Adityodayam – a fresh garland of beautiful compositions for a Bharatanatam margam by Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N Ravikiran

Adityodayam – a fresh garland of beautiful compositions for a Bharatanatam margam by Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N Ravikiran

Adityodayam presented on Jan 5th 2018 by the Brahma Gana Sabha, and performed by veteran dancer Leela Samson and her Spanda Dance Company members, was a very engaging performance of a Bharatanatyam margam which gave vision to Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N Ravikiran’s musical compositions.

The opening Pushpanjali in Kamalamanohari set the tone of the performance to follow. With crisp lilting notes blended with the quick paced rhythmic patterns set in the composition and executed with clear lines and technique by Bhavajan Kumar and Radhe jagge, this was a perfect invocatory number.

Following this was Dasharasa Ganapatim Bhavaye - a Ragamalika composition that was unique, not only for incorporating a 10th rasa- Shoka or Pathos, but also for including some rare anecdotes about Vinayaka not commonly known. The composition brought out the difference between Shoka and Karuna or compassion – a controversial topic debated upon by many poets and scholars as to whether shoka is different from karuna. Dancers Sarvesan and Satypriya very beautifully brought out the 10 rasas with subtle stylized abhinaya juxtaposed with Nritta passages which was a visual treat. Hasya (humor) during the wedding of Subramanya with Valli, anger when Vinayaka throws a piece of his tusk at the moon who laughed at him, and shoka when Vinayaka removed the curse put on Nandi when Nandi had given a false judgment during a game of dice between Siva and Parvathi were some of the interesting anecdotes expressed without over dramatization.

The main piece in this margam was a pada varnam in praise of Lord Muruga in the Ragam Surati set to Adi talam. The human soul symbolized as the lovelorn heroine pines for her beloved Lord Muruga and yearns to be united with him. Ravikiran’s poetic lyrics were so full of rasa that dancers Renjith and Vijina could visualize this poetry in dance, painting a colorful canvas using metaphors and imagery from nature that expressed the feeling of being separated from each other. Vijina’s abhinaya for the Anupallavi line where she suffers the pangs of love without food and water came through very evocatively. In the treatment of the charanam and swara/sahityam one saw aspects of Lord Muruga – his beauty, his valor, and compassion, all brought out exceptionally through both pure and expressional dance aspects.

The highlight of the evening ‘s performance - 'Enna vinaiyo idu' in Vasanta - was a musical gem, both in terms of the lyrics and musicality of the composition. Set in the tone of a padam, this composition depicted the heart wrenching feelings of Karna when he addresses his father Soorya, soon after his mother Kunti asks him to join the Pandavas; and when he refuses, asks for two boons – one not to use the Nagastram weapon on Arjuna more than once and two - not to kill any of her other four sons.

Karna’s feelings of how everyone has exploited him, how fate has been against him, and the beautiful analogy of the fact that even though Soorya the Sun provides so much light, there is only darkness around him was brought out with great artistry by veteran dancer Leela Samson. In Leela’s words “I have always admired the character of Karna and always felt for him. When Ravikiran asked me on whose character I wanted a padam, I mentioned Karna and related some aspects of his sad life. It was such an honor to enact his angst with this padam in Vasanta."

The program included a javali in Begada performed by Bhavajan Kumar in praise of Lord Muruga, wherein the Nayika pleads with her lord to not delay anymore and come soon on his peacock. A tillana in Ragam Dwijayavanti was a fitting finale performed by Ashwini Viswanathan and Hari Krishnan. 

Overall, the dancers felt that they had a challenging time choreographing Ravikiran’s compositions but also felt extremely rewarded for having had the opportunity to work on visualizing them via dance.   

Apoorva and Anahita Ravindran’s soulful music was a great asset to the dancing, while the performance was ably supported by Girish Madhu on the Nattuvangam, Karthik Ramanathan on the Mridangam and Sujit Nayak on the flute. A special mention must be made of 14 year old Sanjay Suresh who so beautifully accompanied on the violin showing his individual prowess. Apoorva, Anahita and Sanjay are students of Ravikiran, and proved a point that practicing together certainly takes the quality of orchestral support to greater heights. 

- Hema Rajagopalan

(Artistic Director - Natya Dance Theatre, Chicago)