The Natyanjali Dance Fests are special. So, as the festivals unfold in Tamil Nadu, VINCENT D' SOUZA, who will be hopping from one fest to another, will file his reports here. The journey, the festival, the sidelights and the people.
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Feb.26, Chidambaram

We wake up to a rather muggy morning. My bones needed that extra rest after last night's journey to Nagapattinam and Thirunallar. So I have to skip Sunday Mass.

Chidambaram is crowded this morning. This temple-town is just one of the many stops for families doing the pilgrimage circuit on a weekend. Shopkeepers even recognise frequent travellers. They remember us too. We are the Natyanjali travellers.

East Car Street is decorated. BPL Mobile is a sponsor of the festival and the blue and white festoons on the street leading to the eastern gopuram add to the colour.

On stage, despite the stifling afternoon, the little dancers of Anitha Guha practice the difficult moves. This attracts temple goers and generates some more publicity for the fest.

  

Chidambaram's Natyanjali always starts on time. 6pm. And if you were with the people who provide the decor, you wouldn't give them a fifty-fifty chance to be ready at six. They do. A small, dedicated team managed by the trustees refuses to give in to setbacks. They even want your feedback on the food. 'Bit too much dhania in my sambhar,' says my colleague Prem. And we all laugh!

There are about 300 people, comfortably seated on the sands as the first recital begins. Students of the Fine Arts Department of Annamalai University. The famed varsity has supported the Natyanjali from its inception. Accommodation, volunteers and more. So has Neyveli Lignite Corporation.

Backstage, we meet the wellknown dancer and guru, Sudharani Raghupathy from Chennai. She has been recovering from an injury. "I feel like a wounded soldier," she says. Sudharani takes us back to the days of the Natyanjali when there were few dancers and all of them were Bharatnatyam dancers. "Today, we have here dancers from different disciplines and so many of them, that they have to perform for just thirty minutes."

Students of Thanjai Nattiya Kalalayam are on to their last piece as the chief guests of the inauguration arrive - Justice Prabha Sridevan of the Madras High Court and then, M. M. Lakhera, Governor of the Union Territory of Pondicherry.

The formal inauguration is simple and short. Honours for two
senior dancers who are present. Sudharani Raghupathy and Padma Subrahmanyam, dressed for her performance this evening. "They have been with us all these years," says Secretary Sambandam. "They performed even when we could not afford to pay travel fares."

There are three other people who are honoured.
Archaelogist Dr. Nagaswamy, who is a founding trustee and the two men who were part of that team, Dr. Swaminathan and V S Ramalingam Pillai, 87 years young!

Justice Prabha Sridevan says dance got separated from the community in the past and the Natyanjali has brought the two closer.

Dr. Karan Singh, Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, were invited but both had to skip the fest due to their pressing commitments.

Four senior students of Sudharani take the stage. Priya Murle, Priya Dixit, Prabha Dixit and Aruna Subbaiah are a popular foursome and they set a fast pace for all of twenty minutes. Ratna Kumar follows with a Kuchipudi performance. Ratna who is based in the USA is down in Chennai for the annual December season. But when she got the invite to perform at the Natyanjali, she skipped Chennai's season. Ratna, at her age, is a spirited dancer. And she says her son Kedar, a musician, is also enjoying the tour.

So must be Padma Subrahmanyam who is featured at many temples on the Natyanjali circuit. After her recital she tells Doordarshan, the state-run TV channel that she has performed the most at Chidambaram. "I'd like to see dances at temples at the zilla levels," she adds.

The backstage is swamped now. Over fifty kids, their parents and aunties, all want the Anitha Guha show to begin. It is billed as the biggest of the evening. Anitha has put this together for the Natyanjali's silver jubilee.

She starts with a Chidambaram procession, then follows 'tripura samharam', then incidents from Sundarar's life and finally, the show ends with an episode from Karaikkal Ammaiyar Charitram.

In addition to the huge contingent, Anitha has signed up extra lights and lots of music. The show takes the packed audience close to midnight. Time when many of them get up and walk to the temple. The hour of Sivaratri is at hand.

Day One at the Natyanjali will go on with performances till the wee hours of Monday.

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