Bonding with Bharati
By Chitra Swaminathan
It's all about Bharatanatyam, Bharatiar and bonding.
In December 2002, Natyarangam, the talent promotional wing of the Narada Gana Sabha set about its annual routine of selecting a few artistes to choreograph some of Subramania Bharati's compositions to perform at Bharati Illam in Triplicane. That year it chose Roja Kannan, Priya Murle, Srikanth and Lavanya Ananth. Unlike artistes selected earlier for the purpose, these four Bharatanatyam dancers besides going to town (and abroad too) with their "Bharata Samudayam Vaazhgave" have sustained their artistic and personal bonding that has helped them set a record of sorts — staging more than 25 shows of "Bharata Samudayam Vaazhgave".
[Priya Murle and Lavanya Ananth, performing "Manathil Uruthi Vendum"]
"We never expected to come this far. But right from the day we got together on this project, we knew it was a coming together of like-minded people with a passion for the art form and an enthusiasm to do something creatively satisfying," says Roja Kannan, senior most in the group, even as others nod their head in agreement. "From the first show to the twenty-fifth, it's been complete fun and a great learning experience. We have helped each other grow as better artistes," adds the articulate Priya.
Though each is a well-known artiste in his/her own right, hailing from different schools (Roja is the disciple of Adyar K. Lakshman, Priya has trained under Sudharani Raghupathy, Srikanth is the sishya of Padma Subramaniam and Lavanya is the disciple of guru Rajaratnam Pillai and K.J.Sarasa) and with their perception of the art, they found a common meeting ground — Bharatiar's poetry.
"His powerful verses make you rethink about life, work, the happenings around and the people," smiles the tall and slim Lavanya. For Priya, the project brought her close to Tamil language and literature.
Bharatiar's work is not new to Bharatanatyam, but the creative foursome has done some imaginative choreography and has attempted to relate the writings to contemporary situation. "For instance, Priya in her piece on fire and water beautifully related it to tsunami and Rita (when they performed in the U.S.) calamities. These efforts have generated positive and encouraging response from the audience," says Roja.
Besides individual pieces, the team also performs to a medley of poems in the second half. "The second part of our programme showcases the navarasas, as we have tried to include different emotions. This surely is the highlight of all our shows," points out Srikanth.
The dancers wholeheartedly acknowledge Natyarangam for helping them know each other and senior artistes such a Sudharani Raghupathy for their able guidance. " We invariably do the last rehearsal before every show at Sudha akka's dance school for sentimental reasons. It has always proved lucky for us," says Roja.
What the four dancers find challenging is giving a unique expression to their imagination without stepping out of the idiom. [courtesy: The Hindu]
