Kuchipudi exponent P. Ramadevi, a well-known dancer, choreographer and author, has now donned the role of a ballet writer on the subject dealing with ‘Pancha Bhootas’ (five elements). The title ‘ Panchabhootatmkam Deham Pancheekaranam Natya Yogam ’ means the dance too is the integral part of this ‘Pancheekaranam’. This ballet made its debut at Ravindra Bharati last week. The lyrics Rama penned for this new ballet hold considerable scientific and philosophic elements. Before presenting the ballet, Rama narrated the concept at length for the audience to understand.
‘Pancheekaranam’ was originally the concept of Adi Shankara who lived between 788-820 CE. He discussed about the manifestation through five elements leading to realisation of ‘Atma’, the self. ‘Omkaram’ that sounds ‘AUM’ is sum total of soul that is Atma. The body is confluence of all the five elements — earth, sky, water, air and fire.
‘Pancheekaranam’ means the merger of all the elements in different proportions with sensory organs. Anything made of Panchamahabhutha is called ‘Bhouthika’ – that is, physical with five ‘Pranaas’. The opening song
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This was presented by two groups of five dancers each, representative of Panchabhootas. The artistes featured in this ballet were Sai Varsha, Satwika, Anvitha, Shreya K.Vaishnavi, Sangeetha, Sampada, Srini, Vaishnavi K.L. Akashara. The song was
Guru Ramadevi conducted the show to vocal support of Srivalli Sarma and mridangam by Renuka Prasad. Others in the ensemble were Saikumar on violin, Venkatesh on flute and Sreedharachary on percussion. Surabhi Kishore’s stage craft went a long way in adding visual appeal of the show.