Learning the finer points
M. BALAGANESSIN
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Students got useful tips from veterans in the music and dance sessions organised in Tiruchi recently.
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PHOTO: R. M. RAJARATHINAM
THE RIGHT WAY: Prof. Sarala with students.
"One, two, three, four, ... four, three, two one," so goes the command from Sarala, dance teacher from the Kalaikoil Dance School, Karaikkudi. And her students, clad in the traditional Bharatnatyam costume, gradually shift their standing posture to a seated one, and vice versa, all the time making subtle changes in the movement of their neck, eyes and arms.
The two-day practical session offered by professional artistes for the students of Government music schools in Tiruchi, Pudukottai, Karur and Perambalur districts, was organised in the city by the Department of Art and Culture recently. The session, first of its kind, came as a breath of fresh air for the 200-odd students.
The department came up with the idea of organising a workshop inviting experienced artistes. And, the experiment proved a great success, if the feedback from the students and even music teachers is any indication.
Sarala pointed out that to become a successful dancer, a student must be able to monitor even the slightest modification in the position and movement. A perfect correlation in the position of the eyes, arms and legs helps a dancer achieve perfection in mudra, bhava and movement.
To achieve this, students should acquaint themselves with the positions, in consonance with dance forms. Hence `one, two, three four..." she went on to explain. K. N. Sasikiran and P. Ganesh gave useful tips on `agara sathagam' and `taala pramanam.'
Alapana could be more interesting, with a bit of creativity, they said. "Alapana is an art and often forms the yardstick for the capability of a singer," they observed demonstrating the point with a few ragas. The Thirupambaram brothers, T. K. S. Swaminathan and T. K. S. Meenakshisundaram showed how a nagaswaram recital could be made more melodious by the careful handling of sahityams by the intelligent use of `suthakaram,' `akara saadhagam,' and so on.
T. R. Govindarajan, tabla player, spoke on the relevance of adaptation in nadai to talam-specific sahityams. In his lecture on Thevaram, P. Shanmugasundara Desikar highlighted the relation between the Thevaram songs and Tamil music.
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