Artistes work throughout the year for bringing out special dance productions and thematic and innovative concerts during the 'December season'. This section will feature brief curtain-raisers to these new productions!

Natyarangam’s annual Natya Sangraham camp for dancers will be held at Thennangur from Friday January 27 to 29, 2012.

Prof. C.V. Chandrasekhar is the convenor, and the faculty members are: O.S. Arun, S Vasanthalakshmi & M.V. Narasimhachari, Anil Kumar, and Sudha Seshayyan.

Dancers who have teaching experience, are 18 years and above, and have had their arangetram, can apply for the camp.

For details contact: 24993201

Top

Music makes way for dance as the 'season' slips in the new year (2012).

Many sabhas have begun hosting dance fests at their halls, thus providing an opportunity to Indian and NRI dancers to perform at the best time of the year.

Mylapore Fine Arts Club features young dancers who are all the top choices of their gurus.

So does Brahma Gana Sabha at the Sivagami Petachi hall, Alwarpet from Jan.1 to 21, with Leela Samson opening the fest.

As does Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sanha in T Nagar with a crisp dance fest.

The Music Academy also has an exclusive dance fest, from Jan 3 to 9. There are four slots starting10 am with the first slot for young dancers - Pavitra Bhat, Madhavi Chandran and Arushi Mudgal.

A mix of solos and dance productions are in the 11.30 am slot. Dancers A Lakshman and Uma Namboodiripad feature here besides productions by Padma Subrahmanyam and Sudharani Raghupathy.

The 6 pm slot feature the top dancers like Alarmel Valli, Malavika Sarukkai, Priyadarshini and Surupa Sen and Bijayini Satpathy.

The 7.45 pm slots are for productions by among others, Anita Guha, Gopika Varma, Kalakshetra and Yakshagana by guru Keremane Shivananda Hedge and troupe. The shows are ticketed.

Top

There was a buzz in the green room at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore on Monday last (Dec.26).

The 50th performance of the 'Meendum Bharathi' dance production was about to start and the four dancers - Roja Kannan, Priya Murle, Srikanth and Aswathy Srikanth - went through their final paces before the curtains went up.

Fifty shows of one production is indeed a milestone. And the foursome took pride in it.

That evening as they came alive on stage, these dancers paused to offer flowers to all those who had made this possible. The accompanying musicians and the patrons who set it off on the road.

The premiere of this production was in December 2002 when it was presented at an art festival at the Bharathi Memorial House in Triplicane.

The first show was for just 45minutes - solos followed by a medley.

Roja says three people must be acknowledged for their early support - arts promoter Nalli Kuppuswamy, former DD head, Natarajan and vocalist Rajkumar Bharathi, who is from the bard's lineage.

They also acknowledge the support from Natyarangam, the dance wing of Narada Gana Sabha.

Roja says the production has evolved. "We get back to Bharathi's works whenever we are signed up to do thematic shows as a group, " she says in the green room.

The group is now called 'Parashah', a name given to it by mridangist K S R Anirudda who once used to play for it.

The musicians they also acknowledge are Nandini Anand, Sashidar, Kalaiarasan and Vijayaraghavan.

Thus far, the group has 10 standard items in the repertoire.

The 50 shows include 17 performed on a long USA tour and one for SIFAS at the famed Esplanade theatre in Singapore.

A dance theatre segment on 'Panchali Sapatham' is also part of the production.

"Our gurus have been hugely supportive and open to ideas," says Roja.

And how has the journey impacted on them individually?

"We work as a team, we have no egos and we let go when it needs to be done and we listen to each other even if Aswathy has to share something, " says Roja.

Top

"We are celebrating the bicentenary of Vadivelu (Thanjavur Quartet) but we do not have his portrait on the stage," he pointed out.

The organizers were clearly embarrassed; they had not done their work an Shanta Dhananjayan, the convenor had to make some polite excuses later.

To some dance scholars and connosieurs, the event seemed to be biased towards Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai, whose centenary is also being celebrated. The Sivanandam branch of the Quartet’s family now resides in south Chennai but nobody seems to have bothered to check them out.

A family member said they read about the event in the dailies. Clearly, biases seem to show starkly at some major events during the ‘season’.

It was close to 2 p.m. and the hall was close to empty. She had flown in from the UK, with her daughter to share her reminiscenes of Vazhvoor.

For, she was the first Sri Lankan student of Vazhuvoor. She said that her family which was based in Jaffna, Sri Lanka patronized the arts and when Tripoorasundari was keen to go to Madras to learn dance, the family decided to send her to Vazhuvoor in 1958. "He was like a father and a guru to me," she said.

After her arangetram in Jaffna, she came back every year to Madras to learn under her guru. And time and again, Vazhuvoor would tour the island and the Tripoorasundari family played host.

Senior dancer and guru Padma Subrahmanyam performed a short piece with Rhadha, (photo on the left) Padma re-enacting the role that Kamala used to perform in her heydays. Padma said that she was inspired when she saw Kamala dance when the latter was capturing the imagination of people. She also presented a viramalai kuravanji except that ‘vadyar’ had choreographed. She spoke of days spent at Vazhuvoor vadyar’s house. "We were encouraged to watch our seniors perform. We would go all the way to Gokhale Hall in Armenian Street (George Town) to see a recital. I doubt if dancers today do such things," said Padma.

He had a few anecdotes and some rare jathis of his famed father to share with the participants.

Other dancers who were Vazhuvoor’s students recalled how they had seen the young Vinayagam running around while classes were on and the few occasions when the guru asked his son to sit down and listen in at dance class.

Top

Getting to Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in the heart of T. Nagar on Monday morning (the day after Christmas) was not easy.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in town and with road blocks, traffic diversions and jams and chaos on the main roads of the city centre, the task was certainly difficult.

The sabha was hosting its 31st Naatya Kala Conference - am academic session series on dance which is held during the annual December season here.

The theme is ' Abhyaasa Sampradaaya' and the chairperson is Shanta Dhananjayan. And this year, the papers will look at dances like Mohiniattam, Kathakali, Chau and Sattriya and more.

The conference also pays tribute to the Bicentenary of one among the Thanjavur Quartet, Thanjavur Vadivelu and to the birth centenary of Bharatanatyam guru, Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai (1910 - 1979).

Dancer Narthaki Nataraj, who learnt dance under the great K P Kittappa Pillai and learnt the works of the Quartet presented a few crisp items to set the tone for the opening session which was exclusively devoted to the great gurus.

Scholar-writer B. M. Sundaram who inaugurated the conference and has a wealth of material on the old masters of dance and music talked about Vadivelu and shared some less known facts on him.

The brothers belonged to Tanjore and were not from Tirunelveli as was commonly assumed, he said.

They served in the court of the Serfoji in Tanjore for many years but when they felt insulted by king, moved to Mysore. Much later, the surviving Serfoji did invite the brothers back but only Ponniah and Sivanandam obliged him and Vadivelu refused to do so.

Sundaram also said that Vadivelu learnt to play the violin from an Enlgishman who was in the court band and later, mastered the skill of playing Carnatic music on the fiddle.

Vadivelu's descendants can be located in Kerala and in and around Tanjore but none are anywhere close to the arts.

In the next session, writer-researcher Sujatha Vijayaraghavan made an illustrated presentation on guru Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai, spicing it with nuggets of information.

Sujatha said he turned down the title of Natya Chakravarty saying it was a title fit for the Lord; so the hosts changed renamed it as Natya Kala Kesari.

She said when Pillai came to settle in Madras in the 1930s as the circumstances changed down south, the times were momentous - the devadasi system had been abolished, educated people in a city looked down on this form of dance and nobody ever patronized it.

She said Ramaiah didn't get into the raging issues of that time and focused on presenting the art as it was.

But he had to adapt - madras' venues for dance were different from those down south, the girls who came to learn dance were different and the rasikas were different,

So he had to change the repertoire.

And the dancer who showcased Vazhuvoor's art was Kamala, who was a rage of a star in cinema as Baby Kamala, creating waves in Hindi and soon thereafter, in Thamizh.

On December 26 morning, Kamala, who now lives in the USA and is in the 80s was back on stage, dressed in the finest dance costume, ready to share with the packed audience a few pieces she learnt from Ramaiah Pillai, her second guru.

She got a standing ovation.

It was a morning to cherish, a day which celebrated the greatness of Bharatanatyam gurus of the past and the dancers who had made the art and the gurus great.

Said Sujata Vijayaraghavan, "Kamala converted what was seen as loathsome to be laudable. at a time when Bharatanatyam was slowly getting back its place."

There were many visual clips screened on this occasion, as a result of the effort of Sujata and her team.

Clips from a documentary made by Films Division, - clips from films like Sri Valli, Naam Iruvar and Parthiban Kanavu.

Kamala Lakshmi Narayanan was overwhelmed this morning.

But one line she shared said it all.

"My guru would teach me little things one at a time and I would keep practising, practicing, practicing at home to be ready when my guru came home the next day - that is how a student today can be the best one for a guru."

Top

Dancer Sailaja presented Chandalika, a Kuchipudi production recently at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan festival.

Here is Sailaja’s schedule of performances

Dec.24 - 5 p.m. - at Tamil Isai Sangam – Divya Prabhandham – group performance.

Jan.8 - 7.45 p.m. – at Music Academy -'Chandalika' – Kuchipudi

Jan.10 - 7.30 p.m. – at Tapas Academy, Rajarathnam Hall,Greenways Road, R. A. Puram - Kuchipudi – solo

Jan.11 - 7.00 p.m. – for Brahma Gana Sabha at Sivagami Pethachi -Kuchipudi group

Jan.14 - 6.15 p.m. – for Kala Pradarshini, at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan -Pancharatnam Krithi theme- Kuchipudi solo

Jan.23 - 6 p.m. – at Mahabalipuram dance festival - Kuchipudi

Top

The dance production 'Mammudha' from the house of Prof Sudharani Raghupathy made a quiet entry this ‘season’on Sunday evening. The first of three shows was held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for Kartik Fine Arts.

And though the hall was not packed, Mammudha - version II was far tighter than it was when it was premiered 2seasons ago.

Created as a collaboration work of the dance guru and her son K. S. R. Aniruddha, with the inputs of stalwarts from different arts, it was a unique production when it was launched. (It was good to mention Mithran Devanesan, well-known theatre director and set designer who passed away last year and had a hand in this production)

And it was an effort worth executing though it cost a bit.

Mammudha employs theru-koothu, a slice of ballet and western classical dance and music, mime and story-telling but the classical dance dominates.

This time around, there corded music facilitates better execution and with anew set of guest artistes and refurbished costumes and less props, the show ran well.

It was tight, the lighting was strong and crisp though the audio jumped up to trouble our ear drums and the spectacle was pleasing.

Dancer Priya Murle, in her koothu role continues to enjoy the challenge she took up when the production was premiered. Hers and that of Srikanth was appreciated when the curtain call was made.

Mammudha will be staged for Brahma Gana Sabha at Sivagami Pethaci Hall, Luz Church Road, on Dec.24, 7 p.m. and at The Music Academy onJan.8 11.30 a.m. 2012.

<< If you have been at dance productions and wish to share 8 lines on them, mail to:kutcheribuzz@gmail.com >>

Top

Dr. Anita Ratnam, is curating a dance conference and performance event called ‘Mad And Divine’, between the 21st and 25th of December.

The entire event will beheld at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for Kartik Fine Arts. Morning conferences are free. Evening performances at 5pm and 6 pm, are free. 7.15pm concert is priced at Rs.250 per ticket and available at the venue.

Excerpts of the morning conference and the evening performances will be available the following morning on

For further enquiries, contact:

Akhila Krishnamurthy - akhilak@gmail.com

9841085692

Payal Chhabria - payal.h.chhabria@gmail.com

9840792782

Top

The Dhananjayans are presenting what seem to be three pieces which may have a thin line running through them though each is an independent production piece.

This productions is titled as "POORNA TRAYEE".

The Dhanajayans says 'Poorna Trayee' will be staged at three sabhas and the rasika will get to see three different pieces that run for about 90minutes.

They had presented this package at Mumbai's Sri Shanmukhananada Hall recently.

The first section is based on Dasaavataram (a mythological drama from the Puraanam). The second is on King Ashoka - Sanghamitra and focuses on a more historical theme. Dhananjayan takes the role of Emperor Ashoka and Divya Sivasundar as Meghaveni -his daughter (Sanghamitra)

The third in the Poorna Thrayee package is a contemporary dance production which Dhananjayan says is more of movement and patterns that he has specially designed for this feature. It highlights more the dancers' artistry than focus on a current theme.

Dec. 11 evening - Sri Krishna Gana Sabha - in T Nagar

Dec.21 evening - For Mudhra at the RKM School hall, T. Nagar. ( Here, the second of the pieces will be replaced with a Ramayana theme)

Dec. 26 evening - At Bharat Kalachar.

Top

Bragha Bessel and Sangita Ishvaran, classical dancers are hosting a show titled 'Unusual Padams and Javalis' to mark the 84th birthday of their guru, Kalanidhi Narayanan.

The event is on Dec.7, 9.30 am onwards at Spaces, No.1, Elliots Beach in Besant Nagar ( place where late dance guru Chandraleka lived).

Call 94449 18692

Top

Nataraj is presenting the Ayodhya Kandam dance production ( of Ramayana) she has choreographed at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha this season. She plays the role of Kaikeyi and the whole show is presented in the traditional style, and not with costumes and makeup.

The show was presented at the Cleveland Aradhana 2011 in USA earlier this year. It is on Dec.15, 7.30 p.m.

On Dec.19 evening, Narthaki will star in Yuddha Kandam production ( from the Ramayana) which has been produced by Rhada. She plays the role of Mandodari.

This production is also presented in the traditional Bharatanatyam style.

On Dec.23, 9 a.m. Narthaki presents ‘Sutta Pazham’ – Avaiyyar', a thematic dance presentation as part of the Natya Darshan seminar themed 'Mad & Divine Women' hosted by Kartik Fine Arts - at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

These are the key recitals of this dancer. More info at www.narthakinataraj.in,

Top

Here is what dancer Mythili Prakash is presenting this December in Chennai.

"Aikya - in the voice of Akka Mahadevi" - a special choreography and tribute to mystic poet Akka Mahadevi.

December 24, 2011 - 7:30 p.m.

For Karthik Fine Arts' Natya Dharshan Seminar "Mad and Divine." Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Margam

- On Jan 1, 2012 - 6:00 p.m. Bramha Gana Sabha Arts Festival, Sivakami Pethachi Auditorium

- Jan 5, 2012 - 6:00 p.m. The Music Academy Dance Festival

Top

This is the season when some dance gurus decide to premiere a new production. Chances are the show will be staged at different venues and a rasika get the opportunity to enjoy it at his/her convenience.

This season Chennai-based guru Sheela Unnikrishnan presents 80 students of her school, Sridevi Nrithyalaya on one stage for a new production – "RAVANESWARAN".

She says this is the outcome of team work by eminent lyricists, musicians and young dancers.

In late November, we had a chat with Sheela on this work.

1.Why did you choose this theme?

Once, while talking to a religious elder in our family, I was told that only Ravaneswara from the demon race was awarded the ISWARA title, on par with Vigneswara, Saneeswara, Chadigeswara and Nandeeswara. So great was his devotion towards Siva. Though we have been always taught to see him as a villainous character in the Ramayana, he had some of the best qualities, which separated him from the rest of his race. I understand Ravana as a Uththama Rakshasa, who possessed great qualities even though he was a demon by birth. A demon need not be evaluated by applying human values so as to be judged good or bad. He is one of the Paraman's creation and has his own ethics and rules to live with. I believe Ravana rightly followed it and became the hero of my subject. Also I watched AVM's old movies starring NTR to learn about this subject and became highly motivated to present a Ravana we may not fully appreciate.

2. When did you start working on it? What was the challenge?

I decided to do this subject sometime last year. I first collected old B&W Telugu movies based on Ravana (as hero) and made my team watch it.

Once convinced, I engaged my well-wisher and guide, also a senior dancer in the Melattur style of Bharathanatyam, Gayathri Sundaram to fix a rough-play with required scenes and then entrusted the composing of lyrics and selection of ragas with Kumbakonam Gajendran.

A rough work was ready in mid- 2011 and later my team and I assembled the entire production to make it an appealing dance drama. My greatest challenge was to project Ravana as a hero we can admire and for that, I had to struggle a lot to find means to explain my ideas to the lyricists and musicians - because we all know him only as a negative character. My students were very eager to learn about this hero and are thrilled to perform in this project.

3. So this is the product of a team ?

My whole team must be credited for this production. My sincere thanks to them all.

4. How many shows are you having in December and in January 2012?

So far, we are booked for 8 shows. I believe, dance can convey anything so except for some basic properties, I am not using any sets. Rather, I have explored various methods to communicate the scenes through dance. For instance, a set of junior students are enacting the growing of the size of the Sivalingam in a scene. Since I felt that dealing with Ravana's story, the Ramayana should not be left untold, I have choreographed the entire story from Rama's birth to Ravana's destruction through narrators in the concluding thillana in 7 minutes. I would like to mention here that none of the important characters of Ramayana will appear in 'Ravaneswaran'.

Below is the schedule

08/12/11 – Sri Rama Rao Kala Mantap, T. Nagar – 7 pm

11/12/11 – Bharat Kalachar, T. Nagar – 5.30 pm

24/12/11 – Sanantha Hall, Madambakkam near Kandhashramam – 5.30 pm

30/12/11 – Sri Bapalal Auditorium, Thiruvanmiyur – 6.30 pm

01/01/12 – Vani Mahal, T. Nagar – 6.30 pm

07/01/12 - Mylapore Fine Arts, Mylapore – 7.30 pm

12/01/12 – Ganapathy Sachidhanandha Ashramam, Velavhery – 6.30pm

21/01/12 – Sivagami Peddhachi Auditorium, Alwarpet – 7.30 pm

Top

Bharatanatyam dancer Urmila Satyanarayanan will present three interesting themes this 'season'.

There is one production featuring the Tevaram, titled Nritya Samarpam and will be presented on Tuesday 20 December at 7pm at Indian Fine Arts, Balamandir, German Hall, T Nagar. This will be performed by Urmila Sathyanarayanan and four of her students.

Urmila says she has chosen to use the Tevaram because for me it is the most beautiful expression of bhakti. This production will feature two parts, with the first dedicated to Lord Shiva and the second to Lord Vishnu.

The focus on the Tevaram will be in the central piece which will be presented in the format of a Pada Varnam. The nayika pines for union with her Lord and asks her four sakhis to take her to him. She eventually surrenders her entire being at the feet of the Lord. This will also feature elements of pure dance with jati and swara passages

Urmila is also presenting Panchali Sapatham - it was first presented as a solo in 2000. The music was specially composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman. "This production has been very well received wherever I have performed it, in India and abroad," she says.

It was presented in group format for the first time last year on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of her institution, Natya Sankalpaa. There will 18 dancers of Natya Sankalpaa performing in this production. All the dancers are female who very convincingly depict the strong male roles of the Pandava brothers and the Kauravas, says Urmila.

The beautifully composed music is a highlight, as are the Tamil lyrics inspired by the work of Subramanya Bharati.

Panchali Sapatham will be presented at 3 Sabhas during this Season:

- Saturday 31 December at 7:15pm, Kartik Fine Arts at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium.

- Sunday 1 January at 7pm at Bharath Kalachar

- Thursday, 26 January at 7pm at Narada Gana Sabha

Urmila Sathyanarayanan will perform in the production Thyagaraja Pancharatnam presented by Kalapradarshini on Saturday 14 January at 8pm at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

This is the second time she is performing in this production, the last time being in 2002. She will be presenting the 4th Pancharatnam. The focus here is on Rama Bhakti which describes the beauty of Rama.

This is a unique production as the Pancharatnam was not written for dance and is very rarely showcased in dance productions. Exploring this theme from the point of view of dance has been a challenging and fulfilling experience, she says.

This is an annual production presented by Kalapradarshini featuring five dancers: Urmila Sathyanarayanan, Jayanthi Subramaniam, Roja Kannan, Priya Murle and Sailaja (Kuchipudi).

Top

From Dec.26 to 31 at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai

This year's Natya Kala Conference ( 31st edition) convened by senior dancer and guru Shanta Dhananjayan is to be held at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, T. Nagar, Chennai from Dec.26 to 31.

The theme is ' Abhyaasa Sampradaaya'. The theme focuses on the developments which have taken place in the teaching/training and presentation of classical dance forms.

This conference pays tribute to the great gurus Thanjavur Vadivelu and to Vazhuvoor Ramayya Pillai whose bi-centenary and centenary are being celebrated respectively.

Scholar B. M. Sundaram inaugurates the conference and talks on the gurus whose legacy lives on today.

Dancers who carry on these legacies will share their learnings too.

Through the days, experts will present their papers on Yakshagana, Chau, Chattriya, Kutiyattam, Manipuri and Mohiniattam. thus completing coverage of the major dance styles. The focus was on Bharathanatyam last year.

Big names in each discipline will also provide lec-dems.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi has provided generous support for this year's conference.

Registration is now open. E-mail queries to - nkc.skgs@gmail.com and copy mails to - bkalanjali@gmail.com

Top