It’s a warm, humid afternoon with the sun shining through thin clouds. As you enter the Mini Hall on the first floor of Narada Gana Sabha, you hear faint whispers. A group of dancers, girls in saris and boys in dhotis or pyjama-kurtas, is busy discussing with the Tricolor in the background. It looks like a scene out of the pre-Independence days when nationalists planned ways to fight the colonial regime.
It is this sentiment and the sacrifices of popular leaders of the freedom movement that these artistes will bring alive through their performances at this year’s Natyarangam festival.
In its 21st edition, the thematic dance festival will focus on Thyaga Bharatam. In a group of four, the artistes will turn the pages of history to portray the struggle, courage and commitment of Chattrapati Shivaji, Rani of Jhansi, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Bhagat Singh, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Subhash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi.
Incidentally, Natyarangam was launched in 1997 with the theme Vande Mataram to mark the Golden Jubilee of India’s Independence; this year’s festival is dedicated to 70 years of that epoch-making declaration.
Through popular songs penned by nationalist poets in different languages and even some classical compositions, the productions will recreate the era and view patriotism on a larger perspective.
janani
“We at Natyarangam believe in giving the performers freedom to interpret and visualise the theme,” says Sujatha Vijayaraghavan. She along with a dedicated team, research to come up with interesting topics each year.
Talking about her experience of being part of Thyaga Bharatam, Manjari Chandrasekhar says, “It was nice to go back to the history lessons but the difference this time was looking at them in a new perspective. For our team the challenge is three-times more since our presentation will cover the life and works of Subash Chandra Bose, VOC and Bhagat Singh. The choreography will travel in three directions — North, West and South.”
For Prithvija, who makes her debut in Natyarangam this year, it has been a great learning experience. “Such opportunities make you realise training alone does not make you a complete artiste. You need to look at other crucial aspects of performance such as text, composition, costume, lighting and choreography.”
Satyajit Dhananjayan, whose performance will revolve around the political and social philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi says that his presentation will be in an introspective mode. “It is not just about the Mahatma’s personality but all that was happening around him and the impact he had on people.
His team participated in charkha workshops with V.R. Devika to internalise the Gandhian concepts. “That was the starting point of our ideation. We needed to choose references that would be suitable for visualisation,” he explains.
vaaibhav arkear
Talking about the essence of his production that retells the legend of the 18th century Tamil ruler Veerapandiya Kattabomman in the idiom of Bharatanatyam, Sheejith Krishna, points out that it will focus on Kattabomman’s encounters with the British, his meeting with Collector Jackson, his betrayal by rival rulers in the region, and his eventual capture and death at the hands of the British. The production highlights the ideals and qualities of a true leader.”
Jyothishmathi Sheejith has composed the music for this production that will have a lot of kummi songs to capture the Tamil flavour.
Two groups of dancers from Mumbai and Bengaluru (led by Vaibhav Arekar and Aishwarya Nityanand) will present the stories of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Rani Lakshmi Bai. Whether mythology or motherland, the classical dance idiom makes space for every story.
