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 Naachiyar Next comes alive through dance, song and drama- Pankaja Srinivasane-mail: pankajasrinivasan@gmail.com Photos: Aswin Vijay - Vj lenses n Destinations September 6, 2025 Andal! A familiar name since childhood. I listened, rapt, as my mother told me about a little girl like me, living in far away Srivilliputhur, cheekily trying on the tulasi garland made by her father for Lord Narayana! And, of course, about her poetry contained in the Thiruppavai and the Naachiyar Thirumozhi. I couldn't wait to see if the dance production Naachiyar- Next in Coimbatore, by Dr Anita Ratnam and her Arangham Dance Theatre, would be as special. It was. Anita Ratnam did not play Andal as I had half hoped. "I never had any illusions that I could play Andal, a teenager. A much younger body and presence was needed to have that vulnerability and potency come through," she said. She was instead the Sutradhar, "a maternal narrator and Andal's inner voice." Her narration travelled seamlessly from classical Tamil to English. Using commentary, drama, dance, song and dialogue, Anita accompanied Andal and her compositions all the way from 8th century Srivilliputhur to 21st century Coimbatore. Andal was found in a tulasi garden by Vishnu Chittar, one of the 12 Alwars of the Vaishnava tradition who lived between the 5th and the 9th centuries and composed the 4000 devotional hymns to Lord Vishnu. Andal too is one of them, and the only woman poet saint. As a dancer, Anita's preoccupation with Andal began early. Her first production about the poet saint was in 1997, with The Secret Garland. This was followed by versions of the Andal story in 2000, 2011 and 2017. In 2019, came Naachiyar Next which is still touring with more shows booked in 2026.  Resplendent in a Sungudi ensemble, Anita introduced the audience to Andal after which, in a burst of orange, yellow and green Sungudi saris, Andal and her friends danced onto the stage. Using the Sungudi was a deliberate choice. Its earthy colours, vibrancy and geographical location in Madurai, only 70 kms from Andal's home in Srivilliputhur made it special. "Also, Andal grew up in a very modest home and cotton seemed more appropriate," Anita pointed out.  Before she became a goddess, Andal was just a little girl growing up in a small temple town. She watched her father worship Vishnu, skipped about with her friends, fidgeted as her dad taught her how to string flowers, and listened to him as he regaled her with stories of Krishna. Then, the little girl grew up, and for Anita, nothing described Andal's sensuous awakening better than her lines to the conch. "The erotic sensuality explodes in a direct address to the conch about yearning for Krishna's touch. I mounted that as a monologue / dialogue between Andal and my voice." The audience watched as Andal discovered her longing for Vishnu who by now, in her imagination, has transformed from a childhood playmate to a lover. It took 6 to 9 months for Anita to study and explore the Pasurams before she began choreographing. Naachiyar Next has been performed so many times. Is each one different from the last? "Of course the songs and words are all Andal's. With nine dancers and the musicians, improvisation is not an option. But, as the Sutradhaar, I sometimes linger longer on the words, sometimes the intonation changes, and depending on where we are, I speak more in Tamil or in English," Anita said. "The musicians were with me as we danced and I would suggest moments of silence... or just the sound of the veena...Like an accordion, I sometimes stretch out the lines or condense them."  Speaking of setting Andal's verses to music, Anita said: "The poems or Pasurams are inherently musical but setting them to Carnatic music took a bit of time. The early portion depicting the younger Andal with her friends was composed by Carnatic legend Aryakudi Ramanuja Iyengar in 1965, and they were first sung by ML Vasanthakumari," she said. For her, the production was not a mere transfer of movements or choreography. "It is the intention that I focus on," Anita said. And, in order to reinforce that intention, every rehearsal for the dancers starts with a barefoot walk on grass in silence, "So that they get a sense of their own breath... without music and rhythms, and become aware of one another and develop peripheral vision for ensemble work. To slow down and yet keep the tension and the presence onstage takes time..." Lavanya Shankar, who curated the performance in Coimbatore was moved by the depth of the choreography. As a dancer herself she said, "The powerful movements of the dancers in tandem with Anita Ratnam's narration was the highlight. People came up to me afterwards and said they understood every movement the dancers made and enjoyed the story of Andal unfolding." For Lavanya, founder of Abyasa Academy of Classical Dance, one of her favourite scenes was "where Andal looks admiringly at herself in the reflection from the waters of the well, which on stage was portrayed by mirrors held aloft by her friends!" Varsha Sundrarajan, a self-confessed Andal groupie, has watched this production six times. "It moves you to tears, and makes your heart skip several beats," she said. "Through Anita's telling of the story, we get to know Andal as a feminist. She is my ultimate heroine."  It was goosebumps and gasps in the finale as the music rose to a crescendo. With the passionate cry of "Ranga, Ranga," reverberating through the auditorium, Andal's father, her friends, and the audience watched as she became one with her Lord. The credits for Naachiyar Next has concept, choreography and sound design by Anita R Ratnam. The ensemble includes actors Sridhar Vasudevan and Gokul, Reshma G (soothsayer), Nandhini G S (Goda / Andal) and dancers D Nrithya, Shambhavi J, Keerthana Ganesan, Anjanaa Ashok, Devikha S, and Nivedha Harish. The musicians are L. Subhasri (nattuvangam), Janani Hamsini N (vocal), Aswini S (mridangam), R Sowmya (veena).  Pankaja Srinivasan is an independent writer based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. |
