Although the birth centenary of Dr. S. Ramanathan concluded early this year, with his family — this writer also one of them — marking the event with concerts, a programme organised by Natyarangam, the dance wing of Narada Gana Sabha, in association with Dr. S Ramanathan Endowment Programme, caught the attention. The professor’s compositions were presented through Bharatanatyam by senior dancer, choreographer and researcher Lakshmi Ramaswamy. The programme, completely in Tamil, had knit the compositions of the multi-faceted legend, bringing to the fore the dancer’s intellectual ability and communicative power.
The tana Varnam, ‘Angayarkanni’ (Behag), set the tone for the presentation. Lakshmi chose to use 2 jatis in the first half; the charana sahitya depicted the grandeur of Madurai and greatness of Goddess Meenakshi. In dealing with ‘Kan paar’ (‘look at me with your eyes’) Lakshmi seemed to have drawn inspiration from the Ashtarasa sloka of Soundarya Lahari. The episode of Neelakanta Deekshitar scorching his eyes and Meenakshi restoring vision was both spectacular and moving. Lakshmi’s rendition proved how good research vests a production with meaning and elegance.
Equally moving were the verses of ‘Aichiyar Kuravai’ from Silappadikaram, tuned by S Ramanathan, musically treated as a Sabdam by his daughter, Vanathy Raghuraman. Subtlety enhances beauty. Lakshmi deployed it effectively to portray the song Odhiman Odhunga from Kamba Ramayanam — Rama sighting the gentle swans and comparing their glide with Sita’s gait and Sita pointing at the majestic elephants indicating Rama’s magnificence.
It is not usual to find a Keertanam taking the centre stage in a Bharatanatyam performance. Well-conceived and food for thought was Konjum Silambolikka, a Keertanam in Ragamalika, penned by Ambujam Krishna which was preceded by a Divyaprabandam hymn in Ahiri. Interspersing with five jathis as dancing Krishna, strikingly memorable was the ending, where the dancer asks Krishna to come not in the Viswaroopam, Parthasarathy or Kalinga narthana form, but as a little child!
Contrasting emotions
What came as a surprise was, ‘Idudano Thillai Sthalam’ in Behag, a Gopala Krishna Bharati song, in the original voice of Ramanathan recorded 40 years ago.
A penchant for the original tunes of poets led Ramanathan to revive Subramanya Bharati’s ‘Villinai Otha puruvam.’ Lakshmi conveyed contrasting emotions of — Lord Muruga’s victory over Krauncha mountain and Valli’s romance. The evening concluded with a tillana in Chenchurutti and Tisra Adi Talam, the only tillana composed by the maestro, embellished with crisp and short korvais. Through graceful nritta and abhinaya Lakshmi Ramaswamy brought out the beauty and fine techniques of the Vazhuvur style, which she has honed through years of mentorship of her Guru Padmasri Smt Chitra Visweswaran.
The dancer was supported by the orchestra comprising Veeraraghavan (vocal), Nagai Narayanan (mridangam) and Anantha Krishnan (violin). Purnima Sriraman, a senior disciple of Lakshmi, conducted the nattuvangam with good grip over tala and clear diction.
