Thennangur, the little hamlet with the beautiful Panduranga temple of Dakshina Haalasyam, is usually a quiet place where life moves at a slow pace. But recently, the place was abuzz with activity with dancers attired in brightly coloured costume could be seen walking to the big hall near the temple. The annual camp for dancers was conducted for the 12th year running with this year too featuring eminent scholars and experts from different fields related to the fine arts.
Organised by the Natyarangam Trust (dance wing of the Narada Gana Sabha Trust), the four-day camp to nurture the cause of Bharatanatyam, drew dancers from different parts of the country and even abroad.
This year, there were around 37 dancers who were participating in lec-dems, speeches and ‘hands on’ sessions at choreography as well as the performances at the end of each day. The daily schedule was packed with each day beginning with yoga routines conducted by Anil Kumar.
Dancers Sridhar and Anuradha, who run the dance school Ritambhara in Bangalore, explored the theory and placed the historical and spiritual perspective of Bharatanatyam in their lec-dem. Noted scholar Sudha Seshayyan gave succinct pointers to appreciate poetry and tips on deriving the verse for dance.
Music and theatre person Gowri Ramnarayan elucidated on the rasa theory or the aesthetics and followed it up with short extracts of dance interwoven with two plays. Bringing his rich musical insights to the forum was Alleppey Venkatesan, who discussed laya patterns and mood that certain ragas create, along with pertinent examples.
The convener of the camp was Prof. C. V. Chandrasekhar, who cannily streamed down this weighty fare with his inputs and roped in the active participation of the dancers. For instance, the impromptu vignettes of lyric offered by him to illustrate a point would kick off some lively demonstrations from the dancers.
The short performances by each speaker not only illustrated their lectures but also touched a chord and kept the proceedings from sliding into mere academics. While the gambling scene from the Mahabharata was a brilliant enactment by the Sridhars, it also reiterated their theme of internalising the dance form with a sense of harmony. Similarly, Gowri’s idea of ‘scripting’ a lyric before performing it went down well with the dancer’s tools in choreography.
A major attraction in the evenings was the Utsavam for the temples which was thrown open to one an all; the dancers performed before the Utsava murthy with abandon. Thus, ‘notes’ from the nagaswaram team for the Garuda vahanam would be accompanied by a group dancing to some short passages or a solo dancer marching right up to the idol in a mood of high drama! Similar emotional connect occurred for the melodious Oonjal songs rendered by the musicians and reverently translated in dance for the Dolotsavam.
With the camp drawing such an enthusiastic response, what sustains the interest for the dancers and organisers alike over a period of time? “The success of this camp can be seen over a period of time as many of the ideas are slowly assimilated by the dancers or better still expanded by them. This is a good ground for lively interactions between the participants and what we treasure most are the brainstorming sessions. We come up with a new theme every year to benefit the dancers and this helps us stimulate our interest in dance,” say the organisers.
