Their body language said it all

VIDYA SARANYAN (A review from The Hindu)

The silent pause precedingKaikeyi’s demand was easily one of the best moments in the Dhananjayans’ performance.

The riveting performances by V.P. Dhananjayan, Shanta Dhananjayan and their students reaffirmed their reputation as artists par excellence and worthy natyacharyas. After the invocatory number, the next piece Nrittaswaravali had dancers Venkatakrishnan and Pavitra Srinivasan display their rhythmic prowess. Their bright smiles, straight posture and vigour brought liveliness to the evening. Complex jatis to the various nadais formed the fabric of the Nrittaswaravali.

In the latter half of the evening, the glory of Siva’s dance was essayed by Lavanya Raghuraman for ‘Adidum Arasae’. With her big eyes and a charming stage presence, she brought home all the dimensions of Siva’s dance as envisaged by the poet. The sollukattu with the Nandi motif caught one’s attention for its aptness.

Another strong display of rhythm was to be seen in the Nrittangaharam, the concluding number in Behag and Khanda Ekam by Lavanya, Divya and Vedakrishnan. These numbers revealed the panache of the dancers and reinforced the dynamism of the evening. The vocalist for the second half was Vanathi, and the cymbals were wielded by Shanta Dhananjayan.

The limelight of the evening was the enactment from the Ramayana. ‘Sita Rama Katha’ from the Ramanatakam by Arunachala Kavi was positioned as the core piece. Here, Shanta Dhananjayan as Kooni (Manthara), Divya Shivsunder asKaikeyi and V.P. Dhananjayan as Dasaratha enthralled the audience with their dramatic portrayal.

The succinct Patra pravesha for the maid Manthara established her diabolical intent, and simultaneously threw light on Kaikeyi, who was still unsullied by the dreams of power. With her rolling eyes, frowning brow and a positively evil grimace, Shanta Dhananjayan got under the skin of the character.

She was the villain incarnate with the bent back and the hand on the hip as she steadily corroded the best of Kaikeyi and in its place carved out a woman intent only on the coronation of her son. At times cajoling and at others manipulating, Shanta’s performance carried the audience. The stage was now set forDasaratha to meet his nemesis. In his realistic performance as the king, Dhananjayan also incorporated some small touches that enhanced the content. The sidling movement of the feet, the pole axed fall, and especially the nippy shifting of moods from anger to disgust completed the high drama. Divya matched her teachers’ spirited delineation and portrayed the heartless Kaikeyiconvincingly.

Sashidharan’s clear diction and his expressive singing pooled with the strong nattuvangam of Gopukiran for this part of the recital. Kalaiarasan’s fluid violin, Sunil Kumar‘s trills on the flute and Ramesh Babu’s proficient mridangam play were big pluses.

Yet, the moment of silence which preceded Kaikeyi’s demand was easily one of the best moments in the recital where body language and sentiment spoke more than words or song.

Mallika Sarabhai: A space for the arts

Dancer Mallika Sarabhai talks to Manas Dasgupta of The Hindu about InterArt 2009, and how the festival has helped bring together artistes from across the world

InterArt 2009 is the 34th edition of the Vikram Sarabhai International Arts Festival in Ahmedabad, and Mallika Sarabhai, the director of Darpana Academy that organises the festival, says: “But, every time, it is different from the previous years.”

It was her parents — famed scientist Vikram Sarabhai, and bharatanatyam exponent Mrinalini Sarabhai — who set up the Academy, an arts and cultural institution. Held every year from December 28 to 30, the festival is celebrated in memory of her father — a great lover of the arts — who passed away on December 30, 1971.

Mallika Sarabhai tells Manas Dasgupta about the festival’s journey.

How did Vikram Sarabhai International Arts Festival begin?

The festival ‘InterArt’ was born a few years after my father’s death in 1971. He was a great lover of arts and a connoisseur, and it was felt that the best way to remember him would be by organising a yearly multi-arts festival in his hometown Ahmedabad. For the first 20 years, the festival was staged at Tagore Hall. In 1994, it was shifted to the present venue ‘Natrani’, our own stage on the Academy complex, right on the banks of the Sabarmati.

Why is it called ‘international’ arts festival, when it is never taken out of Ahmedabad?

Because, it offers international fare. For instance, for the last few years, Darpana has produced works with artistes from Peru, Egypt, Israel, Australia, Colombia, Spain, France, the U.K. and the U.S. This year’s collaboration is with Josh Hogan from Australia. The play on the first day, ‘Ahmedabad ki aurat bhali — Ramkali’, is an adaptation of famed German playwright and director Bertolt Brecht’s famous work ‘Good Woman of Setzuan’. It was also taken to Mumbai and Delhi. Years ago, another play ‘Kanan’, based on the same play, was staged in Ahmedabad. I had wanted it to travel to every part of Gujarat and the country, but funding is a huge problem. Getting sponsors in Gujarat for serious and experimental works is pretty impossible.

How is this year’s festival different from the previous years?

It is the only festival in India that showcases all forms of art — dance, music, mixed media, new media, puppetry, theatre, and all the crossovers possible. This year we have a French photographer as a resident artiste. She’s been shooting during the rehearsals and the behind-the-scenes of the performances, and will exhibit her work at the festival. ‘Naada, the Happening’, on the concluding day of the festival, is an ambitious project. We explore the performance using all the five senses, with ‘Naada and Naadabrahma’, the primordial sound from which came ‘Aum’. The audience too is taken on a journey of the senses — sight, smell and feel… We hope it becomes an experience, rather than a mere viewing. The second day’s performance ‘Dakshina’, is by the U.S.-based Daniel Phoenix Singh’s Dance Company. An Indian dancer trained in Western contemporary dance and bharatanatyam, Daniel does modern choreography and works by other choreographers, using both idioms.

How do the people of Ahmedabad, or, for that matter, Gujarat, benefit from the festival? How much does Darpana Academy gain from it?

Till Darpana came into being nearly 60 years ago, there was no classical dance in Gujarat. It not only does cutting edge work for the thinking audience, but also helped generate thinking audience. The festival is the highlight of all of a year’s performances, and is eagerly awaited. Darpana gains by collaborating with artistes from across the country and world. Over the last 16 years of its existence, Natrani has given over 1,200 presentations from 40 countries and across our country. It is an ever-enriching experience for us, I’m sure it’s the same for the audience too.

What are the traditional art forms the Academy promotes through the festival?

The festival is not a place to promote traditional forms; it is for innovative and cutting-edge works. We bring artistes together, give them the space, the performers, the set designers, carpenters, studios, video facilities — whatever they require. And, a beautiful setting for the final performance. I know of no other institution in India — funded or non-funded — that does all this, and has all this to give for free. Most institutions run like offices or are moribund Government organisations, pushing paper, making lots of money, and creating little. We are non-funded, and scrounge around for every penny. But, it is an art institution run by artistes, and not controlled by the Government or forced to follow the diktats of a board, having little sympathy or knowledge for the way artistes work. We are all artistes who take decisions, artistes who have built the spaces.

What are your future plans?

I would love to have someone fund the festival, and be able to take it to every part of the country, especially ‘B’ cities, where very little of interesting things travel to. Seeing interesting things help open one’s mind. I am sure our work will inspire many budding and talented artistes to do more, and differently at that. But, for that we need a lot of funds. Till then, we’ll keep creating new vistas in the world of art and performances.