Details dominated dancer Lakshmi Ramaswamy’s latest production ‘Sapta Vidangam’ that was presented by her Bharatanatyam school Sri Mudhraalaya with a grant from Tamilnadu Eyal Isai Nataka Mandram for developing new productions based on Tamil literature. ‘Sapta Vidangam’ refers to the seven temples in Tamil Nadu where Thyagaraja idols were installed by the mythical Chola king, Muchkund. ‘Vidangam,’ according to Tamil scholar Prof. Raghuraman, means that which is not created.
Lakshmi and her group of well-trained dancers travelled from temple to temple, presenting one sacred hymn, Thevaram, in the dance style that is unique to the palanquin bearers of that temple when the deity is taken out in procession. Research (Prof. S. Raghuraman and S. Jayachandran) and music composition (Dr. Vanathi Raghuraman) were the stand-out features of the show.
Though minutiae took precedence over form, Lakshmi saved it from becoming a content-heavy documentary by varying the presentation pattern. The production opened with a brisk Anjali (Ratipathipriya, misra chapu) which ended with snapshots of the seven temples and the corresponding movement styles.
Once the story of King Muchkund and the idols was done with, the ‘Sapta Vidanga’ darshan commenced. Each segment was preceded by a conversation between Muchkund (Archana Mahesh) and Narada (Haritha Venkatapathy) who travel to ‘Bhooloka’ to visit the sthalas. The duo educated as they entertained, with some tongue-in-cheek comments thrown in. Sample this: Muchkund: ‘Narada, be careful in Bhooloka, don’t be influenced by the sanyasis. They are the ones who have amassed the most wealth!’
The processional Mallari (Gambhira Nattai, Triputa) representing the Ajapa Natanam in Tiruvarur was the best choreography of the evening. With the music alternating speeds from slow to fast and back again, the dancers kept good posture and rhythm. Percussionist Karthikeyan’s specially created mridangam was used here - it sounded like a tavil and he played the tavil sollukattus to enhance the effect. Tyagesa’s well-timed bhramaris (twirls) coordinated with the palanquin bearers’ agile utplavanas (leaps) from one corner to the other, keeping the palanquin steady in a sense. The Mallari was followed by a padam by Lakshmi - ‘Mugathai Kaatti’ (Bhairavi, Papavinasa Mudaliar) in which the devotee pleads to see Tyagesa’s full form. The Tirunavkkarasar Tevaram ’Uyiravanam irundhu’ on Tiruvarur was used as a mangalam for a tranquil ending.
The subsequent Tirukkolili segment had a Thevaram, ‘Naalaaya’ set in a Kavuthuvam format (misra chapu) with the ‘Bee dance’ set in Dhruva tala and accompanied by the morsing. The Tirukarayil segment had a Thevaram, ‘Taayaane’ composed as a ragamalika sabdam in misra chapu followed by kukuta natanam (Rooster dance) in Rupaka tala.
The rhythmic ‘Tatakuku’ jathi was excellently intoned by Lakshmi’s student Purnima Sriraman, whose tone and pronunciation were impressive. The Unmatha dance (mad person) for Tirunallaru performed by Gowthami in Ata tala used the relevant karanas well. The suggestive Lingam sketched with flowers in the backdrop was apt.
Despite these efforts, there were times when the quality dipped. The dance of the bees used karanas, but the group choreography was too tame. So was the rooster dance. The story of the idols was another amateur scene with stilted acting. The dialogue (Lakshmi) served a purpose but needed to be less exaggerated, not with ‘Shall we go see?’ ending every conversation.
There was rich orchestration with senior musicians Kandadevi Vijayaraghavan (violin) and Sashidhar (flute) providing tuneful backing for Vanathi (vocal) who stood up to the challenge of raga changes in every segment and the introduction of seven talas, but hit off key notes too often to be appreciated for her music. The poor sound system in Mylapore Fine Arts did not help.
Some of the jathis were composed by percussionist Vedakrishnaram. The other dancers were: Niveditha Raghavan, Shivapriya, Jayashree, Sangeetha, Thuvaraha and Abirami.
‘Sapta Vidangam’ was a good effort but needs much fine-tuning to stand out.
