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 e-mail: leelakaverivenkat@gmail.com Bridging gap between theory and practice in multi-faceted Tripuranthara Festival November 24, 2024 Tripuranthara Arts Festival mounted at Music Academy Mini Hall, was a collaborative effort between Anthara Centre for Performing Arts run by Bharatanatyam dancer Sreelatha Vinod and Tripura Ace Trust headed by Sripriyaa Venkataraman, spearheading a focus on Arts, Culture and Education as a means for creating inclusive and inspirational space for a future generation of leadership. A three-day event, the festival presented a combination of acclaimed senior dancers and emerging talents. In pursuance of its overall educational objective in narrowing the gap between theory and practice, the festival also included papers on aspects relevant to dance read by young researchers. Practitioners of Shastra and of Sampradaya, namely theory as laid down in our texts and its manifestation in practice, while attracting differently inclined persons (scholars and dancers), should not be too distanced in a Lakshana Lakshya Viruddham. While changes from what the Sastras prescribe are permitted and are inevitable in a Sampradaya over years of transition, some knowledge for practitioners on the roots of a tradition, helps preserve its intrinsic character, while accommodating changes. The festival's curtain-raiser was release of a book Angika Abhinaya in Sivatattvaratnakara, under the joint authorship of Dr. Kalarani Ramachandran (Natya Kalaimamani from Tamil Nadu, with academic and practicing qualifications - proficient in Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam, and Founder President of Prayatnam for dancers, teachers and trainees) and Dr. Sreelatha Vinod. Written sometime around 170 CE by Basavappa Nayaka (1697-1714), Sivatattvaratnakara is an encyclopedic Sanskrit work covering myriad subjects like philosophy, science and literature. From the part concerning dance, the aspect of Angika Abhinaya alone, dealing with grammar of technique and style, along with some portions of the Nayaka-Nayaki bhava, have been dealt with in this book - the effort helping dance scholars, by providing further insight into links (and departures) in tradition. The performance began with Dr. Narthaki Nataraj's Bharatanatyam. Undiluted Tanjavur bani, it represented in entirety, the style of the dancer's Guru - one of the main descendants of the Thanjai Nalwar, namely Guru Kittappa Pillai. Having lived and learnt in the close environs of the Guru's home for over fourteen years, battling third gender limitations, it is Bharatanatyam learnt at the Nattuvanar's feet, that has been the mantra for the dancer's elevated status today as one of the leading dance personalities. In every aspect of the dance as taught by the Guru, preserved in its entirety, her art is steeped in Tamil culture.  Narthaki Nataraj It is this quality of total immersion in what she has acquired from the Guru, with no thoughts of any need to go beyond it, that gives to Narthaki's Bharatanatyam, a rare conviction of tone. It was a delight watching her involved performance, comprising items visualized by the Thanjai Nalwar, starting with the specified qualities of grace and appearance required of a dancer. After a neat presentation of the Jatiswaram in Shankarabharanam set to misrachapu talam, the performance went on to the centre piece of the Swarapallavi in Bhairavi, Thaye Bhairaviye. The very impactful jati punctuations of Guru Kittappa Pillai, never overlong, with the unique sollu / footstep relationship where foot contact seems to be between rhythmic syllables, while neatly rendered, it was the abhinaya that held the audience enthralled. Spirituality, as an unquestioned feel for connecting with something higher than oneself, with persons like Narthaki, is a state of being, with total dedication to the art regarded as a means of evoking that highest state. Goddess Bhairavi as one of the Adi Shakti, has a ferocious side to her. But the dancer through her bhakti, touched on the side of the Devi as benefactor, carrying the audience with her feelings. Warmed up, the sheer tenderness suffusing the next presentation Unakkum enakkum yenna poruthamo moved one to tears, wherein Parvati, the consort of Shiva, wonders as to what the secret is of that bond holding together total opposites - of her and Shiva. With his flaming open hair and third eye, clad in tiger skin, with a snake round his neck, what is this unbreakable oneness this dancer God and she share - the two, a contrast in every way! The dancer's interpretation of the Javali in Paras, Balavantamelara, in a very different mood, had the audience in occasional titters. Berating the lover to keep away, for she was now a married woman (pointing to the husband asleep in the adjacent room), the Nayika, obviously attracted to the man, but not wanting to be discovered by the husband (who in the few gestures reacting to his sleeping image, emerges as a stodgy, not very prepossessing person), reluctantly closes the door in the face of the paramour. Narthaki concluded her recital with a verse from Nammalwar's Tiruviruttam, which she mentioned as obtained from T. Sundaravalli Amma. In a program conceptualized and coordinated by Shakti Bhaskar, the dancer's accompanists included Kaushik Champakesan as vocalist, Anantashree providing nattuvangam support, Sarvesh Karthik on the mridangam, with V. Srilakshmi and B. Muthukumar on violin and flute respectively. Asked to address the audience after the recital, the dancer remarked, "I know nothing of the Sanskrit that teachers of dance and their students spew today. My Guru gave me not just an art form, but a way of living, for which my gratitude can never be enough." In a telling comment she said, "This Padma Shri only matters to persons in our dance field. The dancer, who may matter in this circle, still remains, sadly, unknown in larger society". Singer S. Rajeshwari, whose dulcet voiced singing has adorned many a dance performance in the past, speaking of her contact with Guru Kittappa Pillai and how he encouraged her music said, "We must not forget that Kittappa Pillai was a musician first, and then a Nattuvanar."  A. Lakshmanaswamy (Photo: Chella) The other senior artiste who kept the audience spellbound was A. Lakshmanaswamy, whose institution Nrityalakshana has trained innumerable finished dancers. With a singer like Hariprasad, who has been the voice of this dancer's concerts for years, the two have developed an alchemy making every performance into a moving artistic experience. Starting with a Pushpanjali composition set to raga Simhendramadhyamam by Hariprasad, Sirkonda deiva vadanankal aarum, a prayer in the words of Vallalar Sri Ramalinga Adigal, in salutation to God Muruga - with six faces, twelve arms, feet like lotus flowers, holding the spear, with the peacock as vehicle, one sensed through the silhouetted grace of dance movements, the feel of exceptional reverence in the homage, jointly communicated through music and dance. The marathon centrepiece, Nithya Kalyani, a eulogy to the Devi in myriad forms composed by Sitaramayya Iyer in Ragamalika (the name of each raga appearing as part of the sahitya) set to roopakam, started with the opening line Nithya Kalyani Nigamaanta Tripurasundari - with homage to the ever auspicious Goddess - with the singer's voice entering on the heels of a tuneful prelude in Kalyani by violinist Kalaiarasan. Combining the grace and lilt of the Vazhuvoor style the dancer was trained in for years under K.J.Sarasa, and the interpretative sensitivity for which he is known, (heightened further under Kalanidhi Narayanan's tutelage), the composition took us on an absorbing journey of Devi as Tripurasundari, the most beautiful in the three worlds, Kaumari the ever young, Karunakari (the compassionate one), Meenakshi (the fish eyed Goddess housed in the temple at Madurai), Akhilandeswari residing over the Universe, and as Amba the Divine mother. The dance narrative with sequences highlighting the various aspects of the Goddess held the audience enthralled. One seldom experiences the tenderness and passion of Sambhoga sringar conveyed with auchitya - as in the artistry of Lakshmanaswamy's interpretation of the Ashtapadi in Dvijavanti, Kshanamadhuna Narayana manugatamanusara Radhike, wherein Krishna, passionately yearning for Radha, asks that she place her lotus footprints on his bed of tender leaves. He pleads for her embrace to quench his burning desire, as the two are locked in an intimate world of love. Altogether an exceptional performance! Nellai D. Kannan on mridangam, nattuvangam support by student Sudharma Vaithiyanathan and Murugan for makeup, along with Hariprasad (vocal) and Kalaiarasan (violin) made up the dancer's team of accompanists. RESEARCH PAPERS The second evening of the festival began with a paper on Vaishnav Padavalis by researcher Anusha Chakraborthy. Awakening Krishna consciousness, the Vaishnav Padavalis, during the 15th -17th centuries, sang the glory of the Lord and in the spirit of Madhura Bhakti were many evocative compositions built round the Radha/Krishna sringar, in both Vipralambha and Sambhoga situations. Anusha working on their suitability for being expressed in the Bharatanatyam mode, demonstrated successfully through a composition Bahudo pore bandhyaele, dekhana hoito paranogele, expressing the nayika's deep yearning for a glimpse of the lord. The dancer did well, being required to hold each moment longer, suiting the slow pace and gait of Bangla language and music. As pointed out by Dr. Kalarani in her critical comments, Madhura Bhakti compositions right from the Tevaram, Tiruvachakam, Divya Prabandham days is not new to India. There is the Arayar Sevai tradition. Aham poetry of the Sangam age, and later the bhakti poetry of Dasar Padagalu, 15th century Vithala and Ramdev compositions in Maharashtra, Vidyapathi's poetry and Vaishnav Padavalis are all material lending themselves to abhinaya interpretation and have inspired dancers of Bharatanatyam. Using as textual base, compositions from languages not part of the tradition, is also not new. Even Padma Subrahmanyam years back choreographed a varnam woven round Meera's poetry. Language is still the best means of reaching out to audiences of an area, and that young researchers are showing the adventurous spirit of experimenting with different kinds of literature is all to the good. The other young paper reader Radha Vedha Vedasri chose an introduction to Alankara Shastra, and Alankarikas on the subject of Rasa. Movement with vibhava, anubhava and Vyabhicharibhavas can lead to ‘rasa'- evoked only through art in any form. Alankara, the science of aesthetics, refers to ornamentation and embellishment. It concerns Rasa (aesthetic pleasure), Riti (style), Guna (attributes), Dhwani (suggestion), Vakrokti (obliquity) and auchitya (propriety). The paper concentrated on four Alankarikas - Bhamata and Dandin (6th century), Vamana and Udbhata (8th century) - Bhama's work being Kavyalankara, Dandin's Kavyadarsa and Udbhata's Kavyalankara sangraha. His contemporary was Vamana, exponent of the Riti school of poetics. Prof Raghuraman's comments after the paper reading touched on how, right from the time of the Rig Veda and the Valmiki Ramayanam in India, Rasa as a concept along with aesthetics, have been important aspects of literature and the arts. In Tamil he mentioned the Tolkappiyam as the oldest work concerning grammar, syntax, poetics, rhetoric in Tamil. The peak according to him was Aanandavardhana's Dhwani (suggestion) concept, and he also felt that in the present years almost nothing of significance had emerged on Alankara. EMERGING TALENTS It is doubtless S. Gayathri's (student of Binesh Mahadevan) topping in six levels of Prayatnam, along with her performance abilities revealing creditable stamina, bodily balance and grip over rhythm, have prompted her choice as one of the emerging talents. She promises to mature as excellent teacher material. An efficient performer, her suite of items starting with a verse from Andal's Tiruppavai set to raga Surutti was followed by the Tanjore Quartet Todi varnam Mohalagiri Konden, presenting the Nayika thwarted by Manmatha's arrows, expressing her deep love for Rajagopala, the charmer with the flute, master of veda, gita, nada and savior of Draupadi. One could not avoid the feeling that while technically correct (and she performs in the style she has been taught) the dance visualization, if given a more pronounced araimandi centrality (and she has the ability to execute this) would add to her dance profile. The post varnam presentation of Enna tavam seidanai expressing the wonder of the poet at the kind of penance Yashoda must have undertaken, to merit the great fortune of playing Mother to the God child himself, was followed by the finale of an Oothukadu Venkata Subbaiyar Tillana in Surutti. With her Guru Binesh Mahadevan himself providing the nattuvangam lead, vocal support was by Chitrambari Krishnakumar with Dhananjayan on the mridangam and Vishnu Swaminathan on the flute.  Arundathi The other emerging talent presented in the festival, Arundathi, a product of Anthara Center for Performing Arts and student of Sreelatha Vinod, pursuing Bharatanatyam while simultaneously studying to qualify in a profession outside the arts, right from the starting Pushpanjali in Amritavarshini, radiated a stage presence and sense of joy in her performance. The Nrityopaharam in Neelambari, Lalgudi Jayaraman's composition Sendil mevum Deva Deva, expressing the nayika's love for Shivabala Muruga was delightfully rendered. "Is it fair to pretend not knowing my mind, when I am always lost in thoughts about you?" Sleepless and ever waiting, she wants the Lord to hasten to her side, riding on his peacock. Very expressive, the etched clarity of line and rhythm, the quicksilver charm and ability to communicate with the audience, would seem to make her a dancer to watch out for in the future. In an example of her own work of interpretation in dance, she chose Swati Tirunal‘s "Chaliye Kunjanamo" in Brindavan Saranga, wherein Radha is coaxing Krishna to join her for a tryst in the woods with the flowing waters of the Jamuna close by. The dancer's interpretation began with Krishna lost in his flute play (accompanied by flautist Sunil Kumar's musical interventions) oblivious to the world around him, when a searching Radha, coming upon him, draws his attention by dilating on the beauty of Nature with river Jamuna in full flow. Coaxing Krishna out of his solitary retreat, Radha's actions show her as successful in persuading him to join her for an idyllic retreat in the woods. The dancer's interpretation showed a sensitivity not just to the sahitya of the composition but also the subtext drawn from it. The recital concluded with a rendition of Balamurali's Tillana in Kadanakutoohalam. With Sreelatha Vinod providing the nattuvangam lead, vocal support by Viswajit V. Rana, Vedakrishnan on mridangam, T.V. Sukanya on violin and Sunil Kumar on flute, the dancer was well served. A FITTING CLOSE WITH SAIKRIPA PRASANNA'S MEIPPAADU After a start with a book release on body language as theorized in Sivatattvaratnakara, one could not have asked for a better finale than Meippaadu based on Tolkappiyam, a group work visualized and choreographed by Saikripa Prasanna from the Kripa Centre of Fine Arts - mentioned as an ‘art movement' with thrust on practitioners qualifying in areas of music, dance, theatre, visual arts and even literature programs. The extant, ancient Tamil text Tolkappiyam, on innumerable aspects from Tamil grammar, language, prosody, to dramaturgy, has been assigned as many dates as individual scholars starting from 2nd century BCE to 5th century CE. The work is ascribed to the second Sangam period. So vast is its coverage that it encompasses what is laid down by Patanjali, Manu, Panini, Kautilya, and to art statements by later geniuses like Bharata and Vatsyayana. What the Tolkappiyam mentions by way of art and abhinaya can be seen in aspects practiced, even today, in Koodiyattam and Kathakali. Meippaadu which deals with body language, and its instinctual response to stimuli, is the premise on which all theories of abhinaya are based. Seeing this attempt of Saikripa, one was reminded of how, years back, Acharya Parvati Kumar made his students like Sandhya Purecha (presently Chairman, SNA) dance to the text of Abhinaya Darpana, the 11th century text by Nandikeshwara. In Meippaadu, the words of the text are minimal and it is the performance itself which becomes the text. With the lyrics based on verses from Tirukkural of Tiruvalluvar, perhaps one of the earliest texts on the Sanatan Dharma, and passages from the Tolkappiyam chosen by Prof Raghuraman with jatis set by G.V. Guru Bhardwaj, the group discipline, particularly in freezes with each mover silhouetted in a different pose, with the totality illustrating one mood, must have entailed painstaking practice. Whether a movement, or a facial expression, the versatility of the body with no other aids, in being able to convey the whole message is stronger than words, creating a true theatre of the imagination, leaving even the watchers speechless. Taking everyday happenings in life, in a blend of humour and pathos, the passages evoking Sringar, Arbutam (wonderment), Hasyam, Bibhatsam (disgust), particularly stood out. That emotion in a dance form is but a stylized version of a natural body response to a situation, (stemming from a felt emotion) was beautifully brought out. The entire effort of danced theater at its best held the audience spellbound. A comprehensive effort, Tripuranthara has to be credited for an eventful start. But considering the number of Bharatanatyam dancers in Chennai, one would still wonder as to what stands in the way of larger audiences attending such events.  Writing on the dance scene for the last forty years, Leela Venkataraman's incisive comments on performances of all dance forms, participation in dance discussions both in India and abroad, and as a regular contributor to Hindu Friday Review, journals like Sruti and Nartanam, makes her voice respected for its balanced critiquing. She is the author of several books like Indian Classical dance: Tradition in Transition, Classical Dance in India and Indian Classical dance: The Renaissance and Beyond. Post your comments Please provide your name and email id along with your comment. All appropriate comments posted with name and email id in the blog will also be featured in the site. |
