Bond with Nature beautifully portrayed

AS THE curtain went up to the enchanting tunes of the musical genius, V. S. Narasimhan, the entire atmosphere seemed to change and the rest of the evening resolved renowed round soulful music and blissful moments of dance Creativity.

With Narasimhan providing an excellent musical canvas, G. Narendra, the dancer- choreographer of this magnificent production of The Cleveland Cultural Alliance (India), painted a masterpiece of art offered with reverence.

``The Living Tree' was not just the narrative of a young maiden's bondage with a tree, but a beautiful synthesis of the multifaceted streams of the glorious heritage of India. It was a matter of wonder, how Narendra could evolve and expand a small plot as this story of The Mango Tree, an Indian folk tale, to the vastness of a banyan tree. It turned out to be a showcase of myriad Indian traditions, family ties, sharing, caring and beliefs that pervade the human life.

Words cannot aptly describe the sincere, dedicated efforts of Narendra which made this production a grand success. If Narasimhan was the soul of this unique venture, Narendra remained the energy that took the thematic event to glorious heights.

The success of this thematic spectacle owed it to G. Narendra the leader, with dancer Mahalakhmi sharing the responsibility. First and foremost, the selection of the theme, which focussed on the crucial need of the hour of creating the awareness for preservation of Nature around us, deserves much praise for its universal appeal.

A simple narrative script that followed in appropriate contexts, revealed the deep interest and care that Dr. Lucille Gruber, an admirer of India, has taken while co-relating the theme with concepts from the Upanishads.

The play focussed on certain aspects of creation and preservation (the sprouting of the plant), harmony (the village scene full of lively, buzzing activity and the young girl's attachment to the tree), discord (angry sister-in-law who plans to separate the girl and the tree), union and departure (the marriage of the girl and her sorrowful parting from her beloved tree), joining together (two villages and two lives joning), misfortune (the suffering of the tree and the man), the dark period (the slaughtering of the tree, and the devastation of the village), Resurrection (revival of both through the timely care of the girl) and finally, the offering (culmination of man and nature through blissful existence).

The dance composition consisted of different techniques, like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, etc. Each blended well with the situations. The lifeline of the Living Tree comprised the extraordinarily disciplined dancers, Neewin Hershall, C.A. Joy, T.B. Unnikrishnan, M.S. Hariharan, T.K. Tiruchelvam, K.P. Karvannan, Deepa Narayan, Krishnakshi Sarma, J. Lavanya, Anusha Natarajan, Suhasini Muthukrishnan, Roopa Visvanathan, apart from the major driving forces, Narendra as the soul of the tree and Mahalakshmi as the girl.

Every dancer put in his or her soul and mind into their respective roles, some of them doing more than one, with utmost sincerity.

Most of them are students of Kalakshetra and the Dhananjayans and have had sufficicient exposure in group events and hence appeared professional and performed with aplomb.

The movement techniques employed by Narendra were delightful. The rigorous training that has gone into this venture was evident in every move of the dancers.

The scene of the village (Harmony) coming alive with buzzing activities, the village school master (Neewin), the young girl's attachment to the tree, the marriage of the girl, the girl's parting with the tree and the sad moments of the tree in abandonment were some of the striking segments of this dance- narrative.

The moment she arrived on the scene, Mahalakshmi captured the audience attention with her childlike innocence, enacted beautifully. She slipped into different phases of the young girl with ease and grace. But the best came when she expressed the agony of parting from her beloved tree, whom she entrusts to her wicked sister-in-law (Krishnakshi) for protection.

Mahalakshmi enacted the pain with such dignity, reminding one of a similar moment from the well-known Sukanthalam of Kalidasa, where Sakuntala feels sald to part with her beloved vanajyotsna creeper, whom she has nurtured and cared. The joyful moments of the wedding, was a visual delight, mixture of different cultures. The pleasant, sliding ballet technique used for expressing the bondage between the tree and the girl were impressive enhanced by appropriate musical accompaniment.

However, a little editing for instance the marriage scene, and the village school segment would have made the production much more crisp. Also the Bhangra movements at the marriage did not blend well with the costumes of the typical South Indian villagers. In the school scene, the seating of the students in rows on both sides of the teacher, would have made the picture more interesting.

Also from resurrection to the final scene, there was a note of hurry and the idea of the girl bringing back to life both the tree and her brother lacked depth. While Narsimhan's musical choreography, both Western and Carnatic culminated in a smooth fusion, with multi-dimensional recording, using a variety of instruments (with assitance from well-known key board player, R. Chandrasekhar) was heartwarming, the Kambodhi stretch sung by him at the time of resurrection did not fit in well with the mood of the situation. Veenai Parthasarathi who played melodiously all through could have rendered a thanam like stretch in this context, with a raga like Kadanakuthoohalam, aptly enhancing the beauty of the rejuvenation of man and tree.

A special word of praise for Anusha Natarajan, and C.A. Joy, designers of the life-like tree backdrop, made out of cloth. Joy takes credit also for simple, effective costumes and other stage properties, like colourful handicrafts. Excellent lighting, (especially the rays passing through the whithering tree) was another highlight of this production. Sadanand Menon and K.V. Venkatesh were in charge of this responsibility.

The CCA which is sponsoring this production at 25 major cities in the U.S. in the coming weeks is bound to draw great response.

NANDINI RAMANI

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