Svam - My Own

On November 4th, come prepared for a memorable night of dance and discovery…. Alumnus Anuja Varaprasad brings to us -

Svam – my own

A personal and philosophical interpretation of a sacred and spiritual art form

Sunday, 4 November, 7.30pm, NUS University Cultural Centre

You dance inside my chest where no one sees you

but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes art.

- Rumi

Bharathanatyam has a codified structure and vocabulary, but the deeply spiritual and experiential nature of this vocabulary means that the dance form will resonate differently within each individual dancer. Each story is intrinsically personal, and Svam, which means belonging to me, or my own in Sanskrit, is one dancer’s attempt to put form to her own story. It is said that one can find in and through dance whatever one seeks deep within, and Svam endeavours to convey this dancer’s metaphysical search through music and movement.

Svam is an interpretation of dance as a personal philosophy, a subjective external depiction that this structured, sacred and spiritual form is bigger than the dancer and life itself. The production explores intangible concepts of perfection, worship, love, oneness and peace that are so intertwined with the tangible, physical art form. 

The music for this Bharathanatyam presentation has been specially composed by P.Sushanth, which is complemented by Shyamjith Kiran's insightful choreography. 

. . .

About the choreographer:

Shyamjithkiran is a young and vibrant Bharatanatyam artist from Kasargod, Kerala. He completed his three-year diploma course in Bharatanatyam Bhaskara, an institution founded by Guru V.P. Dhananjayan. He completed his diploma and post diploma in Bharatanatyam from the Kalakshetra Foundation securing a first class in both courses, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Masters degree in Sociology. He has been actively part of the Kalakshetra dance repertory, performing Bharatanatyam as well as Kathakali since 2004. His choreography for ‘Mudivil Oru Aarambam’, based on the present situation of dancers, has won critical acclaim. His recent work ‘Pareekshana’ brings a fresh approach to the usual orchestral accompaniment with the inclusion of a string section including violins, violas and cellos in addition to the traditional orchestra. Shyamjithkiran is presently working at the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society as a member of the dance faculty and also performs and choreographs for the Society.

About the composer:

P. Susanth has a Diploma in classical music from the Kalakshetra Foundation. He also has a First Class certificate in Higher Indian Music from the Government of Tamil Nadu. Endowed with a meticulous voice, Mr. Sushanth is a very experienced vocalist for dance concerts and has been a regular performer for several arangetrams, and Bharatha Natyam programmes over the last 8 years in India and Malaysia. Mr. Susanth has been a vocal tutor with SIFAS since February 2010.

About the dancer:

Anuja Varaprasad has been learning Bharathanatyam since the age of six, and has been a student of the Singapore Indian Finer Arts Society (SIFAS) since 1994. Under the tutelage of Smt Sitaravamma Sandrasegaran and Sri V Balagurunathan, she completed the offered 8-year diploma course, and was awarded the 'Natyavisharad' for outstanding performance in both theory and practical examinations. She completed her Arangetram in 2006 and has performed in numerous dance dramas and solo productions in Singapore and India. Anuja continues her training with SIFAS, under Sanjit Lal, a graduate of Kalakshetra. She views Bharathanatyam as an intellectual and spiritual exercise and hopes to pursue a Masters in South Asian Studies one day.

Dance Review - Sacred Angkor by Roshni Pillay

Written by Seema Harikumar,  professional Bharathanatyam Dance Artiste with Apsaras Arts Dance Company, Singapore, this review of Sacred Angkor by Roshni Pillay, first appeared in the Apsaras Arts blog on 23rd August.

With Seema's kind permission, we reproduce it here for us to all share in the wonderful description of this production and appreciate Roshni's flawless performance and talent.

Roshni Pillay Kesavan is one of the SIFAS Alumni's senior-most artistes, who in spite of being a full-time professional, still pursues her passion and talent for dance with such distinction.

 

Dance Review - Sacred Angkor by Roshni Pillay

 

 

 Sacred Angkor by Roshni Pillai featuring Neewin Hershall

 

 

Sacred Angkor

 

The grandeur of ancient Cambodia is most beautifully experienced at Angkor Wat, originally named Vrah Vishnulok - the sacred abode of Vishnu. Sacred Angkor brings to life the stories behind the bas-relief carvings at Angkor Wat, through the dramatic Indian classical dance form of Bharathanatyam. Conceptualised by Roshni Pillay Kesavan who performed with Neewin Hershall with vocal accompaniment by U Nandakumar.

 
Performed at the LaSalle College of the Arts, Saturday 4 August 2012, 8pm

 

Review

A majestic yet soothing voice broke the silence in the dark theatre at the LaSalle College of the Arts, which was designed to draw an intimate familiarity between the artistes and the audience. The narrators had begun their tale of Angkor Wat, with some very apt visuals taken from the temple grounds themselves to give the audience a dimension to travel to this sacred place of worship.

 

The story of the Samudra Manthan (Churning of the Milky Ocean) was indeed a choice first item considering that it was the very first item that was presented to the Gods by Bharatha muni to inaugurate his Natyasastra. In respect to Angkor Wat, the magnificence of Vishnu in his koorma avatara could not have been better captured than through its visual representation of this story.

 
The scene had been set for the audience to experience the stories of the Sacred Angkor.

 
Then came the centrepiece of the production- the varnam. The artistes walked into every new light cue with a new sanchari, very effortlessly shifting roles from Rama to Sita, Lakshmana to Soorpanaka, Hanuman to Ravana and so on. Roshni's years of experience and the depth into which she dwelled for 'Baavayaami' showed up through her agility in shedding her previous sanchari role and walking straight into the next with a whole new aangika abhinaya. Neewin very cleverly injected drama into his characterisation of Soorpanaka, leading the audience to experience a moment of hasya as he depicted the various deviant acts of the ill-fated demoness before she got her nose severed by Lakshmana.

 

 

Throughout the production, every single one of the musicians accompanied the artistes competently and added just the right amount of embellishment with subtlety and perfection. The audience was reminded that the pinnacle of the production was drawing near, when vocalist Nandakumar rendered the Amirthavarshini raaga with such beauty and precision that he evoked a thunderous applause which fell like rain in that auditorium.

Our protagonists concluded the rasikas' journey that evening with an upbeat thillana, where we experienced moments of outbursts in energy, immaculate coordination and technical perfection that never fell below par. A very clever interplay between the deft fingers of the mridangist and the nimble-footed dancers swept a murmur of "sabaash" across the audience.

The artistes took their leave from us with a very pensive mangalam in Revathi raaga on the magnificence of Lord Vishnu. The performance had reinstated how rich an artform Bharathanatyam was, without the need for anything gimmicky and kept in its true sacred form, to relay messages that transcend space and time.


As the audience flocked their way to congratulate the artistes and thank them for such an artistic treat, both visual and aural, I could not stop thinking of how aptly Shakespeare had summed up what I thought of this production in two of his very famous lines:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

The margam that which we saw so beautifully unfold in "Sacred Angkor" would have left just as sweet an aftertaste, if not sweeter, in the audience's mind even if it had gone by any one of Vishnu's names.


- Seema Hari Kumar, Singapore, 2012



Anubhuti by Dr K. Seshulatha