Celebrating 30 years of Sruti magazine, a three-day conference ‘Nritya Samrachana’ was organised at the Tattvaloka auditorium, in collaboration with Singapore-based Apsara Arts. Opening the series of lec-dems was the one titled ‘Composing and Innovation in Margam’ which was presented by veteran natyacharya V.P. Dhananjayan. The famous Tanjore Quartet constructed the Margam format of presentation, which came to be a considered tradition. Over centuries of existence, several elements such as ‘sabdam’ have eroded leaving a cut-paste clone to suit dancers’ convenience. Several other elements that had less to do with Margam format such as bhajan and abhang, have become an integral part of the modern day presentations. Dhananjayan offered some insights into the changing format. He presented excerpts of some of his dance-drama productions, right from 1968, to show how he had used his own ideas to form something completely different.
Bharatanatyam has been subjected to such experiments through its long illustrious history. It would only take the test of time to see what will last.
