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The Natyanjali Dance Fests are special. The dancers hop across one temple to the other during
the five days and pay homage to Lord Shiva through dance.
As the festivals unfold in Tamil Nadu, the Kutcheribuzz team covers the journey, the festival, the
sidelights and the people every year. We bring you the daily reports this year also.
VINCENT D' SOUZA writes from these places, daily.
Dancing in the 1000-pillared
hall
It rained. And it drizzled. And it rained all of Day 2 at the
Natyanjali. We didn't pray that it should stop. And we are happy
when Natyanjali Trust's Secretary, Sambandam tells us the dances
will be at the fantastic hall of one thousand pillars.
Chidambaram's washed appearance and the overcast skies actually
set the mood for the evening. But we are saddened when we walk
around the pillared hall where TV technicians, power supply
workmen and others work frenetically to set the stage.
Garbage lies littered, rainwater floods the floor and in the
nooks, a putrid smell assaults us.
This is no way to preserve a heritage landmark for dance and
music, which has been under lock and key for many years now.
It
was here that some decades ago, a few senior dancers performed.
By themselves. As their anjali. And some of them still perform
when they pass by. We hear that dancer Malavika Sarukkai will be
here in early March, to perform for two hours.
Two Bangalore dancers line up this evening. Lavanya Vijaykumar
and then Shobana Venkataramani. The hall has filled up despite
the overcast sky. About 1500 people perhaps. There are so many
pillars all around that it does hinder the panorama. But we are
impressed with the speed in which our hosts got the new venue
ready.
Shobana has taken a break from dance. Her second kid is just six
months old. A sishya of late U S Krishna Rau and his wife,
Shobana is here for the first time and admits she is a bit
tense.
Students of Nruthanjali, Ernakulam
The young chirpy dancers from Kerala aren't. Guru Kalamandalam
Vasantha leads 19 dancers and four musicians to Chidambaram.
Based in Ernakulam, Vasantha runs classes in Bharatanatyam,
Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi.
This evening the musicians - Trichur Gopi, Kalamandalam
Balachandran, Kochi Baburaj - enjoy presenting the young ones.
But the cynosure is five-year-old Kalyani. Vasantha does a solo
Mohiniattam piece and the little Kalyani comes back and takes a
Krishna pose. The audience, which has enjoyed the 'kuttis',
livens up. But the organisers say 'thank you' and little Kalyani
slips away.
The
Dikshitars are very particular about their temple. They would
like the dances to close by 10 pm. And so, the recitals that
follow tonight flow into each other.
Dancers who accompanied Srilatha Vinod
Srilatha Vinod, a sishya of the Dhananjayans, with three young
dancers - Malini, Madhuriya Srikrishna and Swetha Bhavana -
present a 20-minute piece on Shiva. Well choreographed, it draws
in the audience.
An extract from 'Thrayee' - a production of Divyasena & M.Kishore
Also, appealing is a Bharatanatyam - Kuchipudi fusion piece of
Kishore and Divyasena. This is an extract from their production
'Thrayee'. With Vani Kishore, Shobha Venkat, Shyamala and
Bhargavi, the enacted mallari resonates in this wonderful hall.
Musicians Ramesh, Ram Shankar, Ravi Shankar, Bhavani Prasad and
Nataraj, with Kishore on the nattuvangam, backup.
Geetha Ganesan keeps thinking hard behind the pillars. She is up
next and will have to re-jig her plans for her recital. She has
just ten minutes. But she enjoys her recital. "It is not
important how much time we get," she says. "This is more an
offering and I understand."
In Hyderabad, Geetha, a fulltime dancer works with flutist
Jayapradha and the duo also run an academy there.
The
big names always find a place at the Natyanjali fests. But the
dancers from the outbacks are a fired lot and enjoy the
opportunity to perform here. You see that in the eyes of the
troupe of guru Sivaloganathan of Karur and of the seven dancers
who rush in from Thiruvaiyaru, led by guru S. Thushara from
Srirangam.
These young artistes need all the exposure we can give them. The
Natyanjali fests all over Tamil Nadu provide just that.
Photos by Mohandas Vadakara
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