Dance to the grandeur of RTP
Vaijayantimala Bali. — Pic. by N. Balaji.
CHENNAI'S DECEMBER art festival is glutted with new dance productions. Some are makeshift affairs, assembled for innovation's sake. But Vaijayantimala Bali has long been an artiste who takes time to conceptualise, visualise, and choreograph her productions. We have seen it from her early performance of the Andal theme, or in simply honing every aspect of her traditional margam. Her steadfast adherence to old world tradition allows no concessions for easy popularity. ``I had my fill of all that in cinema," she smiles.
Those films from ``Vazhkai" to ``Ganga Jumna" or ``Sangam" are still telecast in various channels, winning her new fans. ``To tell you the truth, dancing helped me to act in films," she smiles again. ``But films were a hindrance to Bharatanatyam. I was happy to give them up. Also, best to go when you are at the top."
Vaijayantimala's childhood interest in dancing became a passion when she saw Pandanallur Jayalakshmi at the Gokhale Hall. ``What leaps! Enna thalangutom!" she exclaims. Her own taste was for the classical, always. It took her from the Vazhuvoor school to guru Dandayudhapani Pillai who, as a fine musician for himself, composed beautiful numbers for his ardent disciple.
The quest for clarity and refinement led to Kittappa Pillai, doyen of the Thanjavur bani, where music is indivisible from dance. What a magnificent heritage! To young Vaijayanti, it was entry into Alladin's caves. She learnt the music first, the glowing padavarnams and swarajatis. With Kittappa Pillai there was no razzmatazz but chiselled movement, profound bhava and a pace rock-firm. The style was at once delicate and majestic. ``Ripe. That's the right word," she sighs. In the glides and curves of the music, in the chaste aesthetics it inpired, Vaijayanti found the subtlety to stoke the imagination. She continued her parallel training in music with Madurai Krishnan, K. V. Narayanaswamy and D. K. Pattammal.
So what is she doing this season? The artiste will not rush into words.
First she explains her idea of what innovation is all about. ``You may think I'm old fashioned but for me the recovery of something old, authentic, polishing it until it glows, and making it your own is very important." That is how she brought back the Navasandhi kavuttuvam or the Kaivara prabandam to the stage. Dignity is the watchword. Insecurity may push an artiste beyond the borders of classicism, an easy step, but from which there is no return.
``Never saw Balamma (Balasaraswati) stoop to such levels. In Mylapore Gowriamma's `Paiyyada' the emotion was as strong as it was pure." No melodrama or realism. She believed that the artiste must not cry, she must bring tears to the rasika's eye."
Vaijayantimala disdains haphazard work. Painstaking research is mandatory for worthwhile results. Choreography begins only after the lyric and music are chosen — no light task — and internalised. ``Nowadays everything is a crescendo, but in art the climax comes with the slow rise of emotion from the depths of being. That is the real challenge." She will meet that challenge again in her ``Sri Krishna Jananam," to be premiered at the Bharat Kalachar this month. The solo production enacts the drama of Krishna's birth in the prison house, under threat of assassination.
The theme is dear to one raised in an ambience of Bhagavatam narration and Azhwars' poetry. This time Vaijayantimala will depict it against the grand backdrop of the ragam-tanam and pallavi format.
The dancer stops talking at this point and starts singing verses from the Bhagavatam describing the advent of Krishna. They have an alapana setting in five ragas. The tanam paints the scene of balmy breezes with stars shining upon serene lotus pools. In a celestial glow of joy, Devaki beholds her infant, only to be overcome by fears for his safety. A dazzled Vasudeva describes the miracle of light in the darkness.
The pallavi in Kharaharapriya sets a line from the Mukundamala to khanda triputa, and plays the part of a varnam. It is rounded off with trikalam, as the lines are sung in three speeds. The tirmanams rejoice in Krishnaleela.
The niraval accommodates sanchari bhava, while the swaras lead to a climax of celebration. The final slokam returns to meditative bhakti.
As she sings, tracing the varying beats with her hands, the dancer stops to say, ``I not only composed the dance and the jatis, but also the music, with my guru's (D. K. Pattammal) help."
With childlike pride she adds, ``You know, she was really surprised that I could do the tanam so well!"
Finally, ask Vaijayantimala Bali what she thinks is essential for creating something new and she says, ``We often hear about discipline, not so much about focus. If you want to do something new, or even do something quite familiar with finesse and control, you need single-minded focus."
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
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