Making Bharathanatyam look simple is an Art

R. Janani- Student of Roja Kannan

A number of sabhas are making an honest effort to encourage and motivate youngsters to perform and get the rewards of their many years of learning.  Dasyam Yuva Festival and Vipanchee are two such dynamic organizations.  Today, I got a chance to attend the Bharathanatyam performance of R. Janani.  (Full disclosure: My daughter learns from Janani's mother- K. Subha.)

One thing that stood out at the performance was the enthusiasm of the dancer.  Right through the performance, she was smiling, showed no fatique, and was extremely vibrant.  Her white teeth showing could be mistaken for a Close-Up advertisement.  Her tempo was quite fast but she made the whole performance look simple, while still getting out the story.  During these performances, my daughter and I try to figure out what the dancer is saying through the movements.  In this case, Kaveri was able to comprehend and explain what the dance was about.  Of course, the giveaway was that it was related to Lord Krishna!!  Watching kids like Janani performance encourages other kids to also want to perform publicly. 

Bharathanatyam movement

Janani is a 10th standard high school student from Chennai.  I have seen her practice dance with Subha and learn abinaya's from Saranya (Kaveri music teacher).  The thillana piece generated a lot of claps from the audience.  Her abinaya was very well choreographed and allowed her to express the story  in a way that 4 year-old could figure out.  Her selection of songs were very good.  Moreover, her finale with a kavadi chindh was really creative and changed the tone, from being a monotonous "Krishna story" to a lively Southern piece.

Accompaniments to R. Janani.  Nattuvangam by Roja Kannan

A special mention must be made of the Compere.  She spoke very well clearly and explained the song before Janani started the performance.  It was very helpful for parents such as myself to explain the dance.  The accompaniments were veterans, which was nice and is a true encouragement for an youngster. The dancer's mother was glowing and her beaming face was brighter than the dancer.  It was truly a great performance.

The real problem in today's Sabha performance is that the top performers get the crowd.  Very few folks attend the up-and-coming.  This is a serious mistake.  If you are looking for the next MS, you are not going to find it in a Aruna Sairam kutchery.  People's mentality must change.  In American football, the scouts and agents attend High-School football to find the next Joe Montana.  I do not see it in these Sabhas.  Even the organizers of Dasyam, like Gopika Varma, did not attend today's performance.  To the credit of the auditoriums, they do have a nice atmosphere and a good facilities.  Youngsters must be rewarded for their talent and options must be attractive to make this their livelihood. 

The talent is there, the culture is there, high-quality education is available, auditoriums are established.  So, what really ails the industry.  If you are involved with Bollywood or Pop/fusion/Rap, you get a multi-million dollar pay check (cheque).  Here, most people simply get the satisfaction and a thank you ponnadai.

Bharathanatyam performances like none other

I am not a Bharatanatyam expert.  My review here is from a pure entertainment view only.  Experts can leave your comments below. After attending about 7 performs during the last 2 months, this event really stood out.  I would recommend this for the entertainment and educational value.

Gopikas and Shree Krishna in a elated and playful mood

I recently attend a unique dance performance called Prapathi Marg by a team of senior dancers- Roja Kannan, Priya Murle, Srikanth and Ashwathy Srikanth.  The show was at the Bharat Kalachar, which is in the PSBB School campus in Thirumalai Pillai Road.  This was not the traditional dance sequence of Jathiswaram, Thillana and Mangalam.  The entertainers told a story through the dance.  The performance was more focused on education and entertainment, as opposed to the technicalities of Bharatanatyam. Without letting out too much of the storyline, the storyline was based on the Vaishnava theme of total submission to the God.  The lectures by Srikanth were entertaining and were distributed throughout the performance.  His language combined "suddha" tamil and colloquial "bashai". The audience were truly spell-bound, including my four year-old daughter. There was no plastic oohs and aahs.     

Shree Krishna

What made this presentation unique was the combination of music, song selection, dance sequences, costumes, and the thematic rendering. The performers used the complete stage by introducing mood lighting, temple bells, playful action and an ongoing narration of the main theme.  The lighting, temple bells and the diction based on the onstage action were very well-done.  This reminded me of the RS Manohar dramas of a past era. 

Musical Accompaniments

The two singer- Srikanth (different from the dancer) and Saranya were captivating.  Saranya's facial expression captured the moods of the theme on stage was a nice draw!  The combination of Tamil, Sanskrit and Hindi songs made it universally applicable.  The flutist really brought out Shree Krishna, though he was hidden from public view until the end of the show.

Each dancer in the group focused on a different phase of Krishna's life.  There was love, emotion, devotion and color as the different themes.  The story was simple for my four year-old to ask questions and wanting the understand the details of each story.  She said the best part was Draupadi (Roja Kannan) going round-and-round, depicting the de-robing by Dushasana. 

Roja Kannan as Draupadi

The role of Meera (played by Priya Murle) seemed to bring MS into the eyes of the senior generation. 

Priya Murle as Meera

Srikanth as Krishna did a awesome job and his small role a Rajput prince made it quite realistic. 

A similar theme is being played out by the PARASAH group at other locations during the Margazhi Season.