Residents of Central New Jersey were treated to a colorful evening of South Asian dance on May 22, 2004 as over twenty dancers from two dance companies presented the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana in two distinct styles. The event, sponsored by the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission along with Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance was presented to an audience of over 1100 at West Windsor- Plainsboro High School North in Plainsboro NJ.
The programme commenced with a presentation of the Ramayana choreographed by Ramya Ramnarayan in the Bharatanatyam style. It featured the song 'Bhavayami Raghuramam' in Sanskrit by Swathi Thirunal that describes the various episodes of Ramayana, besides verses from the various versions of Ramayana including the Adi Kaavya by Sage Valmiki, Sri Ram Charit Manas by Tulsidas, Kambaramayanam by Kambar, and Rama Natakam by ArunachalaKavi.
The episodes featured were Viswamitra’s yagam; Seetha’s swayamvara; Rama Seetha’s wedding; Rama’s exile Paduka Pattabishekam, defacing Soorpanaka in Panchavati; Seetha’s abduction; Anguliya Pradanam and Choodamani Pradanam ; Sethu Bandam (construction of passage way to Lanka); war between the troupes of Rama and Ravana; Rama’s return to Ayodhya in Pushpaka vimana and Sri Rama Pattabhisekam.
The depiction of 'Abduction of Seetha' in Balinese tradition was presented by members of the Balam Dance Theatre, directed by Carlos Fittante and Islene Pinder.
The programme featured a live orchestra from India. The vocalist was Mysore Srinath accompanied by Surya Shivakumar (vocal support for female characters), Hari Ramgaswamy( mridangan, kanjira, tavil and rendition of sollukattu), Narasimha Murthy (flute), Uma Ramaswamy (violin).
Says Ramya, " This was a unique opportunity to see two different interpretations of this great epic on the same stage. We hope to have more opportunities for such collaborations in the future".
Says Carlos Fittante, "The Ramayana is a deeply emotional story. Dance allows us to convey that emotion in a way that transcends language and other cultural conventions".
The Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance was founded in 1990 to provide opportunities for aspiring students to learn Bharatanatyam, and to increase awareness of this art form in the United States. Nrithyanjali offers classes for different age groups in North Brunswick, New Jersey and Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Dancers of Nrithyanjali perform dance in USA and India. The institute also conducts lecture demonstrations in various venues that explain the theory and technique of Bharatanatyam.
For more information, contact Ramya Ramnarayan at
E-mail: RKTIRUMALA@aol.com
