Sudharma Vaithiyanathan
What does your schedule during Margazhi look like on an average day?
Every morning begins with practice and ends with a dance programme and food in a sabha canteen in the evening.
What is the biggest benefit/drawback of the dance season taking place in a different timeframe from the music season?
The advantage is that we get to attend the concerts of our favourite musicians and dancers. But, the drawback is that by the time the dance season begins for us (young dancers), people are exhausted after having watched too many programmes.
What’s your favourite sabha canteen food?
My favourite canteen is Gnanambika.
Whose performance is a must-see for you during the music and dance season?
From this year, it’s definitely Akshay Anantapadmanabhan. Also, my guru Sri. A Lakshman’s performances are something I look forward to every year.
Any contemporaries whose performance you enjoy watching?
There is no specific performance or artiste, but I make sure I watch at least one show of each artiste.
Shweta Prachande
What does your schedule during Margazhi look like on an average day?
I usually wake up quite early for practice, and the mornings are dedicated to classes and rehearsals. Afternoons and evenings are spent attending concerts or, at times, in the gym.
What is the biggest benefit/drawback of the dance season taking place in a different timeframe from the music season?
I think it’s a mixed bag. I’d say that having a dance and music kutcheri one after the other may be a great way to pique the interest of an audience to appreciate both art forms.
What’s your favourite sabha canteen food?
Food is a very important part of the day’s schedule during the season. The canteen at Narada Gana Sabha will always be a favourite.
Whose performance is a must-see for you during the music and dance season?
I never miss a performance by my guru, Priyadarsini Govind. I also deeply admire the work of Alarmel Valli, Malavika Sarukkai, Meenakshi Srinivasan and Nrityagram, to name a few.
Any contemporaries whose performance you enjoy watching?
It is always exciting to watch my colleagues and contemporaries.
Radhe Jaggi
What does your schedule during Margazhi look like on an average day?
We always have a chaotic scene at home during Margazhi as my in-laws are in town from the U.S. and each person has his or her own schedule for attending various programmes throughout the day.
I’m usually out of the house by 6 a.m. as I have class or rehearsal in the morning, and by the time I get home, each person has started his/her concert and lec-dem hopping for that day. My husband Sandeep’s (Narayan, singer) routine depends on his performance schedule, and he usually stays home on the days he has a concert. I spend the rest of the day practising and try to attend as many concerts and dance performances as I can. It’s a whirlwind for two to three weeks.
What is the biggest benefit/drawback of the dance season taking place in a different timeframe from the music season?
It gives us a little more time to practise. The audience for music and dance is quite different, but there are a fair number of people who enjoy both. This slight difference means the audience doesn’t have to choose one over the other. A lot of dancers enjoy attending music performances, and if we’re rehearsing and performing our own shows, we miss out on the music season.
The only drawback would be that a lot of people who travel to Chennai for the music season can only be here till the beginning of the New Year. So, the number of people attending the dance festival is much lower.
What’s your favourite sabha canteen food?
Most dancers I know, much like myself, are always hungry. We eat our fill during the music season, but it’s not as big a deal during the dance festival. My favourite place to eat is usually Narada Gana Sabha or Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. This year, unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to eat anywhere.
Whose performance is a must-see for you during the music and dance season?
I attend a lot of music concerts during December. I try and listen to at least three or four concerts of Sanjay Subrahmanyan. I also listen to several of the younger artistes, usually at The Music Academy.
As much as I enjoy music, I always look forward to January to see performances by artistes such as Leela Samson and Alarmel Valli, as they always have something special planned.
Any contemporaries whose performance you enjoy watching?
There are so many really good young dancers today — Ashwini Viswanathan, Shweta Prachande, Medha Hari, Bhavajan Kumar...
I try to watch as many young dancers as I can. It’s both enjoyable and also serves as a reminder to work on my dance and raise the standard of performance each time.
Bhavajan Kumar
What does your schedule during Margazhi look like on an average day?
My schedule is basically going to rehearsals and attending kutcheris. It’s a never-ending cycle.
What is the biggest benefit/drawback of the dance season taking place in a different timeframe from the music season?
With various performances ongoing simultaneously during the season, I think this makes it easier for us to attend both music and dance performances without stressing over missing important concerts.
What’s your favourite sabha canteen food?
Gnanambika is by far my favourite.
Whose performance is a must-see for you during the music and dance season?
Among dancers, it would be Leela Samson, Bragha Bessell, C.V. Chandrasekhar, Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, Vyjayanthimala Bali, Mythili Prakash and K.P. Rakesh. In music, it would be Ranjani Gayatri, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Vishaka Hari, G.J.R. Krishnan and Viji Lalgudi.
Any contemporaries whose performance you enjoy watching?
I really like watching performances by Harinie Jeevitha, Sudharma Vaithiyanathan, Christopher Gurusamy, Shobi Ruban, Mahathi Kannan, Meera Sreenarayanan and others. In music, I prefer concerts by Ashwath Narayanan, Apoorva & Anahitha, Sandeep Narayan, and Vignesh Ishwar.
