nATya samarpaNam by Madhumita Parmar, Sept 26, 2010

[rshankar]

Occasion: bharatanATya samarpaNam by Kumari Madhumita Parmar to raise funds for "akshaya pAtra"
naTTuvAngam: Guru Suba Parmar
Vocal: Smt. Neela Ramanuja
mRdangam: Sri Haribabu
Flute: Sri Vivek Krishna
Rhythm pad: Sri Manjunath
Venue: Terrill Middle School
Organizer: Shubanjali School of Performing Arts

Madhu is a very versatile and talented artist who excels in many genres of music - Indian classical music (both carnatic and hindustani vocal) as well as playing the saxophone (jazz), and is a gifted bharatanATyam dancer to boot. Madhu had previously used her musical skills to raise money for 'Autism Speaks', and it was only natural for her to use her dancing skills for yet another worthy cause. Therefore, it was no surprise that Madhu had a rather unique 'Sweet Sixteen' party that packed an impactful punch - she raised $10,000 - enough to feed 35 children in India for 10 years through the efforts of 'Akshayapatra'! How much more impactful can it get?

The list
Invocation - gaNESa vandana - dES
pushpAnjali - bhauLi, khaNDa tripuTa
tA tai yenruADuvAr - sindhubhairavi - GKB
innam yen manam arindiDAdavar pOl inrundiDal nyAyamA - cArukESi - LGJ
SivakAmasundari - jaganmOhini, rUpakam - GKB
kAvaDicindu - Annamalai Reddiyar
madhurAshTakam - rAgamAlikA - Vallabhacharya
tillAnA-tarAnA - kalyANavasantam-hamIr
mangalpATh - dES

The performance
Madhu sought the blessings of the Lord who removes obstacles with an absolutely soulful rendering of a gaNESa vandana to start the proceedings and the evening was off to a very auspicious start. The pushpAnjali that followed was full of verve and pep with the choreography bearing the unmistakable stamp of the pandanallUr style of Guru Suba Parmar; it energized both the dancer and the audience and set the stage perfectly for the visualization of the cosmic dance of naTarAja, the king of the naTas (and naTis) that came next. Describing the Lord of cidambaram as dancing to the SorkaTTu 'tA tai' and 'tatti tai', the composer Sri Gopalakrishna Bharati describes how the whole world quakes and the many hoods of AdisESa sway as the Siva/naTarAja he worships dances with perfectly controlled abandon raising his left foot high. With her excellent skills at communicating the composer's intent, Madhu brought to life the cosmic dancer's energetic performance. Once again, the choreography was wonderful.

Next came the centerpiece of the performance - the padavarNam. The one chosen for the evening was an all-time favorite of mine, one of the SRngAra padavarNams composed by a contemporary, living composer, Lalgudi Sri G. Jayaraman who typically composes these at the behest of leading dancers. This was the first presentation of Guru Suba Parmar's choreography of this particular varNam, innam yen manam which was an excellent choice to showcase the pandanallUr choreography, because the melody of Sri LGJ's compositions carefully camouflages subtle rhythmic intricacies, which are the the lifeblood of this dance style! The jatis were superb, starting with the first trikAla jati, with changes in gait and kArvais sprinkled all throughout with a wonderful amalgamation of the music and the dance. The sancAris were also delightfully choreographed and presented.

The post-varNam section of the performance began with a powerful presentation of another of Sri GKB's composition - a composition on the Lord of cidambaram having been presented in the pre-varNam section, it made perfect sense to create cosmic balance and divine anyOnya by presenting a composition on naTarAja's beloved and partner in the AnandatANDava, the beautiful SivakAma sundari, by the same composer in the post-verNam section! This composition is unique in being one of the rare ones by Sri GKB to bear the rAga mudra. Starting on an atIta eDuppu, and having two sets of peppy ciTTasvaras, this composition is a rhythm-lover's delight. Madhu's presentation of the various aspects of the dEvi's manifestation while maintaining perfect fidelity to the tAla was an excellent preview for the upcoming dEvi navarAtri.

Next came a delightful and insouciant kAvaDi cindu which was followed by an extremely well choreographed madhurAshTakam. This compostion made world famous by Smt. M. S. Subbhulakshmi was presented in a re-tuned format. Once again, the sancAris were very well conceived and presented, especially the kAliya nartana episode. This was followed by a very interesting fusion/fused piece where the tillAnA in kalyANavasantam was presented until the caraNam part that preceded the caraNasAhityam, and then came the tarAnA in rAg hamIr, and then the caraNasAhityam and the svaras of the tillAnA were presented to complete the piece. When the MC announced this format, I admit to having had a few misgivings, but when it unfolded, all the parts seamlessly fell into place.

The mangaLam was unique in that the mangalpATh from the Jain sampradAya was chosen - set in rAg dES (rAg dES book-ended the program as the chosen rAga for both the gaNESa vandana and the mangaLam) it was melodious and brought the curtains down on an eventful evening.

A young dancer's performance depends on several supporting elements, the foremost of which is the choreography; boring and repetitive choreography can kill even a supremely talented performance. Guru Suba Parmar's choreography of the all the items presented was uniformly excellent, and of very high quality - the nRtta segments were electrifying, and the sancAris were very appropriate, tasteful, imaginative and evocative. Performing naTTuvAngam is a special skill - one has to have the ability to maintain 100% fidelity to the time cycle while providing all the gait changes, and the soft and hard beats all at once. Guru Suba Parmar's skill in naTTuvAngam needs absolutely no commendation from me.

While music may exist by itself, a dancer needs good music to give life to the dance. Madhu's performance was helped, sustained and ultimately uplifted all through by a supremely talented team led by vocalist Smt. Neela Ramanuja whose multifaceted talents as a composer were evident, especially in the fused tillAnA/tarAnA. Sri Haribabu on the mRdangam provided the scaffolding of rhythm for the performance that was both excellent, and unobtrusive at the same time - an achievement that highlights his talent and practice. Sri Vivek Krishna, like his namesake, produced divine music - shadowing Smt. Neela when needed, and providing distilled essences of the rAga when he had to fill-in the gaps, or play the outline of the rAgas. Sri Manjunath worked magic on his magic pad aka rhythm pad - be it the sound of a temple bell, or a tabla, it was just what was needed to push the music into another dimension.

It is thought that brahmA created a fifth vEda, so that the benefits of the other four vEdas could be enjoyed by all men and women (and not merely by the twice-born men). The practitioners of this vEda (called the nATya vEda), referred to as naTa and naTi, were adept at using song, dance, and acting/emoting to present stories from mythology with their inherent moral and practical teachings and guides for good living; their patron god was naTarAja - the king of naTas. In fact, the word nATya in the name of this vEda as well as in the treaty compiled by bharata muni refers to the broader meaning of 'story-telling' and not the restrictive one meaning 'dancing'. It is probably true that of the dancers in the 20th century, Smt. Balasaraswati was a true naTi, as she sang, danced, and emoted on stage, becoming one with the character. While Madhu did not quite sing while dancing on-stage, she came as close to fulfilling the requirements of a naTi (a true practitioner of the nATya vEda) with her melodious singing, dancing that was rhythm personified, bringing to vivid life Guru Suba Parmar's choreography, and phenomenal story-telling abilities with a mobile face and expressive body language, as I have seen.

Our felicitations and best wishes to Madhu for a life that is both fulfilling and generously giving!

[bilahari]

Beautiful review, Ravi. Thank you. I learn a lot about nATyam from your reviews.