Bhavam Nrityalaya Performs Natyarambha — An Ode to the Origin of Dance
What better way to tell the story of the origin of dance than through dance itself?
Natyarambha, a thematic dance drama on the origin of Indian classical dance attempted to do just that.
Natyarambha, which means ‘origin of dance’ in Sanskrit, was held as part of the annual event of the dance school Bhavam Nrityalaya on Sunday, January 13th, 2019, in the auditorium of the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bangalore.
Performed by a group of 33 Bharatanatyam students ageing from 5 to over 35, the original composition was the brainchild of the co-founder and teacher, Anitha Rajagopalan.
The attempt to write, choreograph and direct an entirely original narrative was a first for Rajagopalan. However, she chose to work on this theme using the Natya Shastra (the ancient Sanskrit text on performing arts) as she felt that the history of how Bharatnatyam came into existence was an important story to be told.
“When she told me that the theme was going to be Natyarambha and that it was going to be set to original music and jathis, I was curious to see how she was going to do it. But she managed it very well,” said Naga Vydyanathan, one of her students, who performed along with her daughter Vibha.
The performance was staged to live music and the music was one of the key points of the piece.
Rajagopalan collaborated with musicians Sri Ram and his wife Swetha Sri Ram to accomplish this challenging task. Starting from the beginning of September 2018, both musicians worked to put together what would be their first publicly performed composition.
“The slokas were taken from dialogues between Indra and Brahma from Natya Shastra and were set to a raga,” said Sri Ram, who was also the main vocalist.
The couple composed most of the music, except for certain varnams that were already composed. Renowned mridangam artist, V. R. Chandrasekhar, helped set the jathis for the production and played for the event as well.
The beauty of the performance was that it captivated the attention of the entire audience, not just professionals with years of experience in classical dance forms.
“This was my first time at a classical Indian dance event and I liked it a lot,” said Meera, one of the audience members who had come to see her granddaughter perform.
Experienced artists enjoyed Natyarambha equally.
Sharmila, a fellow Bharatanatyam dancer who had heard of the event through Facebook and had come to watch was appreciative of the performance.
“The children did well. It was good.”
For Rajagopalan, the production of Natyarambha also served as a method to show her students a more practical side to the theory they learn in class.
“The Natyarambha production taught them the practical knowledge of how mudras (or hand movements) can be used in different situations. The kids were also exposed to the rasas.”
Her student Vydyanathan agrees.
“In theory, we just learn the slokas and the bedas (the head and neck movements). But the performance opened up the theory to practical application of the bedas, the adavus and the abhinayas.”
The entire performance, being elaborately divided into several parts, held its own challenges for Rajagopalan.
“Up until our last rehearsal, it always seemed a little disconnected to me and I was worried if the audience would be able to understand and connect with the theme. However, when we put together the narrative, with my sister and co-founder Deepa Bharath demonstrating a summary of each scene, the whole storyline came together,” she said.
The rehearsal schedule of the last few weeks leading up to the program was tough, especially for some of the older kids who had their exams going on.
“It was hectic towards the end. The students had around three hours of rehearsals every day, after the Christmas break,” said Arpita Shenoy, mother of seven-year-old participant Ira.
Ultimately the efforts paid off, with the memory of the performance still fresh and special to the children.
“She keeps looking at the pictures and she really wants to pursue dance further,” said Shenoy.
Bhavam Nrityalaya has no plans of stopping with the success of this performance. Rajagopalan is already thinking of ideas for their next annual day.
Umapathy, the father of one of the performers, rightly summarises the emotion behind the art.
“Art is endless. If you are really interested you can learn something new every day. It can also motivate you physically and mentally. So I keep telling my daughter, continue learning and you can keep growing. Art should definitely be a part of life.”
