It was the staging of a special production ‘Anjaneyam’ which showcased Ramayana by Singapore-based Apsaras Arts. Held as part of the International Ramayana Festival at Ravindra Bharathi, it introduced the audience to the hero ‘Hanuman’ who narrated the age-old story from his perspective. A couple of hours before they went on stage, artistic director Aravinth Kumarasamy and choreographer and costume designer Mohanpriyan Thayarajah, who also plays Ravana, share the uniqueness of this production. “Here Hanuman is the hero, not Rama,” smiles Aravinth. The group presented one episode of their two-hour production for the Ramayana Festival.
While the show at Ravindra Bharathi brings together Singapore and Indian dancers, the production takes a collaborative view — Indonesian Javanese Ramayana and Valmiki Ramayana have come together in a narrative. “The costumes have been designed using fabrics of Indonesia and India; Ravana’s headgear is different and even Hanuman is a white monkey,” shares Aravinth. When the show premièred to a packed house in 2017 in Singapore, it had 100 dancers and 3D animation production. “The stage looked spectacular with 100 dancers. The narrative doesn’t have any sets. It worked on 3D Animation Production. Here (at Ravindra Bharathi), there is no facility to show it that way. We used hand-drawn illustrations specifically for this project. The production had appealed to youngsters too,” he recalls.
Mohanpriyan shares his experience of playing Ravana. “I am a Bharatanatyam dancer and performer. Taking the narratives from Javanese Ramayana and portraying a character in the Javanese style was what excited me in the production. We have married two cultures to bring a new perspective.” While it is the 30th year of Aravindh with the institute, Mohanpriyan, who is doing his Ph.D on Southeast Asian traditional dance form and culture has completed five years.
The 40-year-old Apsaras was founded by a couple Sathyalingam and Neila Sathyalingam, from Kalakshtra Chennai. “They were not only students but had taught under Rukmini Devi for 20 years before moving to Singapore,” shares Aravinth. The dance school has seen a transformation in the past 10 years. “Besides the usual epics, we create innovative productions on themes like architecture, lotus, what it means to the Asian culture and a production where we brought Ravi Varma’s paintings to life.”
Aravinth observes the Singapore dance scene is vibrant. “Every weekend one gets to see a performance and 99 per cent of the shows are ticketed and are often full.” He also feels lucky to be based in Singapore as it is a melting pot of different cultures. He shares that Ramayana is staged more outside India than in it. “In countries like Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand, Ramayana is performed in every city, every night; the shows are only based on different episodes of Ramayana,” he shares.
One minor aberration at Ravindra Bharathi: Instead of ‘Anjaneyam’, organisers had put up a hoarding of a Apsaras’ production on Buddhist monks!
