Thematic ballet on Adi Sankara

UNDER THE auspices of Kartik Fine Arts, Sree Bharatalaya of Sudharani Raghupathi staged a thematic dance presentation, titled Sankara Loka Sankara, highlighting the noble path of the six-fold religious practice, as shown by the great Advaitic preacher, Sri Adi Sankara. Sudharani has devised a simple and effective mode of communication to spread the divine message of the preceptor, with a story- line that forms the base for this Bharatanatyam ballet. It was a well- planned, neat production, offering the essence of Hinduism.

Sudharani has made efforts to set the dance format and make this presentation, compact and rich, keeping in mind a medium for effective, and spiritually educative communication within a short duration of time. The late Thangasami Sarma has helped in finding the sources for the base material of the production, with inputs from Vidwan Madurai N. Krishnan, Sudharani's son and mridangam player Aniruddha (Ganesa Dasa), in the lyrical format of the ballet. The major hymns of Adi Sankara form the mainstay of the production. Madurai N. Krishnan has taken care of the musical set-up that proved to be the highlight of the entire production, giving it a soulful touch.

The story revolves round Aryamba, mother of Sri Adi Sankara asking her son, to show her the real path of devotion and calm her turbulent mind which is in constant search of the Ultimate. There begins the visualisation of the concept through the eyes of the mother as Sankara guides her into the six-fold practice of devotion which is described with appropriate devotional hymns to link the different narrative through the medium of traditional dance.

Commencing with Gaanapatyam (Ganapati), the ballet took off on an enjoyable note. The opening recitation of the theermanam using the Beejaakshara ``Gam'' was lively. Sasirekha, the young artiste in charge of Nattuvangam impressed one with her confident approach in recitation and conducting. Ganesa Pancharatnam, set in different tala structures, followed by the well-known verse Mooshika Vahana occupied the scene of the foremost of the Gods, Ganapati, enacted by Aishwarya Ananth. Mention must be made of the four talented disciples of Sudharani - Priya Murle, Aruna Subbiah, Prabha Dikshit, and Shylaja Ramji, who exhibited perfect coordination, refined skill, and good understanding of the stage with their introductory number.

The choice of dancers with the appropriate stage presence and skill for each of the episodes - Shylaja (Kumara), Padma (Siva), Aishwarya (Vishnu), Gayatri Ramaratnam (Surya), and Priya Murle (Saaktham) - proved their artistic abilities suitably. Special mention is to be made of Sushma, yet another student of Sree Bharatalaya, who took the role of Adi Sankara and stood up to her commitment with dedication, although she has to ripen still with stage experience. Her serene face and gentle dance movements fitted her role aptly. Sudharani enacted the role of Aryamba.

Verses from Sri Subrahmanya Bhujangam, Sri Rudram, Siva Tandava Stotram, Sri Mukundamala, Aditya Hrudayam, and Annapoornaashtakam were employed for the different segments. Inclusion of excerpt of Kola Mayil, varnam of Madurai N. Krishnan, in Kaumaram, Lord Vishnu being carried in a palanquin, depiction for Adiyamodum, the peacock (Arthi Bodani) accompanying Lord Kumara, the Surya Namaskara in Kalari style, the tranquil scene of Goddess Maha Sakthi in her manifestation of Kamakshi, worshipped by Adi Sankara, were all presented in a neat rendition, bringing in the necessary, harmonious blend of Bhakti and Rakthi. However, more care could have been given to proper pronunciation of the Sanskrit lyrics, which sometimes, if wrongly spelt, could give a different meaning.

Also, the manifestations of Lord Siva, while the recitation of Rudram was going on, could have been depicted by Sudharani in great adoration; instead, at that point she showed only minimal action of wonder.

In fact, since the play does not demand an artiste of her stature, she could have trained one of her senior students to handle it.

Aniruddha read out some of the text, as and when required, with a crystal clear voice, while skilfully managing the percussive aspects with complete control and also being in charge of conducting the overall supervision of the orchestral group. Nandini Anand sang very well, except for her wrong pronunciation. The piece Vande Sambhum in Behag was very lively.

Vijayaraghavan (violin), Krishnaveni (assistance in vocal and nattuvangam), and Kannan (veena) were supportive. The costumes were simple and elegant. Revathi Sankaran gave a crisp introduction at the beginning of the ballet.

NANDINI RAMANI

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