Margam - A Path to Divinity
Bharatanatyam
Recital by Kiranmayee Madupu
14th October 2016-Saptaparni
This article was first published in Priya Laasya an Indian classical dance information website
When we see
Kiranmayee Madupu dance, we know that we are in the presence of an
exceptionally talented dancer. This diminutive dancer has enormous stage
presence.
And what induces and
compels us to be engrossed by Kiranmayee’s dance is that she does not just
interpret the poems; she intelligently translates lyric poems to dance, and by
‘translate’ we mean it as A.K. Ramanujan wrote, “A poem can only be translated
by another poem. There is no such thing as a literal translation.” That’s what
Kiranmayee did. She translated the poetry of Carnatic music to the poetry of
dance. Bharatanatyam is her poetic expression.
Kiranmayee was one with the music! Bharatanatyam is a collaboration between the musicians and the dancer and
requires exemplary understanding, involvement and coordination for a successful
performance and the musical collaborators on stage with Kiranmayee were: Vocal
- Deevi Ravikanth, Nattuvangam (Cymbals) - Srinivas Karra, Mridangam -
Subramaniam Karra, Violin - Sai Kumar Kolanka.
Picking stories from
Indian mythology that the great poet/musicians of the Carnatic music tradition
had memorialised in her 'margam', which in a traditional Bharatanatyam recital means the path, or the structure of items within a theme (rasa). And Kiranmayee
translated this suite of dances to dancepoems.
The whole margam was choreographed by the dancer, which she, by eschewing flamboyance, pared down to eloquent
expressions of pure yet sparkling simplicity.
Kiranmayee’s margam
began with the dance of invocation -
Shankari Shankuru | (Ragam Saveri | Talam Tisra Adi | Composed by
Shyama Sastri. Shyama Sastri is one of the ‘Musical Trinity’ of Carnatic music composers, known for his literary compositions. In this invocation, the dancer
meditates on Ambika, consort of Lord Shiva, with syllables of the
traditional Alarippu (the blossoming – opening up the body), delineating
the symbolic aspects of the goddess who on the one hand is the
life-giving, nurturing mother of the universe and on the other hand, is the
destroyer of evil.
The next item in the
Margam Sadhinchene O Manasa (Ragam
Aarabhi | Talam Adi | Composed by Tyagaraja, another of ‘The Trinity’ of
Carnatic music composers, and one of the five compositions by
Saint Tyagaraja that are considered his eternal gems was performed as the
centrepiece of the recital instead of a traditional Varnam, which is usually the main item in a Bharatanatyam perfrormance.
In this item the dancer shows her technique,
skill, and her intelligent translation of the music and lyrics to the poetics
of dance.
In this Tyagaraja
composition the composer ironically addresses Krishna about his role in the
great epic the Mahabharata, where he breaks rules and twists his words,
justifying the apparently immoral while appearing to uphold Dharma (the
righteous path). And the dancer translates this, depicting his interventions in
dance, as when he without appearing to, intervenes, and prevents Draupadi from
being disrobed in public by making her garment endless. And when he steals the
clothes of unmarried, young Gopikas and yet the Gopikas completely let go of
their bodily attachments, shame and modesty, and surrender to him on listening
to the divine tunes of his flute. Or when he falsifies his own proclamation,
yet upholds Dharma during Arjuna’s moral dilemma while fighting his own teachers,
relatives and friends on the battlefield. Krishna tells him to do his duty and
think not of the worldly attachments. Tyagaraja asks him to come to his
rescue and help him attain his moksha (release from the cycle of rebirth) for
he has followed all the preaching that the Lord has given.
Kiranmayee depicted
the meaning of this song, and portrayed inner emotion by saatvika abhinaya, the
articulation of mood, character and emotion through the eyes; through subtle
facial expressions and by her entire being. This was a tour de force of a performance, and the dancer displayed her
rhythmic talents along with rich and variegated abhinaya (expressions), her
footwork (nritta), hand gestures, (hastas). The audience was enthralled and
broke into spontaneous applause at many points during this demanding, dramatic
and beautifully rendered dancepoem.
Kiranmayee’s next
item was a Padam, a love lyric showcasing abhinaya - expression Mogudochi
Pilichenu (Ragam Sahana | Talam Misra Chapu | Composer Sri Sarangapani).
In this Padam,
Kiranmayee illustrated the emotions of a young girl; married as a child,
whose husband comes back to fetch her, and she bids farewell to Lord Krishna
her love. She tells him that it is time
for her to go, but urges him not to forget her. She says that the string around
her neck, the
mangalasutram was something that was tied at a
tender age when she was only playing and climbing trees. But now she must
leave. She reminds him that the distance between the sun and the lotus does
not affect the lotus's bloom.
Similarly, her love would continue to be
strong, even if she were not in the presence of her Krishna. The emotions of
the departing young lover of Krishna were executed by the dancer as if she
herself had experienced, understood and surrendered to love; it was as
realistic a performance as one can see in a dance recital.
The last item of the
programme was the beautiful Shloka-like poetic appeal to Shiva - Shambho Mahadeva
( Ragam Pantuvarali | Talam Roopakam | Composer Tyagaraja
This
sweet and melodious song was illustrated in dance with poignant grace and
lyricism and was finished by the dancer taking the mike and singing the
end of the song. This unusual occurrence was due to the intercession of
Kiranmayee’s proud Guru, Hemamalini Arni
who encouraged her to sing. And this she did in fine voice as if she was meant
to be a singer.
That ended the
evening at this wonderful amphitheatre Saptaparni, which had the stage built around
a full-grown frangipani tree. And though it was a private performance, by
invitation only, the amphitheatre was packed to capacity and we were left with
the memory of the dancers grace, her impeccable sense of rhythm, her perfect
balance and her lithe and supple movements; her mobile facial expressions, her
impressive technique, and her intelligent translation of the poetry of music to
the poetry of dance.
Photography credit: Ragalahari
This article was first published in Priya Laasya an Indian classical dance information websitehttp://hamara.in/
This article was first published in Priya Laasya an Indian classical dance information websitehttp://hamara.in/
