Philosophy simplified by dance
ANJANA RAJAN
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Ambika Kameshwar's "Paripoorna Ramana" sought to answer the question "Who am I" through a simple storyline.
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DANCE WITH A MESSAGE: Ballet by Ambika Kameshwar. Photos: R. Shivaji Rao.
The dance festival at Kartik Fine Arts featured two very different group productionson Dec. 21. While one was by Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher Ambika Kameshwar, who runs the Rasa Centre for Theatre Arts and Special Needs, the other was by actress dancer Shobana. Ambika presented a choreographic production titled "Paripoorna Ramana." The storyline sought to answer the question, "Who am I", which is the title of a book published by the Ramana Ashram, translated into several languages. This philosophy of the seer of Tiruvannamalai was sought to be driven home in a palatable manner by the dancer using multi-media effects, a simple approach, and a script that shifted back and forth between English and Tamil.
Ujwal as `I', who guides the protagonist (played by Ambika) through her search for her real self, sustained the role well. With all the dialogue being part of the recorded soundtrack, the dancers were required only to mime. In keeping with Ambika's approach to art as a healing therapy for one and all, the artistes included children with special needs, besides Ambika's regular dance students.
The message — that the identity of the real self is not to be found in one's name, material possessions or station in life — was profound , and though the production lacked a professional finish, the spirit was intact. The benches placed at the back of the stage to vary the levels seemed too high, as the children who made up bulk of the cast had a tough time climbing on to them.
Shobana's group show followed. Presented to a packed Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan hall, the performance was divided into two halves. The first half was Bharatanatyam to Carnatic music, while the second was performed to various music forms from Europe.
Shobana.
The ragamalika varnam was the highpoint of the first half. A Shobana solo, this Malayalam composition set to ragamalika and Roopaka tala was dedicated to Lord Siva. In her depiction of the lovelorn Parvati, with Siva as the teasing consort, she was expressive, and in her masterful control over tala impressive, executing complicated jatis with pinpoint pauses, deftly recited by her student Revathy Kumar.
An interesting touch was setting abhinaya instead of footwork to the muktai swara passage. With an orchestra including Western drums (used in the initial kavutuvam), tavil, maddalam and mridangam, the percussion was patterned to avoid playing all the instruments together and creating noise. The varnam also stood out for the absolutely superb singing by Radha Badri.
The second half of the programme exemplified the belief Shobana shares with many a Bharatanatyam dancer, that the dance form can be adapted to any kind of music without losing its identity. But few have done with as much abandon as Shobana.
Among the pieces in this section was the group dance set to highly rhythmic Western music. With the occasional flash of stage lights, the overall effect was not, however, disco, but of snappy Bharatanatyam. A collage of images from Krishna's life set to Flamenco music was well conceived, with quick changeovers of tableaux as required by the peppy music.
The Flamenco piano being highly evocative, the images fitted fine and were very well received by the audience.
In the piece based on the Bhagavad Gita, depicting Arjuna's distress and Lord Krishna's advice, details like Arjuna trying repeatedly to be a brave warrior before giving up in despair at the thought of fighting his own kin were interesting.
But there was an abruptness to the Pandava prince suddenly deciding to go to war as if scared into doing so at the sight of the Lord's Vishwaroopa.
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