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 12th Margazhi Vizha and Krishnaamrutham - Chandra Anand e-mail: chandra6267@yahoo.co.in December 23, 2024 12th Margazhi Vizha of Guru GV Ramani Natyakala Foundation Photos: Suresh Subramaniam Performing arts are considered as life and breath of our cultural heritage, and so definitely sustaining dance and music becomes vital for present and future generations. In fact, Margazhi month is associated with a vibrant celebration of our parampara, where the beating heart of our tradition, i.e. our classical arts, truly comes alive and it's time to enjoy the timeless beauty of our performing arts. 'Margazhi Vizha' of Guru GV Ramani Natyakala Foundation, is a platform where tradition meets creativity. The 12th edition of this festival was celebrated on 8th December 2024, at Sahitya Mandir Sabhagriha, Vashi, Navi Mumbai.  Gautam Marathe The festival commenced showcasing Gautam Marathe, who performed to "Anjaneya Raghurama Dutha" (Saveri, adi), a kriti by Swathi Tirunal, where he depicted Hanuman in a very pleasing manner. Hanuman was humanized by bringing forth his feelings and aspirations. He was shown in different gestures and as a very dedicated devotee of Rama. Stories of Hanuman that is described in phrases of the sahitya was enacted in a short concise manner, in particular, in the section where he was sent to bring the sanjeevani herb to save Lakshmana. The story narration began from when Lord Rama chased after the golden deer. Gautam changed personalities very quickly giving smooth narration of the events with appropriate angika and mukhaja bhava. The kriti was interspersed with jathis wherein a special note to his eye movements done aesthetically was made. Gautam did justice to this choreography by Dr Kanak Rele as passed on to him by his Guru Vaibhav Arekar. In "Rusali Radha, Rusala Madhav" (Mishra Yemen, adi), composed by Rangeshwara and choreographed by Vaibhav Arekar, he depicted Krishna very charmingly. In "Shankara Srigiri Natha Prabho" (Hamsanandi, adi), again composed by Swati Thirunal and choreographed by Vaibhav Arekar, he delineated the sahitya with appropriate gestures, and ended in an evocative note of sensing the Lord's presence everywhere. He performed to recorded music.  Aishwarya and Hari Krishnan Hari Krishnan and Aishwarya began their presentation with a varnam, "Swamiyai Azhaithodi Vaa Sakhiye"(Ragamalika, adi), wherein they performed the same choreography together dancing side by side. The benefit of the rendition was the neutral nature of the Bharatanatyam style got so very much clarified. The choreography suited both genders well. The strength and grace came out equally in both male and female forms. The performance of the Thillana (Madhuvanti, adi) as their final piece also augmented this understanding. The duo complemented each other and showed good stamina and synchronisation. While the varnam, a musical masterpiece composed by Guru K.N. Dhandayudapani Pillai, was choreographed by Leela Samson with new jathis composed by Karaikudi Krishnamurthy, the thillana was composed by Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and choreographed by Leela Samson. Hari performed an ashtapadi, "Hatha Hatha" (Hamir Kalyani and adi) from the seventh sarga of Jayadeva's Geetha Govindam and Aishwarya performed a keerthanam, "Edukku inda modi" (Suruti, rupakam), a composition of Marimuthu Pillai which expressed Ninda sthuthi. Both were very expressive and kept to pure Kalakshetra bani. They performed to recorded music.  Snigda Menon As the theme for the festival was "creativity meets tradition", the second half of the festival was the creative chapter. Snigda Menon presented 'Shanta', a story of a lesser known character in the epic Ramayana by Valmiki. Shanta is a princess, born as King Dasaratha's daughter and elder sister to Lord Rama and his brothers. Snigda gave a powerful presentation of the character Shanta projecting her hurt feelings - when she was given away in adoption, when she was sent to seduce a sage and the anguish at having to go through the act of conjugality through deceitful means - explicitly. Her nritta performance was also crisp with neat lines and grace. This story is based on Anand Neelakantan's book 'Valmiki's Women' where one of the women portrayed is Shanta. The lyrics in Tamil was written by Meenakshi Venkatesh and music composition was by Karthik Hebbar. The accompanying recorded music ensemble had on nattuvangam Bhavani Udayakumar, on vocals was Karthik Hebbar, on mridangam was Dr GV Bharadwaj, and on violin was Anantaraman Balaji. Snigda was mentored by her guru Gayatri Subramanian. 'Shanta' was premiered last year at the Jharna festival, especially curated for presenting new productions by the Dhananjayans in Chennai.  Pritam Das and Kavya Ganesh Pritam Das and Kavya Ganesh presented 'Samadhva - where two becomes one'. It was a duet performance in Bharatanatyam genre created and performed by themselves. They showcased a journey in three different shades of conversations involving the body, mind and soul. Traversing these three different dualities, they realized that each conversation ultimately ended in a state of 'sam' or oneness. They began with "samyoga," an abstract exploration of the conversation between body and movement where movement acts as the force which guides the body and allows it to be both sculpturesque yet chaotic, and the body keeps the movement rooted yet free, contained yet explorative. And yes, the body is in a state of equilibrium when mind, body and soul are connected and movement looks beautiful when it is done. Thus, body and movement are connected as one without the other is null. "Samanubhavu" is a human story depicting the emotional bond between a brother and sister where a realization no matter what happens, they will always have each other is ingrained. And ended paying obeisance to the divine relationship between Krishna and Kali, "samagama", where the Gods merge into each other giving a sense - though interpreted in many forms, having different personalities - that "God is one". These items were thrilling and held rapt attention of the audience. These three pieces of choreography gave a few invigorating moments that deeply touched and awakened the unconscious states of the audience mind. They were supported in this endeavor with lyrics by Himanshu Srivastava, music composition for piece 1 and 2 by Vasudev Sridhar. Music composition for piece 3 was a collaborative effort of Vasudev Sridhar, Nandini Saigiridhar, Surya Sriram and Aishwarya Mahesh. On the recorded music, on vocals were Deepu Karunakaran and Nandini Saigiridhar, on mridangam was Guru Bharadwaj, on flute was Shruti Sagar, on violin was Nandini Saigiridhar, and on ghatam and other percussion instruments was Sarvesh Karthick. The music was recorded at Sahrdaya Sound studios, Chennai with recording engineer Rakesh Pazhedam. Aarya and Manoj were on the lights. Creating a festival or nurturing an art form takes immense effort and support. With a vision to preserve arts, Guru GV Ramani Natyakala Foundation, under the helm of Gayatri Subramanian (director-founder of this institution), through perseverance and collaboration, are ensuring that traditional art forms continue to thrive and inspire future generations. Krishnaamrutham at Namo Venkatesa Cultural Festival 'Namo Venkatesa', a three-day cultural festival, was held by Mumbai Telugu Samiti, at BMC grounds, Powai, Mumbai. The festival was MTS's first cultural event, celebrated on the occasion of Sri Venkateshwara Kalyanotsavam, to improve the spiritual well-being, spread harmony, and promote Indian culture and peace in general. With the tag line "Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah" a unique and a special devotional cultural event along with a trade exhibition, was organized. On 14th December 2024, they celebrated the wedding ritual of Sri Venkateshwara Swamy with Sridevi and Bhudevi (Alamelumanga) known as "srivari kalyanam". It is said that performing or participating in a celestial wedding of Lord Venkateshwara removes all difficulties. Hence, this was conducted here, praying for the protection and prosperity of the world. Alongside this, thematic Annamacharya kalyanam songs titled "Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Kalyanotsavam" was sung by renowned playback singer BVRS Pavan Charan accompanied by Swapnil Kamble on keyboard and Girish Swami on the tabla.  BVRS Pavan Charan and ensemble Photo: KSR Murthy Other cultural events of music and dance presented were thematic presentations of Annamacharya songs and Bharatanatyam dance-drama presentations. On 13th December, the music presentation was by Varalakshmi and team and dance performance was Dr Lata Surendra's "Ayana- the journey". On 15th December, music was by Raagavallari group led by Saudamini. And dance was by Guru Jayashree Nair's Upaasana troupe who presented 'Krishnaamrutham'.   Photos: Pradeep V Govindan & Vignesh Krishnaamrutham extolled graces of Lord Krishna through his various forms and stories. Upaasana commenced their performance paying obeisance to Lord Ganesh with "Ekadantam mahakayam" and to Lord Guruvayurappa with the shlokam "Peetambaram karaviraajita shankah chakram" and followed it with a lively pushpanjali (Nattai, adi). A varnam penned by Guru Rajee Narayanan, "Gokula bala" (Kalyani, adi) was performed to wherein they delineated stories from Krishna avataram. birth of Krishna, Sudhama's visit to Mathura, end of Poothana, the lifting of Govardana mountain, Kaliya mardhana, Draupadi rakshanam, Gajendra moksham, Geetopadesham, well enacted by the performers. The audience applauded for each story. Narasimha Avatara was presented very vividly on instrumental music. They concluded with performance on the song "Ksheerabhdi kanyakaku" (Chenchurutti, kanda chapu) by Annamacharya, extolling Sri Venkateshwara, the hero of the moment. The picturesque manner in which each story was completed was a visual treat. The striking choreography was by Guru Jayashree Nair who is completing 50 years run of her school Upaasana Akademy of Fine Arts. Students who participated in this presentation were Adwita Pradeep, Saritha Pradeep, Shrushti Jayaprakash, Aadhyaa Arun Menon, Sucheta Arun Menon, Aarya Kumar and Jasmeet Taak. The cultural events were curated by Dr. Sailaja Desai, a Kuchipudi exponent and teacher, and member of the managing committee of Mumbai Telugu Samiti. MTS was founded in October 2018 as a non- profit organisation with an aim of promoting Telugu culture among Mumbaikers. MTS strives to identify and encourage local talent amongst the Telugu speaking people residing in and around Powai. MTS is also carrying out philanthropic activities in the areas of education, culture and health. Now this festival that proved a grand success is a feather in their cap. Way to go!  Chandra Anand is a Bharatanatyam artiste and teacher. She has an MA in Bharatanatyam from Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, and her series on 'Education in spiritual values through Bharatanatyam' is featured in narthaki.com. |
