The rhythms of the mridangam, strumming of the guitar and the gentle jingle of salangai usher us into the dance hall in a humble household on Bye-pass Road. It is called the Om Prasannalaya Dance and Music Academy, and it is run by Bharatanatyam dancer-cum-vocalist Mala Raja. Though the dance and music is of the type we usually find at such academies, the learners here are a rare lot: six French people making perfect mudras and abhinayas for a Radha-Krishna love song.
Their journey to India began when Archana Sundararajan, during a stint as an English assistant in France, stumbled upon a dance school teaching Bharatanatyam in the southern city of Avignon in Provence. As a trained professional artist, she couldn't resist dropping in and found many enthusiastic French people learning the art. That was when she met the French couple who ran the school—Aisha, a Bharatanatyam dancer, and Sebastian, a guitarist.
“The place looked more Indian than India and it became my second home,” reminiscences Archana. “I and Aisha became good friends and I started teaching Indian dances at her school.” Today she is chatting with her French friends and Mala Raja, her mother and guru, at the Om Prasannalaya dance hall. It has been two years since they all first met and their bonds have brought them beyond boundaries.
“We wanted to explore the art form more intensively,” says Aisha, “and when Archana offered a 10-day stay at her home, we couldn't say no.”
“All of them, for the first time in Madurai, are finding gurukula vasam a complete new experience,” shares Mala Raja. She was a Kalakshetra student who has also taught Bharatanatyam to her daughter Archana and mridangam to her son Abhishek Raaja.
Apart from dance, Mala has introduced her French shishyas to the art of drawing kolams, cooking South Indian recipes, doing puja, greeting people in Tamil with ‘Vanakkam' and ‘Nanri', and other traditions of the region.
Since Mala started her own academy six years ago, she has trained many students in Bharatanatyam, vocal music, and veena and other instruments. She is known for her performances across the city, and her dance academy is frequented by foreigners as well as Indians. “I have 40 students,” says Mala, “but this is the first time I am treating it as a gurukulam.”
Of the six French students, three are beginners in Bharatanatyam and two are intermediates with some experience, while Aisha joins Archana and Mala as a trainer. Cristine, an actress with two years of experience in dance, and Audrey, a logistics manager assistant, didn't find it difficult to train their feet to the talas. They find dance a perfect form of expression and confess they sometimes just enjoy making faces, dramatically widening their eyes and staring into the crowd.
Aline is a botanist and Stephanie a casting agent for cinema. They are beginners and dance doesn't seem alien to them. Melanie, a puppet maker, artist and performer, feels that music and dance are in her genes. “We all went shopping for Bharatanatyam costumes and jewellery soon after we hit Madurai,” says Stephanie. “Now all of us have brand new salangais and kunjalams!” Stephanie is also making a documentary on their trip, ‘In the Steps of Bharatanatyam'.
The group has learnt about half a dozen sequences focusing on various components of the dance.
This includes ‘Pushpanjali', a piece on Ganesha that works with synchronized body movement and the inner structure of Bharatanatyam, and ‘Thiratha Vilayattu Pillai', a Radha-Krishna duet that lays stress on facial expressions.
“All one needs to do is to coordinate all senses,” explains Mala. “The hands, eyes and feet should fall in line. Wherever the eyes go, hands should follow. Expression (bhava), music (raga-tala) and steps (natana) form Bharatanatyam.”
With six hours of practice each day, the students have also simultaneously staged five group and solo performances at various places in and around Madurai. They find the workshop has taught them not only classical dance but also the important elements of the Indian way of life.
After a scrumptious spread of pongal, vadais and appams, they dash back to the dance hall. As Mala tweaks the nattuvangam and Abhishek Raaja beats the mridangam, Sebastine skillfully translates the jati on to his guitar. Archana and her dance aficionados take swift steps to match the beats and an enchanting experience fills the hall
