The Dancer's Perspective

Krishna Bharatham


Esplanade, 8 April 2012

As dancers, we sometimes wonder why we put ourselves through long, consecutive late night rehearsals that leave us physically and emotionally exhausted. We ask ourselves if it’s worth it when we have exams to sit for, readings to finish, or 12 hour experiments to complete the next day. But then you realize that your intrinsic love for the art form will always trump the Proms you miss, the recurring knee injuries, and the aches that make it oh so hard to stand in the train the next day.

I speak for myself here - the experience from Krishna Bharatham is unlike other productions that I’ve been involved in. It reinforced of the (lack of) discipline that we started taking for granted during our usual dance classes (suddenly we raced to be on time for rehearsals and started accounting for when we would be late for class); we put in extra effort to remember what had been taught the previous day. Our aramandis became lower than usual, and we discovered that our bodies could bend farther than we thought they initially could. Karvais were now of utmost importance – (as ashamed I am to admit this) it suddenly mattered whether that pause was a thaka or a thakita. Our feet were getting used to calculations we had not experienced before. On the whole, the experience has taught us to look past technical perfection and to embody a bhava with our physical forms.

Bharathanatyam fits differently on different individuals, and the inevitable challenge in a group production is to coordinate everyone’s movements. Bharathanatyam may be better known as an individual art form, but the challenge is in dancing in a group. The experience has been great so far, with all of us watching out for each other. (Admittedly, we are still struggling, but I’m sure we’ll get there by show time.) The best lesson one learns when dancing with others is that working as a team is key – this means abandoning that ever-present artist ego, and realizing that you only look good as long as everyone else looks good. Of course, group productions always mean that you have that much more fun getting to know your fellow dancers :)

It has also been an amazing experience working with Sheejith Sir – there is so much to learn from his years of experience. Even though he is twice our size and irrationally terrifying, we have been so fortunate to have this opportunity to work with such a renowned composer and choreographer. There is so much to learn from just observation – from his expressions to his thought processes and to his ‘instant’ korvai calculations. To be on the same stage as Sir is such an honour, and an experience that none of us will forget.

~ Anuja Varaprasad

Make sure to support the SIFAS Alumni in their performance of “Krishna Bharatham” on 8 April 2012 at 8pm at the Esplanade. Not only is the dance choreography worth the watch, but the music composition will keep even the dance-averse enthralled. 

Chennai for the Season

According to the Lonely Planet (also known as The Guidebook for people who want to go somewhere but cannot), Chennai is not a tourists' paradise. According to the author, you would

...be pretty hard pressed to find much to gush about when it comes to Chennai. The streets are clogged with traffic, the weather oppressively hot, the air heavy with smog, and sights of any interest are uncooperatively thin on the ground. Even the movie stars, as one Chennaiite put it, are 'not that hot'.

Quoted from the Lonely Planet's Chennai page. Check it out!

Yep, as Anita says, Chennai is the "Detroit of India", with a secret so big that it's all over Chennai and nowhere to be seen at the same time. The Lonely Planet is not in on it!

The December Season, as we call it, overflowing with (some say too many) concerts and events and lecture-demonstrations throughout the month of December, is an amazing thing. Hundreds of concerts over the span of a month. Music is in the air. Nobody would look twice if a random, otherwise normal-looking person were to contort his or her hands and face in public (singing an imaginary RTP, or re-enacting some of the more "physical" singers' mannerisms).

Everywhere, you can see traces of it, from inter-Sabha buses to traditional clothes, to Kutcheri crawls (!), to Sabha canteen ratings; I've heard the Narada Gana Sabha is famous for other reasons than music alone. The Singaporean in me is looking forward to the food as well! It is almost a hidden festival; while the rest of Chennai goes on with its business, there is a festival going on that may well be more famous outside India than within. There are websites detailing everything about concerts from locations to artists, like kutcheris.com! They've even listed the SIFAS week-long programme in Chennai in detail, including things like information on the performers (Yes. I admit that I searched for my own name and found my concert listing! Talk about pressure!).

Seeing things like the kutcheris website and being a part of Sifas' second-ever foray into the Chennai music scene in December is a reminder that there is a world of music out there, bigger and livelier and also much more intimidating than the place we've come to call our artistic home. Every day, there are at least three dozen concerts going on: of those on the way to stardom, those who've made it, those who perform for lofty reasons, those who perform for those who listen, and anyone else who can shimmy their way (by hook or other means) into a slot at any sabha. You will miss more concerts than you can hope to attend.

Personally, it has been a gradual process, from finalising my concert list, learning and rehearsing what I have to perform, to getting everything pieced together, to overcoming minor illnesses along the way to concert readiness. The Sifas March festival is no less important an event to me than this December season, but for one aspect. Learning from masters and virtuoso performers, seeing so many of them in action in such a short, focused span of time really stretches your knowledge in a way that no Sangeethapriya/Youtube-spamming can ever match. Rare books, audio recordings, compositions and such are much more easily accessed there. The internet helps, no doubt, but it cannot replace the actual (some would say visceral) experience of art. Great art always leaves one in awe, with a gap in your mind where comprehension and knowing used to be. Many performers will be in pursuit of that awe, that gap in mind-space.

And now, me and my fellow students and alumni of SIFAS who are performing in Chennai have joined the ranks of participants, from being mere rasikas. There are youth slots in sabhas like the Music Academy, and you do get an idea of where you stand, in a global sense. We are small fish, swimming in an ocean of music. Awe is appropriate.

SIFAS Alumni: 2011

2011 was a wonderful year for the SIFAS ALUMNI.

The present committee took its reins on 28 May 2011, the last saturday of May, which now appears to be the approximate date fixed for our annual AGM and bi-annual Elections. Further to having an active committee on board, we have also enjoyed the formation of the sub-committees which are slowly gaining their own presence. Especially inspiring have been the efforts of the Music and Dance sub-Committees.

Alumni Orchestra

On the music side,we have now formed an active Alumni Orchestra under the guidance of our conductor Rajandra anna. Practices are regularly held at the SIFAS premises on Sundays at 11 a.m. The Alumni Orchestra's debut performance was at this year's SIFAS Academy Day. We are next scheduled to perform at the SIFAS Auditorium on 1 April 2012, Sunday morning as part of the SIFAS Music and Dance Festival 2012.