dvita - May 3rd 2015 - bharatanATyam by Smt. Rama and Ms. Dakshina Vaidyanathan

[rshankar]

SPOILER ALERT: Members from Philadelphia planning to attend the performance organized by Sruti on May 16th, please skip this.
And apologies in advance for a long and rambling post

Performance: dvita

Performers:
Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan – concept, choreography and dancer
Ms. Dakshina Vaidyanthan – dancer

Accompanied by:
Dr. S. Vasudevan – naTTuvANgam and vocal
Sri K. Venkateshwaran – naTTuvANgam and vocal
Sri Ramamoorthy Sriganesh – mRdangam
Sri Rajat Prasanna – flute
Sri Sridhar Shanmugham – lighting

Venue:
Performing Arts Center of the Middlesex Country College, Edison, NJ

Banner:
Ambika Raman Performing Arts Academy

Date:
May 3rd, 2015

First, a disclaimer that this is not a review, but a rather jumbled collection of thoughts after an evening of dance where the team engaged the audience in a rare fashion, and (very uniquely) made us think, and relive the experience. I for one have been replaying certain parts in my mind (hopefully accurately) which has, I think increased my understanding of the message that was conveyed.

Second, my take on dvita the program, as opposed to dvaita, the philosophy of Sri Ramanuja: I think the intent of Smt. Rama was to show the duality she wanted to highlight in the pieces as being equally important, whereas dvaita the philosophy does have an hierarchy (with the paramAtmA at a much higher level than the jIvAtmA).

The list:
pushpAnjali – rasikapriya, tiSra tripuTa – Vidya Srinivasan and Ramamoorthy Sriganesh
alArippu in sankIRNam – Ramamoorthy Sriganesh
varNam – mOhamAna en mIdil – bhairavi – rUpaka – Ponniah Pillai
ardhnArISvara ashTakam – mEgh – Adi – Adi Sankara/Music: O.S. Arun
padam – rAgamAlika (varamu, Suddh sArang, jOg, sindhubhairavi) – Adi – Sangam Poetry/Music: Dr. S. Vasudevan – rAgas confimed with Dr. Vasudevan
mangaLam – verses from the skanda purANam – cArukESi – Adi – Music: G. S. Rajan

The performance:

Knowledge and Wealth: pushpAnjali/alArippu – duality being presented was the two equally important needs for knowledge and wealth, and the arts and prosperity.

The evening began with a short rAga sketch, followed by an introduction by both the dancers – With Smt. Rama introducing Goddess sarasvati, and Ms. Dakshina Goddess lakshmi. They entered the stage to the traditional sollus of a pushpAnjali – Smt. Rama attired in white, and Ms. Dakshina in tasteful red to represent the two deities being invoked. The choreography was very energetic, and the execution was a delight to watch. It ended with the chanting of mantras to invoke both the dEvis. The only crib I had here was that this invocation part could have used some rhythm changes, because it felt a bit monotonous. The pushpAnjali segued into the alArippu seamlessly. Some thoughts about the alArippu – it was beautiful but very non-traditional. Smt. Rama very cleverly retained the sarasvati and lakshmi theme which added gravitas to the piece.

My take: IIRC, it started in third speed (unlike the traditional start in first speed). Second, while the choreography was novel, it remained true to the spirit of an alArippu (i.e., to warm up the dancer). Thirdly, while traditionally, the dancers move backwards to the sollu ‘dRgudu taka’, they did not in this choreography. The sarasvati and lakshmi theme was enhanced by Sri Venkateshwaran singing the verses ‘yAkundEndu tushAra hAra dhavaLa’ and ‘namastEstu mahAmAyE’ in the background.

Passion and Devotion: padavarNam – duality being presented was sensuality and spirituality, performed by Smt. Rama. As I understood it (and this changes with my ruminations), the spirituality part was invoked in the pUrvAnga – where the nAyikA’s heart beats with the Lord – as he dances with movements in the X, Y, and Z axes; beats with the Lord’s palanquin, as it sways when the Lord’s idol is being carried in procession; resonates with the Lord’s heart beats when she arrives at the sanctum sanctorum, while the sensuality of the lyrics provided the passion part of this duality.

As the orchestra (Sri Rajat) played a short bhairavi AlApana, Smt. Rama changed her all-white ensemble by relieving it with a black paTTi, and began the centerpiece of the recital in earnest. This is the first time I am seeing two very different takes on this varNam from the same dancer – as I had reviewed previously, I was awestruck by Smt. Rama’s ability to take this rather carnal varNam and present it in a layered approach to evoke the ajapa naTanam of tyAgESa last year. This year, it was a different take with an effort to bring out the element of physical passion as well, to present the duality. The jatis in the piece were composed by Sri Sivakumar, and choreographed and presented beautifully.

My take: As usual, the spirituality portion was evoked effortlessly and very intelligently. I am not sure, but I think this version avoided the muktAyi svara passage, but the muktAyi svara sAhitya was presented. What was missing was the sensuality – I think the feeling of viraha, and urgency to unite with the Lord was presented well, but the sensuality, the raw desire was not evoked – this could have been done by purpose. Finally, I am not sure if this piece was truly about duality, for I would argue that for the composer, spirituality was evoked through the sensuality, and both were ultimately one and the same, and not separate, yet equal!

Creation and Dissolution: – ardhanArISvara ashTakam – duality being presented is obvious – the male and female principles, the creator and destroyer, etc. It was preceded by a SlOka by Kalidasa extolling pArvati and Siva as the universal mother and father who are one – inseparable, like a word and its meaning - vAgArtha.

This piece was presented by Ms. Dakshina – again the choreography was excellent, full of energy. For some of the nRtta segments, Smt. Rama had choreographed Siva’s movements to jatis and pArvatis to svaras, which was very nicely done, and ultimately the two – jati and svara – came together to symbolize the union of pAravti and paramESvara.

My take: Ms. Dakshina came into her own in this piece. The coverage of the stage was phenomenal, graceful, and precise. The only suggestion would be to inject a bit more lasya, a bit more languor into pArvati’s movements to bring the high energy movements of Siva into sharper contrast.

Protect and set free: – kANirO – duality being represented is a mother’s instinct to protect her daughter by keeping her secure versus setting her free, and basking in the glory she is sure her daughter is destined for.

The piece opened with Ms. Dakshina playing the daughter, engaging in a dalliance with her ‘man’ – the mother sees them, and begins a dialogue with herself – she wonders how this child, whom she bore those many years ago has grown, the one she taught to walk is now ready to walk away, the one who held her hand for security is now seeking the hand of another – her first instinct is to keep her close. But then she thinks of a sandal tree growing on a hill – for its fragrance to be released and experienced by the world, it will have to be removed from the hill, the place of its birth. In a similar way, she reasons, the luster of a pearl would not be evident to the world without first removing it from its mother, the oyster. Finally, she thinks of the strings of a vINa – they will remain silent if the sounds born of them are not set free by plucking them. After walking herself through these examples, she is convinced that the best course of action is for her to set her daughter free. The three examples were presented as 3 caraNams, and the choreography involved Ms. Dakshina presenting some enjoyable nRtta passages in between. Finally, when the mother has made up her mind, she and her daughter indulge in a bit of playful activity – this segment was delightfully choreographed in the form of a modern take on pandATTam.

My take: Easily the best piece of the program for me. If Smt. Rama was absolutely convincing as a mother (the sancAri about grooming her daughter, after which she takes a mirror and shows the child how they look alike was precious), Ms. Dakshina was captivating – in the initial encounter with her paramour she was able to invoke awakening sensuality with such dignity, I was blown away. The pandATTam (a traditional kalAkshEtra staple, rarely seen nowadays, if ever) which was skillfully woven into the piece also made my day.

Finite and infinite: – verses from the skanda purANam – the duality presented in this mangalam was the mortal man with his immortal soul.

Presented by both dancers, it was a fitting finale to the program that unfortunately had to end. The entire team received a well-deserved standing ovation.

General observations: When there is more than one dancer on the stage, it is hard for me to keep my attention on both of them. So, between them, I found myself drawn to Smt. Rama more often than not – probably because her experience and an indescribable factor make it so for me. This is not to detract from Ms. Dakshina one bit – I can certainly see her growing in stature and being able to command everyone’s attention with ease even when she’s not the only dancer on stage. She is not merely someone who can dance well – she is a dancer, and there is a world of difference between the two. Another thing I noticed about Smt. Rama is that when she comes to a complete standstill, she is completely still – unlike many dancers, she doesn’t even keep time with her toes – she must have a very strongly in-built sense of rhythm to start her next movement precisely, as demanded by the choreography.

I loved their technique – the big fan of their costumes on display, stretched beautifully. I have to say that Smt. Rama’s gudittameTTaDavus are picture perfect. Now, I did think that the way the two of them performed kiTa taka tari kiTa tOm (tIrmAnam?) was slightly different.

Another point to call out is the elegance of the clutter-free approach the dancers had to jewelry.

The orchestra was superb. It was an all-male ensemble to complement the female dancers, yet another duality! The two naTTuvanArs/vocalists were simply wonderful in both roles – melodious while singing, precise while conducting/reciting the sollus. I have to say that Dr. Vasudevan, who is both a dancer and a vocalist was seated with a ramrod straight back from the start to the very end – which was wonderful to behold. I think he has done a superb job of setting the sangam poetry (kANIrO) to music. Sri Ramamoorthy on the mRdangam was wonderful – especially in the varNam, there were moments when he was able to recreate the ‘lub dub’ sounds of the heart beat in synchrony with the nAyika’s. Sri Rajat on the flute supported the ensemble perfectly. And before I forget, a word about the person who managed the lights – Sri Sridhar. I guess it helps to be a dancer, because his lighting was beautiful – no jerkiness, and just perfect for the mood being portrayed.

Overall, the program started about 35 minutes late, and another minor problem was that the Performing Arts Center was not easy to find. But the fare was so wonderful, we forgot all about these minor inconveniences.

If I had to put my impressions of the program in a nutshell, I’d say that it was the duality of being deceptively simple and delightfully complex at the same time. I am still thinking about the program and reliving the pieces. This ability to engage one cerebrally is, I think, Smt. Rama’s trademark, and she has succeeded brilliantly with this presentation.

I really hope that others who were present would add their take on it. I do realize that if people saw it on another day, their take may be different.

[mahavishnu]

If I had to put my impressions of the program in a nutshell, I’d say that it was the duality of being deceptively simple and delightfully complex at the same time. I am still thinking about the program and reliving the pieces. This ability to engage one cerebrally is, I think, Smt. Rama’s trademark, and she has succeeded brilliantly with this presentation.

Wow! Ravi, that is an amazing summary. Someday I have to go to a dance performance with you, so you can explain these things to me. My knowledge of the Indian classical dance forms is close to zero.

I believe Smt Rama Vaidyanathan and co are coming to the Bay Area this weekend. Unfortunately, I will have to miss it due to some work related travel.

[rshankar]

Thank you!

I believe Smt Rama Vaidyanathan and co are coming to the Bay Area this weekend. Unfortunately, I will have to miss it due to some work related travel.

That is a bummer....

[Rsachi]

Ravi,
There is a big article in NYT about duality in Indian culture (sensuous and spiritual) and it mentions Dvita! This was reproduced in DH today.

I think it is difficult for Western minds to understand this type of duality unless they can resonate with our idea of the four purursharthas.

Excellent reportage and analysis from you. It was very enjoyable reading. Your problem of not being able to watch two dancers simultaneously is mine too. The Nrityagram duo do a good choreographic job somehow of balancing the act in such a way that we don't feel too deprived of watching "the other".

By the way Ramanuja propounded
viSiShTa+advaita or a "special advaita". His interpretation of the scriptures is really very much like quantum theory, in my opinion, and circumvents many tricky issues coming out of pure advaita or pure dvaita interpretations. But such cogitations don't belong here

It was Madhva who propounded dvaita.

It seems the Dvita team are having a busy tour. Best wishes!

[Rsachi]

Here is the link to the NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/arts/ ... .html?_r=0

[jkjoy25]

A beautiful summary to an evening spent in Duality- enjoying and learning.

I like that you mentioned about the clutter free approach to jewelry because it still amazes me how Smt. Rama had only a dark beaded necklace and only one bangle on each of her wrist and yet their entire performance kept you glued to your seats.

There was a very personal touch to the mother- daughter composition according to me since today I am a mother to a daughter too. Setting your daughter free is a very tough thought for a mother but by doing so I feel there's another relationship set up- a friendship that lasts a lifetime.

There was a point during the recital when Smt. Rama's eyes where glistening with tears but not one tear rolled down her cheek to spoil her make up and it was a matter of a few seconds the tears were gone as she moved onto the next part of the composition. Duality of emotions in seconds!!!

[srutiphila]

After their grand performance presented by Sruti Philadelphia on May 16, Rama and Dakshina were interviewed by Sruti Youth Group. You can watch the very interesting interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqbzqw2 ... e=youtu.be

[arasi]

Ravi,
I had missed reading this all these days! You know that I find your dance reviews delectable

Of course, kudos to the dancers and the rest of the ensemble, but your reviews! They are a class apart. As omnipotent mahavishnu wishes, I would love to go to a dance performance with you too

[rshankar]

Arasi, and Ramesh, it'd be my pleasure! And thank you!

[rshankar]

After their grand performance presented by Sruti Philadelphia on May 16, Rama and Dakshina were interviewed by Sruti Youth Group. You can watch the very interesting interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqbzqw2 ... e=youtu.be

Very nice! Thank you for sharing.