Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia was witness to a very unique Festival of Bharathanatyam brought together by the
untiring efforts of the Malaysia Bharathanatya Sabha—an umbrella organization of dancers and dance teachers of Malaysia - the first of
its kind in South East Asia in the line of ABHAI (Association of Bharathanatyam Artistes of India).
The South East Asian countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand Indonesia and the continent of Australia have all seen a
rapid increase in the awareness of Indian music and dance, especially Bharathanatyam, thanks to the migration of Indians to these countries
and setting up of institutions to impart training in these arts.
Thus the beginning of the 80s saw the mushrooming of such schools and hence the widespread awareness and appreciation of the
arts were seen.visiting artistes from the sub-continent also for performances and lecture demonstrations enhanced the quality of the art form.
But the late 90s saw an alarming trend in the practice and performance of the art form in terms of standard and rampant dilution
of the basics of the form and influence of western dance forms in technique and costuming which disturbed the gurus and the serious practioners of the art.
This was the time when an idea of a Bharathanatyam association was mooted by Indira Manikam (an exponent of Bharathanatyam and teacher in
Malaysia for the past 43 years) to bring all Bharathanatyam reachers in Malaysia under one umbrella, to share a better relationship between the different
schools and for a healthy exchange of knowledge and Ideas.
Thus the Malaysia Bharathanatya Sabha was born and the Certificate of Recognition for the Association was awarded by the Malaysia Ministry
of Culture in August 2006.
The Assoaciation was formally inaugurated on August 30, 2007 to strive for the betterment, enhancement and preservation of Bharathanatyam in
Malaysia.
This year, the Malaysia Bharathanatya Sabha organised a three day festival from May 29 to 31. On the first day, I gave the inaugural dance
recital and presented a traditional margam to a full house of avid Bharathanatyam rasikas and students in the presence of Dato A. Kohilan Pillai, Culture
minister of Malaysia.
The second day was a full day session when the various dance schools from almost all the states in Malaysia presented performances by their
students. It was a non-stop performance and all the students exhibited a very high standard and excelled themselves.
Later that evening, there was a state banquet with dignitaries from various countries attedning it. The First Secretary in the Indian High
Commission in Malaysia V.K.Raman, the Japanese Consul General and his wife and Dato Dr.K. R.Somasundaram, patron of the Sabha graced the occasion.
The evening witnessed another round of performances starting with mine, a vocal recital by Bhagya Murthy, a leading Carnatic musician from
Singapore and Malay and Chinese dances. The highlight of the evening was the performance of a 'ThillanaMala' by all the dance teachers who are all part of the
Malaysia Bharathanatya Sabha in a spirit of unity.
The final day opened with my lec-dem on 'Aspects of Abhinaya' with special emphasis on the Navarasas. I gave a very detailed lecture on
Abhinaya, the four types of Abhinaya and the different aspects of each type of Bhava and Rasa.
Navarasas were explained and demonstrated with the Navarasa Slokam from Adhi Sankara’s 'Soundarya Lahiri'.
The forum was finally left open to the audience who fielded innumerable questions on dance and related topics and made very interesting
observations about the difficulties that teachers abroad faced while teaching students in a foreign culture
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