YAVANIKA – INTERVIEW WITH PRIYADARSINI GOVIND
By Vidhya Nair VN: What motivated you to create Yavanika? What was your inspiration? Walk us through your process, from how you got the idea to the concept evolving, the director’s vision and what it was like to dance for the camera. PG: I had been wanting to work on a group production for some time. Last year, I was supposed to present a group production at DIAP but it didn’t happen. As I have always been a soloist and duo presenter, this time I had to think differently. I first started with different concepts & ideas. Then I landed on Kabir’s “Jheeni.” [ Kabir Das was a 15th century iconoclastic Indian poet-saint revered by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. He was raised and adopted by a Muslim weaver] My concept deals with the body as likened to a cloth and the journey of the being, life on earth and the return back to the Maker. Slowly, the concept came into play. “Yavanika” means screen, cover. I have also incorporated the idea of “Maya”- the illusion of what we believe to be real. The compositions I have used engage with the five elements within us and outside of us and we explore the screen as the body. A traditional repertoire was choreographed. The opening Alarippu focuses on our energies, then the concept of Samsara which refers to the cycle of the body’s rebirth and death and how it pleads to be delivered from Maya. Then the Thillana shows the uptake of physical energy as the soul dances out of the body and a finale showing the creation of the cloth as it returns to the Maker. Dancing to the camera is not new to me. I’ve had a lot of experience facing the camera as I had done many teaching DVDs over the years. I also have been doing a lot of work online. It was a deliberate choice to not do this as a choreographed dance performance but to present it in the eyes of a cinematographer. It is a highly subjective point of view as there is no end to the ways one can capture dance on camera but this medium is able to traverse the stage and can bring the audience’s eye to certain moves. Without too much interference with the compositions or movements in the dance pieces, we have filmed it such a way that makes it very different from watching a stage performance. I had engaged a filmmaker and cinematographer for this film. As people outside the dance world, they actively watched rehearsals and understood how dance is being performed. The film is a coming together of how they view through their camera lens and culminates both our visions as choreographer and filmmaker in the final outcome. VN: What is unique about Yavanika, and about blending seer-poetry with classical dance? PG: This was an attempt between what you can see on stage and what a camera can show. It is not meant to take away from the in-person experience but we are trying to use the advantages we have with this technology. It so happened that we have used compositions of different languages and applied philosophical questions about Samsara as life on earth. We looked at the parts of everyday life which are very real and connected it with the seer’s questionings on life and reality. We used a variety of approaches and put them on camera. VN: Why is it important for you to make this film at this point in your career? PG: I am not looking at points in my career. Today’s times bring out a trigger and opportunity to create. It was always something I wanted to do; it has been in my mind for some time. IPAC and Aravinth Kumarasamy (Curator & Convenor) provided me the basis to actually do it. VN: What do you think about programs like IPAC in keeping Indian arts and culture thriving outside of India? PG:There are now no geographical boundaries. It no longer matters which part of world this is being organised. Our world has become porous. What is important is that there should be vision in the programming and adequate resources to enable delivery. IPAC has made it available to students these past ten years. It also because of IPAC that Yavanika came to be created. A trigger and an incentive to try things out and providing a platform for it. Knowledge is essential for dancers and in trying to provide a varied experience and resources is unique about IPAC. Aravinth Kumarasamy is very tuned in to what artistes and students need. IPAC is crucial for evolution of art. Now, it no longer matters where the location is. IPAC gives access to both students and artistes. Organisation is important for the arts to grow. The vision of the program, access, resources and the opportunities it creates. VN: As a mentor in IPAC how do you connect/ engage with the younger generation and how do you feel about the potential of Singapore artists? PG: Mentoring has been a fantastic experience; it is an important way of guiding the journey of an artiste. It is not about teaching them what to do or choreographing for them but is about helping them discover and channelise their creative thoughts. My role is to help them find it in themselves and discover what kind of artiste they are capable of becoming. The young dancers of Singapore are fantastic. The kind of concepts and movements they think up has been very exciting for me. It’s not easy to do, fleshing out a concept, visualising and giving it movement, its like incubating and delivering your baby. All this requires commitment and resilience. Whatever facilities and resources provided; the majority of work has to be done by the young artiste to bring visualisation to their ideas. All the girls have been different. Each very committed. To create your own work is also an emotional journey. There is self-doubt, frustration, and discovery. From understanding how to
TANJORE THE GOLDEN AGE OF BHARATANATYAM
Reminiscences by Lakshmi Viswanathan It seems like yesterday…..a full house, with eager expectations at the Esplanade in Singapore when Aravinth Kumaraswami of Apsaras Arts presented a tribute to Tanjore as a highlight of Dance India Asia Pacific 2016. It is said, ideas should not be kept but used effectively. Aravinth’s idea of making several students perform what they had learnt from various teachers in the preceding years as a tribute to the roots of these dances in the magnificent culture of Tanjore, flowed as a stream of inspiration to me in Chennai. He asked me if I would be the presenter of this show. I told him, I have an idea, but let it be a surprise until we are on stage. While the dancers were in full rehearsal, I merely watched, only giving cues about my entrances and exits between the dances. What was I going to do? Well, that is my story as I write this. Studious as always, I had, during my research of Tanjore dynasties, come across a dynamic royal personality. She was Kamakshibai Sahiba, the last Maratha queen of Tanjore, and one of the wives of Sivaji, the last ruler. I decided to be Kamakshibai, dressed in traditional Marathi style, complete with accessories, and dance to centre stage in the Lavani style, between each dance and tell the story of Tanjore from Raja Raja Chola to the final Maratha rule of Tanjore. The Marathas, descended from Chatrapathi Sivaji, were devoted to the Mother goddess Bhavani. So my entries were accompanied by a famous Bhimsen Joshi bhajan in a lilting thisra beat ” Jai Durge….matha Bhavani”. My moves were in suitable Lavani style, typical of Marathi dance. As Raja Raja was an incomparable Shiva bhakta, the invocation dance by a group was the Shiva Panchakshara Stotra. I spoke as the story teller or Shabdkosh ( Sanskrit for racounteur). As the story of the great king unfolded in my speech, I shared nuggets of information about his patronage of dance, employing four hundred dancers to serve Brihadeeswara, and how his whole kingdom was ruled by Adavallan ( Nataraja) the lord of the dance. The anecdote of Raja Raja rediscovering the Thevaram hymns, in dusty bundles of palm leaves in the Chidambaram temple, and his edict to make the singing of these hymns in all the temples of his kingdom compulsory made a suitable impact on the listeners. To enhance this story Mohanapriyan glided on to the stage to perform select verses from the Thevaram anthologies, underlining the glory Shiva in Tanjore under the great king Raja Raja, and the everlasting relevance of the saints Appar, Sundarar, and Tirugnanasambandar. My narrative touched upon the hundred dark years when Tanjore came under a series of alien conquests. Then, I glorified the Renaissance which originated in the city of victory, Vijayanagaram. The new dynasty were known as the Nayaks. As a wave of renewal and re- building spread across the kingdom, the kings patronised savants, poets, dancers, musicians and new temples. Raghunatha Nayak was an artist himself who modelled a new Veena. The Nayak court’s prime minister Govinda Dikshitar proved a great administrator. His son Venkatamakhi produced the resounding Melakartha classification of the Ragas of Carnatic music. And Kshetragna whose poems we do Abhinaya for, came to the court of Vijayaraghava Nayak and composed many Padams in his honour. Natyam was in full and dynamic splendour in temple and palace. The marvellous shrine for Subramanya ( Murugan) built within the vast grounds of the Brihadeeswara temple is to this day an icon of Nayak architecture and devotion. Seamlessly, my narrative flowed into the Skanda Kauttuvam presented by a set of agile dancers, making patterns of fluid Nrtta on the colourfully lit stage as a tribute to the gods and the sanctity of their abodes. Mannargudi and SriVidya Rajagopala the presiding deity has alwayss been a favourite of devotees, poets, composers. The Nayak kings expanded this famous and vast temple, making it a landmark of their kingdom. Hailing from a small village called Oothukkadu near Tanjore, the great Vaggeyakar Venkatasubbayyar was a prolific composer of songs in praise of Krishna. He was a devotee of Mannargudi Rajagopala .Worthy of visualising them as dance, his compositions are popular to this day. Three sparkling dancers performed the Kalinga Narthana composition of this great composer taking the audience with them with fluid movements. With pride and joy, I recounted the roots of Bharatanatyam as we know it today to the times of the Maratha dynasty that followed the Nayak rule of Tanjore. The glory of music and Natyam was promoted zealously by the Marathas who brought their own cultural ethos to Tanjore. The four renowned Nattuvanars known as the Tanjore Quartet were right there, patronised by each king. They were composing and conducting premieres of their great Pada Varnams, danced by young talented Devadasis in the grandeur of the palace. The Marathas were also devoted to Tyagesar the deity of Tiruvarur. Linking devotion to Sringara the court Gurus excelled in creating a new format, a trend for performance, which is stylish to to this day. The inimitable Bhairavi Pada Varnam Mohamana in Tamil was presented as a solo with a combination of Bhakti and Sringara pervading the dance. It was the best acknowledgment of the Paramapara of Nattuvanars. As Kamakshibai, I shared many an anecdote about the Maratha legacy still found in many aspects of Tanjore culture….the devotional music, Harikatha, the congregations of Bhajana singing, the Maths of religious heads, the inclusion of Hindustani musical modes and various crafts including the now proverbial Tanjore painting. With understandable pride, I said that the Tanjore Quartet have left for posterity their finest Varnam in praise of Sivaji the last king – Dhanike in Raga Todi. With verve and vigour a group presented the finale, a Thillana. Perhaps even this musical piece known as Tarana in the north, was adapted to Bharatanatyam by the great Gurus with royal approval! Thus the curtains came down with loud
Digital Performances
We are delighted to share details from our digital performances this August. Pibare Rama Rasam – thoughtful dance initiative dedicated to lord Rama curated by N. Srikanth Natarajan & Aswathy Nair. In this series of performances that was live streamed through Rasanubhava Official YouTube channel, 31 male dancers from different parts of the world came together to perform for 31 days of the month of Aadi(katkadaka Maatham). In Kerala it is known as Ramayana Maatham where devotees practice chanting of Ramayana through out the month for the well being of every one. On august 6th, Mohanapriyan Thavarajah, Resident choreographer and principal dancer presented the immortal lullaby “Mannupugazh” composed by a prince of the Chera dynasty who became a saint-poet called Kulashekara Azhwar. He was one of the twelve saints of the Bhakti cult of Vaishnavism called Azhwars. This lullaby is addressed to Lord Rama who is also known as Lord Sowriraja Perumal in the temple of Thirukannapuram. The lyrics denote the experience of the poet seeing Lord Rama as a child and singing the melodious lullaby to put him to sleep. Through this Lullaby, Mohanapriyan dances the glory of Lord Rama and seeks peace and harmony in the silence of Lord Rama’s sleep. Gratitude to the creative team who transformed this experience from Vision – Music – Dance – aesthetics – Video. Click here to enjoy the humble offering: Ananya Samarpana Festival is held from 13 Aug – 12 Sep 2021 hosted by Shruti Laya Dance School where Apsaras Arts was featured on the premiere paid online showcase on 15th Aug 2021. Our senior company dancers Deva Priya Appan and Seema Hari Kumar presented an adaptation from their thematic performance – Dvayam: Perspectives of Duality. Where there is two, there arise conflict, union, discord and harmony. The concept of duality is age old for where there is light there is darkness, where there is man there is woman. In a 40-min segment, Priya and Seema explore these many facets of duality and its outcomes of Coexistence through an Ardhanareeswara stotram; parallel love for Krishna that sages Aandal and Meera had; and the philosophy of duality as espoused in the Bhagavad-Gita through their concluding Thillana. THIRUMAYILAI KURAVANJI Review by Harish Chandhar The Indian Performing Arts Convention (IPAC) presented a Digital Performance of the ‘Thirumayilai Kuravanji’ under the IPAC Australia 2021 series of lectures, workshops and dance intensives. The film screened was a recording of a pre-pandemic live performance presented by team ‘Parashah’ in collaboration with Natyarangam (the dance wing of Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai) in 2019. The dance production is based on a work of Yazhpanam Veeramani Iyer and the music was composed by senior musician Suguna Varadachari. The main intent of this article is to present my observations and impressions from watching the performance and attending the post screening discussion. The ‘Thirumayilai Kuravanji’, as several other Kuravanji Natakam’s, has a standard storyline – A Nayika (here, Karpagambal) who falls in one-sided love with her Lord (here, Kapaleeswarar of Mylapore), a Thozhi (friend) in whom the Nayika confides her love, a Kurathi (fortune teller) who foretells the success of the Nayika’s love and puts an end to her anxiety. Many temples of the Tamil land each have a Kuravanji dedicated to their Lords with a similar theme. The happiness of watching and enjoying such an easily predictable story lies in the beauty of poetic Tamil, the vivid imagery of landscapes, detailed descriptions of situations, liveliness of characters and the subtle humour involved in each scene. The literary work of ‘Thirumayilai Kuravanji’ is a marvel in itself. The use of simple language yet maintaining the poetic quality of Tamil, makes it easily accessible to the audience. Starting with a description about the temple procession of Mylapore, an Ammaanai song about a game played by Karpagambal with her friends, a song addressing the cool breeze, the moon and Manmatha (Cupid) who torment the heroine by reminding her of her lover, a Ninda-Stuti song sung by the heroine’s friend accusing the Lord for troubling the heroine, a song by the Kurathi describing her ancestry and the greatness of her country, a Mangalam song to celebrate the happy end as predicted by the fortune teller – each song is so detailed in imagery and so suitable for interpretation in dance. This work brings together several genres of traditional poetry that once existed in the Tamil land. The music is a big support to the production. It was revealed in the post screening discussion that the composer Suguna Varadachari chose to tune the verses in the ragams as mentioned by the author Veeramani Iyer himself. Along with popular Kavadi and Kummi tunes, the music had other songs tuned in a simple yet classic manner which allowed emphasis on the clarity of Tamil lyrics. One needs to commend the commitment of the composer to honour the author’s visualisation of his own work. The performance of the Kuravanji reflected the artists’ intent to stick to the traditional approach of the literary work, and yet add in their own innovative touches. Apart from a traditional approach to monologues and conversations between the characters, there were other additions like a well choreographed Alarippu performed by a group, the Nandi Chol accompanying the procession of Kapaleeswarar, the Pinnal Kolaattam as a celebratory end to the performance. Though not within the framework of Kuravanji natakams, these additions blended well into the performance and made it a contemporary take on a traditional piece of literature. POST SCREENING DISCUSSION The Kuravanji – a discovery! Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, reminisced about how she became acquainted with the work ‘Thirumayilai Kuravanji’. In 1957, the well known author Kothamangalam Subbu had written a novel called ‘Thillana Mohanambal’ which used to be released as a weekly series in a popular magazine (It was this novel that was later adapted into a famous film of the same name starring Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini in lead roles). In the book, there is a scene where the heroine Mohanambal performs an item of the Kurathi
Sound of Silence – Rajkumar Bharathi’s Musical Quest
By Asha Krishnakumar Simple, genuine, gifted, resilient… These are the words used most often to describe Rajkumar Bharathi, the great -grandson of Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi, the legendary litterateur whose fiery writings stoked the patriotic fire of the people fighting colonial rule. Rajkumar has carved a niche for himself in the music world without leaning on his illustrious lineage. More than 100 people have been interviewed, associated closely with Rajkumar over the years. A common thread by all of them is how Rajkumar is an extraordinary person. In discovering him, the author finds a tale of genius, resilience and humility that needs to be told. In documenting Rajkumar’s life and his musical journey is an enlightening experience at every level – intellectual, philosophical, rational, emotional, spiritual and human. This book was written with the intent to inspire youngsters to take life in their own hands. To be resilient in the face of adversity. To be humble even when you feel like you have conquered the world. To be humane even when you feel the whole world is against you. Rajkumar Bharathi’s life is a true inspiration at various levels.