Images of a cultural deluge
LEELA VENKATARAMAN
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Some glimpses of Chennai's annual cultural extravaganza
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FROZEN MOMENTS Different modes of Bharatanatyam by Baby Jhosthna
It was a city flaunting its cultural `chutzpa' - the revered old-world classical music and dance projections living with a variety of free-flowing creations. Sri Krishna Gana Sabha's annual (25th) Natya Kala Conference, usually taut as a tanpura string in its academic exercises built round classical dances, acquired a new bonhomie with half its proceedings devoted to Desi forms. From the lean sculpted Bharatanatyam of the ageless Vyjayanthimala Bali, to what the audience judged variously as `quirky' and `challenging contemporary interpretation' of Tara from the Buddhist pantheon by Anita Ratnam, with the music going from instrumental interludes based on Tyagaraja's "Entharo Mahanubhavulu" in Sri raga to the haunting soprano voices of Pavarotti and Maria Callas (programme performed at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium) one waded through a bewildering range of cultural waters.
Even as actress/dancer Shobana presented her highly individualistic dance ensemble evoking mixed reactions, for those who could be present at the fairly early hour of 8 a.m. at the mini auditorium of the Music Academy, it was haloed legacy of tradition doled out by Pandanallur Gopalakrishnan, the grandson of the legendary Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, talking on the rare Vachaspati varnam composed by his grandfather in praise of Varadaraja Sri Shanmukha Rajeswara Sethupati Bhopala - with none other than the grandson of T. Brinda, Girish providing vocal accompaniment for the demonstration by Harikrishna from Canada - coming every year to learn and imbibe undiluted paramparic vignettes. The morning reconfirmed how the starting point for the great Tanjavur tradition was music, without which the dance had no place.
Odissi ensemble
Lashman
Even as the Chennai public exhibited tireless espousal of dancers like Alarmel Valli and Malavika Sarukkai, it was Nrityagram's Odissi ensemble work, which captured audience imagination at the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha and later at the Music Academy - the latter awarding a special prize to choreographer Surupa Sen. As a small but enchanted gathering watched the exquisite Bharatanatyam evening created by dancer Lakshman, now perhaps in peak form, and rare abhinaya artistry by that talent Braga Bessel performing for a select gathering in the handsome patio of Anita Ratnam's home, one wondered if such dancers were only destined to remain on the sidelines as connoisseur's treasures.
Mythil Prakash.
Chennai is still a music loving city and its millions thrill to the emotive throb of T.M. Krishna's music or the high intellectual brilliance of Sanjai Subramaniam's vocal or the nostalgic echoes of the late M.L.V in her disciple Sudha Raghunathan singing Purandhara Das' "Baro Krishnaiyya". The exemplary proof of this ear for music lay in experiencing the snaking queues at the Music Academy, for the Bavarian Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta and to feel the pin-drop silence in the auditorium with not a hint of a cough disturbing the stillness.
At last somebody like Radhika Shurajit, media visionary/teacher/ dancer has taken a bold initiative to try ways of luring audiences to watch classical dance recitals. Her "Konjum Salangai" was a courageous experiment as homage to Kannadasa with film songs of the Kavi's poetry set to the most delightful Bharatanatyam group compositions, with `sollukettus' (rhythmic interludes) and solfa passages smoothly woven into the film lyrics in a seamless manner. A full auditorium had people jumping out of their seats in enjoyment and taken up with the audience-friendly Bharatanatyam some concluded they would watch more Bharatanatyam dance. But film music treated by any but the aesthetically sensitive, could prove tricky. Sangeet Natak Akademi's massive Kathak festival, featuring the country's best talent, and a festival of Balkan films were all part of the seasonal fare. While two Kathak evenings in the Kalakshetra auditorium had a dance-knowing student audience thrilling to Uma's "Nazar Andaj" or Aditi's `Hemant', the two Kalaivanar Arangam evenings were audience-starved. The most indelible impressions remain of long files of people before counters selling 100 and 250 rupee tickets! Will Delhi ever witness such civil society support?
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
