It is about time that Bharatanatyam productions stimulate thoughts relevant to a present-day context, as much as they elevate emotions to relate to a bygone period. What if an evening’s performance could do both? ‘Varsha Rithu’, Indira Kadambi’s solo dance production, that had a show in Bangalore, was a balanced, well conceptualised piece of art. The production starts with “Varsha Aagaman’ or the arrival of the monsoon, moves to ‘Rathi Varsha’ showing the union of the earth and rain as a metaphor for love and finally to, ‘Aathma Varsha’, where the rain symbolises the promise of redemption. Talking about the production was as much food for thought, as Indira’s solo rendition of the same was a feast for the eyes. The conversation started with Indira Kadambi’s thoughts on the choreography and music composition for ‘Varsha Rithu’, and ended with how her tryst with mountaineering impacted her perspective on practice and performance. Below excerpts.
What brought you to the idea of ‘Varsha Rithu’? What were some of the things about the production that excited you the most?
‘Varsha Rithu’ was commissioned for a monsoon festival in 2004 along with performances by stalwarts such as Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia and Sujata Mohapatra. The production process started with my ideas collected over a period of time in a notebook by my bedside. The word rain is used so often in so many contexts such as Rain of love, Rain of the soul, etc. The search for appropriate compositions began. The lyrics and the rich source of poetic references came from my interactions and discussions with Prof. Raghuraman and Prof. Arunachalam. Raghuraman shared the idea of the many words in Tamil (as in any other languages) for ‘wind’, ‘thunder’, ‘ocean’, etc. My mind instantly started making ‘jathis’ using those synonyms along with dance syllables, which became one of the most interesting parts in the first half. My thoughts were then translated into music. The whole process took about a year and a half to reach completion. I thought that the music, poetry, lighting and costumes were extraordinary.
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As with most of your productions, the music by prominent musician and your husband T. V. Ramprasadh, was as much a pillar of the production, as was your concept and choreography. Could he take us through the process of the music composition? (Response by T.V. Ramprasadh)
The music for Varsha Rithu was done in various stages. As a music composer, I had to first visualize the mind of the choreographer, Indira, in totality.
The next stage was working with Indira to understand the ‘Sahityam’. Apart from choosing popular monsoon raagas, I also chose to highlight the mood of an event like drought with raga Valachi and thunder with raga Lavangi.
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Miya ki Malhar was used for the Meera Bhajan in the second segment. In the third segment, ‘Athma Varsha’, I used only tambura for the first five minutes to highlight the power of silence in the Universe.
I kept the entire structure and texture quite simple. We used traditional instruments and made creative use of them. The foundation of simplicity enabled me to build various intricacies based on the context of the production, without losing focus on what I wanted to convey through the music .
How did your tryst with the mountains impact your perspective and practice of your art form?
Dancing Bharatanatyam for over 34 years, 21 years as a professional, I led a very active, athletic life. Ill with chikungunya in 2006, I was down physically and mentally.
Dancing or trekking was a pipe-dream. After nine months, I beat this disease through Yoga. In May 2007, several of us with the help of Chandrasang Foundation planned a trek in the Himalayas, from Gangotri to Baby Shivling via Tapovan. Eight days in the serene Himalayas was like heaven on earth. The deeper you trek in the Himalayas, the more of her beauty she reveals to you. It brought a detachment towards dance and for the first time I could imagine a happy life without dancing. I then jumped headlong into the rigorous training programme at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. Trekking has inspired me to come back to dancing. I have now probably started dancing to the mountains!
Tell us about your upcoming Margam in August in Bangalore. What should the audience look forward to?
It is always a great joy to perform the age old traditional Margam. In my upcoming Margam on August 3rd in Bangalore, I have chosen to do a composition on Lord Thyagaraja Swami of Thiruvarur, bringing out the glory and splendour of the temple and the Lord. I will also be performing a ‘Devaranama’ and a few Ashtapadis.
It is blissful to be in the shoes of a character like Radha or Krishna and enjoy those beautiful moments far away from the mundane world, where you assume different roles such as a daughter, sister, mother, wife, teacher and friend.