Neila Maami and her husband; can you share a bit about the bond that you all shared? Satyalingam Anna was a fastidious disciplinarian with total commitment to whatever he undertook and he expected others also to adhere to discipline, devotion and dedication. Sometimes it was very hard to keep pace with his meticulousness. Even Neila Akka found it difficult to do so, with her soft and accommodative nature. She had no pride and prejudice about differences in style, and invited artistes from various disciplines with an open heart and passed on the same trait to her students as well, including Aravinth, a fine musician himself who is continuing the legacy of this great couple Neila and Sathyalingam. Actually speaking, they are instrumental in making Singapore a cultural hub of Southeast Asia. They were visionaries far ahead of their times.
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Multi-Tasking with a Magic of her Own! Donning various hats as the Admin Manager of Apsaras Arts, Dancer, Project Manager, Tour Manager, make-up artiste and also as a wardrobe assistant, Sankari Elavalahan gives us an account of her early days of association with Apsaras Arts and her return to work with her Alma Mater Were you born and raised in Singapore? Do you remember how and when dance happened in your life? Yes, I am a second generation Singaporean. My paternal grandparents are from Thanjavur and maternal grandparents are from Karaikal. I was exposed to dance at a very young age. I spent most of my afternoons and weekends at my maternal grandmother’s home as my mother was working full-time and was a part-time bridal makeup artist over weekends. My Chitti, Barathi, who is more of an older sister to me, was learning Bharatanatyam and performing quite frequently at festivals and community centres. I would sit by my mother’s side and watch her dress Chitti for her performance. I was completely awestruck by the costumes, accessories, make-up and the attention she was getting. Once fully dressed, my mother would ask her to pose for photos and I was so fascinated by her flexibility and elegance. I remember having major meltdowns whenever she was leaving and pleaded to them to take me for her shows. My cousin, Shanmugapriya who was also learning Bharatanatyam and touring internationally as part of Neila (Sathyalingam) Maami’s Little Angels, Singapore’s first multi-ethnic children’s dance troupe, was also a huge inspiration for a five-year-old me. I pestered my mother to send me for dance classes and within a few months of attending classes, I had volunteered to perform solo at my pre-school graduation for the then Deputy Prime Minister, current Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong. All my classmates cheered for me and it was truly a diva moment for me. You were initiated into dance by none other than Neila Sathyalingam mami. What were your early experiences with her and how did she inculcate the love of dance in you? I started learning formally at the age of five with Vani Akka aka Kamalavani Anbarasu who was a senior student of Neila Maami at the Kallang Community Centre. Vani Akka was an excellent dancer herself and as a teacher she was approachable, patient and motivating. She made learning dance enjoyable while focusing on achieving the desired outcomes with us. My early encounters with Neila Maami was when she would take our classes on days when Vani Akka had to be away. I was so frightened by the tall, big-eyed, Neila Maami with a strong British accent, and her thattu kazhi, which she used to point at students and correct our postures. As I entered teenage, like all teenagers, I started having a love-hate relationship with Bharatanatyam and was not attending classes regularly, which I regret deeply till this date. However, Neila Maami noticed that I had a natural flair for semi-classical, folk and filmy dance items and initiated me to join The People’s Association (PA) Indian Dance Troupe where she was the choreographer, just to keep me dancing. I was a Star amongst The Galaxy as the theme for our float was The Milky Way as part of the 1999 Chingay Parade. Chingay Parades are huge fun with over 30 cultural contingents all over Singapore and Asia gathering annually for a lively display of Singapore’s multicultural heritage. Instead of discouraging and correcting my Bharatanatyam style, Neila Maami recognised my energy and passion in dance and showed me a path that would continue to inspire my journey. Maami was a visionary and all she wanted was for her students to keep dancing and for the flame to stay alive and burning. Talk to us a bit about your performance career in dance. Are you also trained in nattuvangam and music? If yes, tell us a bit about it. I started at the age of 15, as the youngest troupe member in 2000 at the PA Indian Dance Group and was given training to various dance forms such as Chinese Dance, Malay Dance, Modern Dance, Flamenco, Bhangra, Thevarattam, Mayilattam and Kalaripayattu. We even had a trainer from the Chennai Raack Academy of Dance to train us in Bollywood HipHop. Although I was very much active at PA with a two days a week training routine, I continued my Bharatanatyam practice with Neila Maami at the Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre (TAPAC) over weekends and performed regularly at the Navarathri festivals and community events. I was also heavily involved in local TV dance competitions representing my tertiary institution in which we had emerged as runner-up and champions in my final year. One evening after the PA rehearsal, in the car with Maami, as usual Maami was asking about our thoughts regarding a recent Arangetram we had attended. I innocently shared with her that if I was ready to do an Arangetram and that I would like to do an all film song margam instead of the usual so that it would be more relatable and be better enjoyed by my family and the audience that would attend. She listened quietly and said. “Mama will never agree to this!”. Sathyalingam Mama that way was quite a traditionalist. In February 2008, during the Sivagami, post-show appreciation lunch and Maami’s birthday celebration, I went to Mama and Maami to get their blessings, when she turned around to Mama and said, “Listen, please bless this girl as she would like to get an all film song Arangetram.” I was pleasantly surprised and elated. Firstly, it was news that I was ready for my Arangetram and secondly, the fact that she was actually proposing the all film song Arangetram idea to Mama. Soon after that event, my Arangetram preparations began. My mother and I flew to Chennai and we were introduced to Radhika Shurajit M’am to choreograph two items, Om Namashivayaa from the famous Tamil film, Salangai Oli as my Padam and Thillana from the Tamil