Words
cannot completely describe this heady elevated feeling that I am currently
engulfed by. Before you start thinking that I am feeling drunk after a weekend
of revelry, I’d like you to pause. My stimulation for this intoxication is of a
different kind and the best that the world has to offer. The last weekend has
been one of the most soul stirring immersions in my favorite form of classical
dance, Bharatanatyam. All three dancers
of the recently concluded dance festival, the Divinity series (27th-29th
September 2013 at Chinmaya Mission, Delhi) have left me moved.
Rama
Vaidyanathan inaugurated the festival with her graceful mayuri allaripu. I marveled at the sheer skill with which she
captured the subtle movements of a peacock to recreate its magnificence through
dance. So real was her depiction, that if she were to perform this in a garden,
the national bird would be easily fooled and begin to court her! In another composition,
Lord Ram discloses to his wife, Sita that he has been banished from the kingdom
and would proceed all by himself. How can you even dream of leaving without me,
she implores. Consumed by hurt she asks him how she would live the life of
luxury within the palace precincts while her husband roamed the jungles
surrounded by wild animals. Rama’s depiction of shock, bewilderment and deep
pain that Sita experiences was so authentic and tears welled up almost
instantly. And then she takes a jab at the male ego by saying, “If you are
planning to leave your wife, what kind of a man are you?” Sita, the
quintessential Indian woman- the power of her love and dedication for her
husband was so palpable. And she spares no opportunity to strike back when her love
is under attack. It made me wonder if such utter devotion exists among women of
today or did this only exist among the women of yore? All three artistes of the
festival chose to depict the sacred and the indomitable feminine shakti, symbolized by their unending
fortitude, passion and surrender.
Rama’s last piece, Shivoham transported me to another world. As she slowed down to the
repetitive notes of ‘Jeevah Shivah, Shivo
Jeevah,’ I found myself slipping into the inner depths of my being. Just
when I had moved to that space of silence, she moved into a speedy teermanam. It made me sit up and be
dazzled by the brilliance of her nritta
on stage. Her sudden break seemed to suggest the reality of a fast paced life
that we call maya. Dive deep into
your divine self to source the soothing silence into our world of illusion is
what I took away. With her captivating abhinaya
she is able to hold the attention of the audience for a substantial period of
time enabling one to completely absorb the sentiments of the nayika. What I think she is a master of
is her ability to get under the skin of the characters she portrays. So whether
it’s a graceful bird, the jilted nayika
or the elephant like gait of the nayak,
her ability to bring it alive for the audience is unparalleled. In another
padam, Radha is trying to silence her lover, Krishna by asking him to stop
playing the flute. A playful Krishna continues to trouble her. While she tells
him to go away lest the neighborhood would wake up, one can see a part of her
also enjoying the attention she has been getting. The brilliance of the dancer is seen in the
way she balances the nayika’s annoyance with a coy expression of her delight.
I
watched Meenakshi Srinivasan, on stage for the first time and I had goosebumps
all through her performance. I loved the way she held her space. For
Shakespeare, all the world’s a stage but Meenakshi commanded the stage like it
was her world and played the many roles with effortless grace and perfection.
Sheer honey flowed from her lips when she introduced her compositions. She drew
in the viewer by her stylized narration, almost like lyrical poetry. Her
heavily emphasized syllables in ‘Andaal’
and ‘Vrindavan’ are still ringing in
my ears. So soothing are her words that even a person disinterested in dance,
would sit up and take notice. While each composition was breathtakingly
beautiful, her padam on Radha and
Krishna stayed with me. This was by far
the most sensual Bharatanatyam composition I have seen and one that was
depicted with poignant charm. Radha urges Krishna to re apply the kohl in her eyes
that have been smudged during a night of passion. She is not ashamed of the
love marks on her body and asks the Lord to soothe them with sandalwood and
musk. With no nritta at all, the
beauty of this piece could be appreciated only by the dancer’s evocative abhinaya. A slow and soft and composition
that explored the depths of the feminine persona--unabashed in love, bold in
her requests, yet shy and graceful in her demeanor. The ambience created by her
was so potent that one could completely relate to Radha’s mood. Having
interacted with Meenakshi, I am also completely taken in by her humility. The
fact that she remains unaffected and possibly unaware of her phenomenal
expertise and beauty makes her persona even more appealing.
On
the final day, the dance enthusiasts of Delhi were treated to a delightful
performance by a U.S based dancer, Mythili Prakash. My jaw dropped in awe and
wonder when she performed her racy nritta
with accuracy that would shame a Swiss watch. In the ashtapadi, Radha’s sakhi shares
her pain of separation from her beloved Krishna. The theme of separation is not
an uncommon subject and has been depicted very often through dance and drama.
Yet it continues to tug at your heartstrings. Mythili’s ability to express this
deep anguish left a lump in my throat. In
the hour and a half of her performance, I was transported to another world- one
where I could touch the depths of the rasa
and be one with the bhav of the nayika. Her concluding piece was a befitting
closure to the festival on divinity. Tarana
in Rag Natabhairavi, composed by Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar was a prayer
for Inner Awakening. ‘He Nath, hum par
kripa keejiye’- she urges the Lord to help us find the space within that
transcends the physical realm to reach out to our higher purpose.
Not
one with a fascination for Carnatic music, this time round the music of the
performances also touched a chord in me. Not to mention the Gandharva choir
which set the mood for the scintillating dance performances that was to
follow.
The
vision of the organizers, Deepak and Jyotsna Shourie was beautifully captured
in the Divinity series. I share their dream in making art and culture the very
essence of our existence. May the movement towards our inner self that our arts
can trigger, become infectious amongst India’s burgeoning youth. May this be
that space where they find an anchor, a peace within that can arm them suitably
to face the challenges of a big bad world out there.
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