Diwali on the Square

Trafalgar Square Diwali Celebrations  2014 

A year ago, I read about the Trafalgar Square Diwali program in the newspaper. The schedule was set and the itinerary was in place I felt a pinch and thought to myself, wish I could have participated !!! but then they were only showcasing  group dances and I was still only an independent dance artist. Come 2014, I was elated to be approached by Arunima Kumar Dance Company , a group that promotes Indian classical art forms.  

The song picked was Asathoma Sathgamaya , the verses have an illuminating effect on the listeners and of course the music transcended you into a different world.   We had Kathak, Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi integrated to beats  where we individually brought out the finer nuances of the art form and came together to perform nearly uniform steps that match the rhythm.  Arunima Kumar's motive behind the theme meant to depict the journey from Darkness to Light  and from death to eternity. 

The fast paced beats and the verses echoing just gave the perfect combination  for a graceful dance like Mohiniattam along with well defined Kathak and Kuchipudi. The rasikas loved the  experience and so did I.

Mohiniattam Adavus

  

 In Indian classical dance, An adavu is a step or synchronized movement of the feet and body , holding a mudra (s) that does not convey any meaning but is purely ornamental. It is set to a precise rhythm and can be performed in three speeds - Slow, medium and fast. 

Mohiniattam, the graceful and sensuous dance form of Kerala has seen a steep rise in its popularity in the last 10-15 years. however, one area that I feel Mohiniattam lags behind is the repertoire of adavus. Mohiniattam adavus are about 30 in total which limits the choreography or the ability to elaborately present a dance item. 

Geeta Radhakrishna, my teacher who has directly learnt under the guidance of Smt.Kalyani Kuttiama learnt the purest and most traditional or unique adavus. Soon, she realized that the limited  number of adavus us a constraint in Mohiniattam and that something needed to be done about it. This gave her a purpose to increase the vocabulary of adavus. She initiated a research and connected with many great Mohiniattam dance artists from yesteryear. Their interpretation and sharing of knowledge made my teacher realize that Mohiniattam was being performed and taught or learnt even before the evolution of Bharatnatyam but with its decline in popularity thus  the artists or teachers refused to be known/associated with the dance form. This affected Mohiniattam gravely as the treasure of knowledge was Lost !! To and carry the legacy forward, Mohiniattam lost many of its unique adavus and nuances of the dance form.

My teacher was on a mission to systematize MOHINIATTAM , add many authentic steps that were traditionally practised but forgotten with time. She traveled to extensively and interviewed many great artists for her research purpose.In Kerala, there is a street where dance artists, once associated with Mohiniattam had lived or were living with their families but to my teacher's surprise they refused to speak anything about it. On the other hand, many artists and famour Mohiniattam dance teachers came forward and gave my teacher enough material for her to write a book  on  Mohiniattam Adavus & Mudras

The book has illustrations for a dancer to not just read and understand the step/adavu but also see the diagrams to further clearly understand how the step is executed. Based on her research, she has defined 150 adavus. These adavus are purely in line with the ambit of what Mohiniattam should be performed and comprises steps that are purely, traditionally and originally Mohiniattam.  

This comprehensive list of adavus, I believe this will be the genesis of Mohiniattam to what it was at one time with an added touch of Geeta Radhakrishna's vision of how  this dance form can have a strong hold of movements along with abhinaya. 

Dance artists can learn these steps and choreograph dances without having to restrict themselves to the small numbers of steps that is being used. 

Please visit http://www.mohiniattam.com/books.php for a read on the book Mohiniattam Adavus & Mudras by Geeta Radhakrishna.

Chaliye Kunjanamo

Composer: Maharaja  Swaati TirunaaL 
Language: Hindi  Raaga : Brindavana Sarang 

Pallavi 

chaliyE kunjan mO tum ham mil shyAm hari 

Antara 1 

dEkhO jamunA rE bahi sundar ati nIrbhari 

(caliyE) 

Antara 2 

chODiyE kaisE mOkun mai to tErO hAth dhari 

(caliyE) 

Antara 3 

suniyE kOyal kE bOl piyA kyA kahrI 

(caliyE)

 Come, let us go to the Garden, where the flowers bloom and jasmine adorns the place, come let us share our happiness by being together. Look at the beautiful Jamuna that flows beautifully quenching the thirst of the earth, Come Hari, let us play in the water and bury ourselves in each others arms. Oh how can you leave my hands , for  in you I seek comfort for I have entrusted my life with you,Come let us go to the Garden, please? Listen, listen carefully to what the cuckoo says, Yes, it is saying the same that it is the moment of love , Oh my Lord, come to Kunajanamo where you and I can be together, be one ..... Chaliye!!! 

My first Swati Thirunal choregraphy! In Mohiniattam, Chaliye Kunjanamo is one of the most sought after dance items in a repertoire of any artist.Chaliye Kunjanamo is a short and sweet dialogue which is all about happiness and vivacity of a woman- Nayika,
and a playful  mischievous and flamboyant Lord Krishna.

I chose this because first and foremost, this was in a language known to many - Hindi and the lyrics are simple and easy to understand.
In terms of choreography there is ample scope as it is a dialogue , a conversation or an explanation of Nayika's feelings and her request to Lord Hari (Lord Krishna) to join her in the beautiful Garden.

I was presenting this to an audience that hailed from the north of India - PUNJAB. For them, dance meant loud music , strong percussion and major body movements and to perform something slow, controlled and describing emotions and situations 

 in a completely different language would have been too much for them to relate to.
After the program, people from the audience came to me and said they were able to understand what was being depicted and found it easy to follow.

Verdict : It went down well with the audience :) :) :) 

Diwali in London 2013

Diwali is the festival of colours and lights. And the brightness did spread into my dance performances too. I was lucky enough to perform at a beautiful temple in Brentford on the day of Annakutta & Vikrama New Year  ... a day that is important to Gujaratis. 

This day is celebrated with great pomp and show by preparing 108 delicacies and performing pujas. The organisers of the temple welcomed me to perform on this joyous occasion. Since this day is mainly celebrated in honour of Devi or Goddess of wealth and prosperity, I took Shakti or Devi as the theme for the show.

Goddess Parvati Pose

Like all performances one cannot begin without seeking the blessings of Lord Ganpathy, I performed to a small slokam at the beginnings and continued by performing Manjukeshi , choreographed by my 

Guru Geeta Radhakrishna. This  is a beautiful song describing Sankaracharya's krithi on Devi Parvati - beauty,valour and enigma. The adavus involve many intricately woven steps, like small jasmine buds tied together to make one big garland. I always loved this piece since it is extremely slow paced on the adavus but picks up from the Abhinaya portion all the way to theermanam (concluding part of a dance item). 

My final performance was one of my favorites Soudamini and Sudati - two dance items named after the seven Apsaras( celestial beauties) mentioned in Hindu mythology. This dance is set in Shivranjini and Sreeragam , two raagas that instantly get  the rasika/ audience and indeed they connected with the happiness and joy that the raagas bring out of me.

Nritta Swara Manjari was initially choreographed by teacher to string all the adavus and make the learning process more pleasurable yet a memorable one but then gave way to add Abhinaya as part of it so as to open up the potential of dancers like me. 

I admire her intelligence and forward thinking !!! This has helped me remember my adavus and dance items all at one go. Hats off to my Guru for making me a fine dancer. 

To know more on Mohiniattam and the beauty of it please visit ww.mohiniattam.com for more information.

As I remember the 24 hasta murdras in mohiniattam , I am amazed at the way each mudra has a meaning and many more contextually. With each mudra one is able to depict characters, objects and emotions so distinctly. So much so that I  i feel talking in this language makes it a beautiful experience in itself.
In the padams   like entaho vallabha - it is the pain and the sorrow of the heroine, where she is saying what wrong has she done while she describes the beautiful moon and smell of flowers that makes her want to love and be loved. All this not spoken but entirely described through facial expression, hands and body gestures.

In mohiniattam, I would say it is the use of the facial expressions and bodily movements that accentuates the whole experience with mudras playing a pivotal part. According to me the story telling is extremely dramatic when mudras are used like describing a house or a woman, depicting a character or a sense of mood.

In mohiniattam recitals, the nayika always expresses using her face rather the use of mudras. I believe it is so that the audience who may or may not understand the mudras can simply relate through the mukha bhavam (facial expression).

What is Mohiniattam???

I met this man  on  a London tube,he hailed from Kerala yet did not know what Mohiniattam is...

It breaks my heart when someone from the same state asks me What is mohiniattam? But I soon realised that its because Mohiniattam hasn't been advertised or marketed like the other dance forms. Thats why despite abundant performances and  dance classes being set up in the class keralites do not know much about it.

Mohiniattam is a dance form that best describes the state where it orginiated from  "KERALA"
The dance form is extremely graceful  and flowing just like the sway of the coconut trees in the gentle breeze.The adavus flow like the beautiful rivers one after the other and do not have jerky movements.

Maharaja Swathi Thirunal was instrumental in leading Mohiniattam into the limelight.

Mohiniattam is an extremely feminine dance, one that speaks aloud  of emotions and situations of a woman's mind. The dance format has adavus - basic steps that forms the foundation for the dance. The steps are performed in 3 speed - Vilambhitha - slow, Madhya - medium and Dhruta taalam - Fast. The dance items include - Cholkettu (invocation dance), jatiswaram, padam, thillana and javli.

Maharaja Swathi Thirunal was highly instrumental in giving the required impetus to this art form by choreographing many krithis that are today termed as classics. My teacher Geeta Radhakrishna, an ardent devotee of Mohiniattam has contributed to Mohiniattam by systematizing and writing a book on the adavus thereby documenting the traditional steps and also making it available to everyone who wishes to learn the art form. This perhaps, is a revolutionary move to make Mohiniattam accessible to many more who wish to learn it.

The costume is extremely simple, just like the people and the culture of Kerala :)  - Off white saree(guarding the purity of the art form and the artist ) draped like a saree with a big fan that is worn around the waist ,a hair bun tilted to the left  and adorned with jasmine flowers completed with simple jewelry.

I hope many and many from our own state and country will be aware of Mohiniattam and would encourage to propogate this art form.

Mohiniattam-Costume and Jewelry

Navarasas

Going through the navarasas I am particularly drawn to one emotion i.e Karuna (Compassion, Empathy, Sympathy). To think about this emotion, i feel it is the most difficult one to express. Pain unless felt from within perhaps cannot be emoted like any of the other rasas. Somehow, I am allured by the way one can express it and the way that it connects to the audience. It is an intriguing emotion, a state of mind that one can imagine but perhaps dread to go through. Somehow I am in love with this bhavam, I dont enjoy being melancholic but yes I enjoy depicting it.

One of the padams closest to my heart is Panimathi Mukhi bale, a padam that oozes melancholy, a feel of despair , pain and anguish.The nayika speaks to her best friend and an intermediary between the Lord himself and the nayika about how the Lord has forgotten her and how he does not think of her, all that in contrast to the feeling of her own. She cries her heart out, and feels the pangs of love but the Lord doesn't realise or doesn't still come to meet her.

The song is set to Ahiri ragam and the song just takes you to another world where you can only see her love for the lord and her pain and sorrow.I have performed this item many times and have received appreciation from many but each time I perform this item , I  feel I walk a step further to her , to being the Nayika  and still feel  there is so much to feel  to actually be "Her"