Eminent geographer, Yi-Fu Tuan has said that space is movement and place is a pause in that movement. I attended a bharatanātyam performance this evening that repeatedly brought that idea to mind. The dance program was performance by a troupe from Chithkala, a dance school conducted by Guru Praveen Kumar. Tonights performance under the ægis of Kinkini at JSS Auditorium, Jayanagar was a right treat! It featured a new production by the guru and his students. It was unusual in that it looked at Devi (Mother Goddess, Time, Death, Power, and Energy) in a way somewhat analogous to the way Krshna is often portrayed in bharatanātyam. The first song, a rāgamālikā was a portrayal of Devi as a child (bālā). The song chosen for this item was Śrī Subrahmanya Bhāratis lovely chinnanjiruk-kiliye in which the poets evocative description of a girl child and the joy she brings him is superb. He tells her, You were born to bring upliftment in this world. The second item portrayed Devi as a young, beautiful, beguiling enchantress who captivates all the three worlds. Aptly chosen for this item was ŚrīMuttusvāmi Dīkshitas lovely song in Manohari: kañja-dalāyatākshi. Beautifully rendered, this brought out the allure of her face (full moon) and her gait (with the gait of an elephant, the majesty of it) and so on, culminating in her Supreme Essence as one who dissolves the mind that is fixed in a point (ekāgra-mano-layakari) -- i.e., she destroys the delusion of one who meditates on her with unswerving concentration. Then came Devi as both Mother and the Fierce slayer of the Demon (mahishāsura) of the base instincts. The portrayal of both aspects of the same Mother was very deftly accomplished. Śrī Harikeśanallūr Muthaiah Bhāgavatars Khamāj svara-jati, mātey malaya-dhvaja-pāndya-samjātey was presented in such exquisite elaboration, energy, and elegance that I could hardly blink for fear of missing even a moment of the choreography. So many nuanced explorations of both aspects were presented in this choreography that the whole team (of dancers and musicians) should have been given grand prizes! This was clearly the highlight of the splendorous performance. Then came a thillaana (I have already forgotten the name of the rāga, alas) that offered salutations to the Mother, the Primal Supreme Energy (ādi-parā-śakti). The whole program was high energy movement with exactly the right amount of slow, deliberate movements, and -- the most dramatic and arresting of all -- the absolute stillnesses. These brilliantly timed pauses were many and really highlighted the overall energy of the performance. And brought to my mind the beautiful choreography and its connection with geography. The stage, the dance, the music, the costumes ... everything comes together to give a beautiful metaphor and even a literal visual of geography as the space we measure, traverse, and perform in; how we create worlds of imagination through the discourse offered in a space that is a place. This, ultimately, is the reason that bharatanātyam captivates me so much. Tonights performance was among the best I have ever witnessed and enjoyed. Every person in the troupe on stage worked with graceful precision. The people behind the scenes (e.g., the costumiers) had put together a wonderful array of colours, everything in its place, not a single thing moved out of place or out of sync. The light operator also did a great job. I hope they present this program again sometime in the near future and that a lot more people (who missed tonights program) will attend and enjoy it. Alas, I cannot give a technical review of the program as i am ignorant of the grammar, aesthetics, and other theoretical aspects of any art, including bharatanātyam. I enjoyed as a layperson and a geographer.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:55:47 +0000