artograph

A NEWNMEDIA™ PUBLICATION

2020 MAY - JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03

A BI-MONTHLY, BILINGUAL E-MAGAZINE FOCUSING ON ARTS | PUBLISHED BY NEWNMEDIA™ FROM KERALA, INDIA | 2020 MAY-JUN VOLUME 02 ISSUE 03 | PAGES: 36 | HTTP://ARTOGRAPH.NEWNMEDIA.IN

a
MASTER
of the times
Starting his dance journey from the remote village of
Pithapuram, Jayarama Rao built a successful career as a
dancer and guru. One of his noted disciples
T. Reddi Lakshmi in conversation with the maestro.

Seeing the unseen

Meera Sreenarayanan writes about
‘The Unseen Sequence’, a documentary by
Sumantra Ghosal on Malavika Sarukkai.

Staging the lights

Sreekanth, noted light designer and director
of Cameo Light Academy, says lighting could
enhance live performances.

A blend of two
Padmini Krishnan shares, how she along
with her sister Draupadi Praveen came up
with ‘Nritha Samanvayam’, Bharatanatyam
- Kuchipudi duet performances.
 CONTENTS
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 02

Vol 02 Iss 03
Seeing the unseen 04
Meera Sreenarayanan

ചന്ദ്രഹാസം 07
Sethunath U.N.

WATCH OUT
INDIAN RAGA
A master of the times 10
T. Reddi Lakshmi

Opening the frontiers of Kuchipudi 15

Hareesh N. Nampoothiri
JAYARAMA RAO
As Hiranyakashipu during the 'Guru
Shishya Sanman Festival' by Debadhara STAGE
at India Habitat Centre in May 2018. GOPI KALAMANDALAM
PHOTO: RAHUL NAAG
Live stream strive 21
Priyanka B.

Staging the lights 29

Sreekanth

A blend of two 30
Padmini Krishnan

TALKING FRAMES
A NEWNMEDIA™ PUBLICATION RAHANA HABEEB
LEAD PHOTOGRAPHY: HAREE FOTOGRAFIE
DESIGN & LAYOUT: NEWNMEDIA™

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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

THE ORIGINAL RIGHTS OF THE TEXTS AND THE PHOTOGRAPHS

RESERVED TO RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THE CC LICENSE IS VALID
ONLY FOR THE E-MAGAZINE IN ITS EXACT FORM.
ADVT.
03 EDITORIAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph

A medicine for distress

A
vaccine for the virus is in the testing stages in multiple labs
around the globe. Meanwhile, art and artists have served as a
vaccine, boosting the morale of the people. And by engaging
themselves, they’ve also found their peace and kept themselves con-
nected to the art enthusiasts while staying behind the closed doors.
Online classes have become one of the significant aspects that came
into being. Those who have never given it a thought or considered it
as a possibility were pleasantly surprised by its potentialities. While
While we wait for the
this serves the purpose for the time being, as it is the case with formal vaccine for the virus to
education, it can never replace the real-world classrooms. Probably, come, art serves as a
this will serve as an enhancement once the schools get reopened. cure for our souls for
Individual live shows and dedicated festivals continue to happen. the moment.
Many a time, multiple events happen simultaneously making it hard
to pick. But not to worry, one can stream it on their convenience later,
provided the organizer/artist keep the video in their archive. Many of
them tend to delete or make it private once the show is over, some-
times after a couple of days.
Artists also utilize time effectively by producing music and dance
videos. Among the productions on specific themes, the fight between
humans and the virus has been the trend. Maybe, there is a lot
already, and at least a few are saying, no more of it! Nevertheless, it
doesn’t matter, being engaged and bringing out something, is the key.
It all comes to a point where we all need is a vaccine to get out of this
viral spread. And, until the scientists come with one in their labs, let’s
keep the spirits high, and other than arts, what else will come in aid?
More power to all the artists making it possible.

Hareesh N. Nampoothiri

CONTRIBUTORS
TEXTS: MEERA SREENARAYANAN, PADMINI KRISHNAN, PRIYANKA B., SETHUNATH U.N., SREEKANTH, T. REDDI LAKSHMI
PHOTOS: AVINASH PASRICHA, CAMEO LIGHT, RAHUL NAAG, T. REDDI LAKSHMI
EDITORIAL TEAM
CHIEF EDITOR: HAREESH N. NAMPOOTHIRI
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: PRIYANKA B.
MEMBERS: MEERA SREENARAYANAN, NAVYA VINOD, SETHUNATH U.N., VANI SANKAR

DISCLAIMER: THE OPINIONS AND VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE WRITE-UPS ARE THOSE OF THE RESPECTIVE AUTHORS AND
DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OFFICIAL POLICY OR POSITION OF THE MAGAZINE.

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artograph INSPIRE
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 04

unseen
seeing the

MEERA SREENARAYANAN

T
A shot from the opening scene of 'The Unseen he sanctum sanctorum of the Chidambaram temple witnessed a
Sequence', a documentary by Sumantra Ghosal special event on the 6th of March 2012. It was a Bharatanatyam
on Malavika Sarukkai.
SCREEN CAPTURE
recital offered in obeisance by the iconic dancer Malavika Saruk-
kai to commemorate the fortieth year of her public performance. This
visual extravaganza forms the opening scene of the documentary
‘The Unseen Sequence’, directed by Sumantra Ghosal. Having done
this, the director takes the viewers to the same place, a few centu-
ries back, to the time when devadasis imbued the space with their
dance and music. What follows is a virtual pilgrimage, bestowed
with three different perspectives that are central to the evolution of
Bharatanatyam. The history of the art form, its duologue with Mala-
vika and the expedition of the director as he responds to the unfold-
ing story with sensitivity and wonderment connected through match
‘The Unseen Sequence’ cuts and other smooth transitions.
begins with a
The art and the artist
Bharatanatyam recital With a non-linear approach to the narrative, Sumantra begins the
offered in obeisance film with a close-up shot of Malavika in introspection with the Lord.
by Malavika Sarukkai The opening scene casts a hypnotic spell, as the temple bells ring
commemorating her in reply to her offering of Shivashtakam, celebrating Lord Nataraja
which is nothing but a glorification of the dance itself.
fortieth year of public
The film explores Bharatanatyam through the art of Malavika Saruk-
performance. kai and by placing it as the reference point, voyages through the
developments prior and post to it. This sequence, set forth from a
guru to shishya, still thrives in unseen ways due to the potency with
which the teaching-learning happened. The excerpts of interviews
with Lakshmi Viswanathan forms the thread dealing with the meta-
morphosis of the dance, from a temple ritual to a court entertainment
that finally settled as performances on stage. In addition to contex-
tualizing these, the film also probes into the ways it advanced. As a
practitioner of a formidable tradition like Bharatanatyam, it is easy
MEERA SREENARAYANAN is an aspiring
Bharatanatyam danseuse, a winner of to get entangled and end up repeating what forebears had already
several accolades, and a graded artist in done before.
Doordarshan. She has master degrees
in Bharatanatyam and Physics. A disci-
ple of multiple gurus, she is now under
Malavika, trained under legendary gurus K. Kalyanasundaram Pillai
the guidance of guru Indira Kadambi. of Thanjavur School, S.K. Rajarathnam Pillai of Vazhuvoor School,
05 INSPIRE
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph
Kalanidhi Narayanan, and Kelucharan Mohapatra, beholds the per-
severance and articulation that allows one to make the tradition a
personalized idiom for dance. The danseuse further discusses the role
of teachers in bringing a perspective to the discipline, besides devel-
oping a vocabulary of their own. The point is evident as she smilingly
agrees to the opinion of Kalanidhi Narayanan that she never dances
to the padams. The film intelligently captures such connections and
departures that she makes from the established traditions.
On a spiritual quest
Another significant aspect the film looks at is how the spiritual and
metaphysical ideas advise the way of dance and life of an artist. It
talks about how Malavika had mastered to let go of everything, aside
from dance alone. The director finds parallels between the devadasi
life and that led by Malavika as they both find meaning and replen-
ishment in a spiritual and physical bond with God through dance.
Sumantra puts it elegantly; “like the devadasi, she has always been Sumantra Ghosal, the director of the film.
married to an idea rather than to a physical person”. Also, it is fas- SELFIE

cinating to see how Malavika confronts and befriends the concept

of death through her art and the way she finds her voice taking up
themes like “Astham gatho ravihi...”, giving up all the colours and
romance of traditional pieces.
In another segment, Malavika talks about the influences in her career
like the famed Balasaraswati, the place Varanasi, artist C.V. Chan-
Gurus K. Kalyanasundaram Pillai (clockwise
from top-right) Kalanidhi Narayanan, dancers
C.V. Chandrasekhar and Lakshmi Viswanathan,
mother Saroja Kamakshi, and disciple Mythili
Prakash sharing their views and experiences.
SCREEN CAPTURES

drasekhar and the village lady Thimmakka, substantiating the innu-

merable ways in which an artist can get inspired. She achieves peace
in dance while the world around her fragments. It takes no time for
one to realize that it is this marriage of quintessential expression with
a profound spiritual questioning that makes her dance so powerful. I
guess one has to surrender to the art in a way that it starts speaking
to you like a partner in every sense.
Directorial brilliance
The film is on dance, nevertheless, at no point does the camera get
artograph INSPIRE
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 06
in the way of it. Unlike some directors who love to
showcase their choreography of takes and retakes
which could have diminished the element of cre-
ativity, Sumantra Ghosal smartly knits the shots
from actual stage performances and seamlessly
translates the intensity of the art and the sponta-
neity of the dancer. Furthermore, he gets into the
mind of Malavika, to learn the process of creation
that goes behind her choreographies. For someone
like the director himself who had no background in
any performing art tradition, Malavika breaks the
wall between them, making this film even more
universal.
It was interesting to watch how the feeling of dis-
satisfaction with the single dimension of the piece
compelled Malavika to reinvent and incorporate
new images like a bird in the cage in “Nee Matale...”
Similar scenes like the portrayal of many hands and
the body stance of the asura inspired by the temple
sculptures in ‘Mahishasuramardhini’, the whole
universe inside baby Krishna’s mouth through the
simple use of alapadma in “Krishna nee begane
baro...”, and discovering the character of Hanuman
in a moment just by holding the tail poses the sig-
nificance of questioning and requestioning oneself
in the reiterations of craft. Dedicated to Saroja
Kamakshi, the mother of Malavika Sarukkai, the
film blends some delightful moments of the moth-
er-daughter duo establishing the influential and
emotional bonding between them.
Personal excerpts
The film also features a few bytes taken from mind-
fully chosen individuals like guru K. Kalyanasund-
aram, Madhavi Mudgal, Sai Shravanam etc. During
the mentoring sessions with Mythili Prakash, Mala-
vika casually talks about how some things get better
expressed with dance rather than words. While her
dance spews out the gravity of body intelligence
and internalizes the emotion, there is also a sugges-
tion on the importance of lighting, stage-setting and
costumes to bring out the best while performing.
Sumantra Ghosal indeed explores the celebration
of an artist, who dared not to give up her dreams
and found freedom in dance.
The documentary premiered in 2013, was recently
screened again through the Aalaap YouTube
channel on 17th of May this year, as part of their
online initiatives during the pandemic situation. ●

Malavika Sarukkai during one of her live performances, staged as part of the
'Thrinethra Dance Festival' in 2016, under the aegis of Natyapriya Dance
Academy, Kollam.
PHOTO: HAREE FOTOGRAFE
07 GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph

ചന്ദ്രഹാസം
ബാ
സേതുനാഥ് യു.എൻ.
ലിവിജയം കഥകളി. രാവണൻ തന്റെ തലവിധി
പ�ോലുള്ള അലർച്ചയും, തിരശീലയ�ോടും അതു
പിടിക്കുന്നവര�ോടും ഉള്ള സാമ്പ്രദായിക മല്പിടുത്തവും (തിരന�ോട്ടം)
ഒക്കെ പൂർവ്വാധികം ഭംഗിയായി നിർവഹിച്ച ശേഷം, നേരെ
പ�ോയി കുത്തിപ്പിടിച്ചിരുന്നു നാരദനെ കണ്ടു കളയാം എന്ന്
നിരീച്ചു (മണ്ഡോദരിക്ക് പതിഞ്ഞപദത്തിന് കഴിയത്തില്ല എന്നു
പറഞ്ഞാരുന്നു. ആ വഹയില്‍നമുക്ക് രൂഭാ അഞ്ഞൂറ് ലാഭം).
നാരദൻ വന്നു അരങ്ങുവന്ദനം ഒക്കെ കഴിഞ്ഞു വീണമീട്ടി
പാടാൻ കുന്ദളിച്ചു നിൽക്കവേ, രാവണൻ ഇരിക്കേണ്ട സ്ഥലത്ത്
ടിയാന്റെ ഉടുത്തുകെട്ടിന്റെ പ്ലാസ്റ്റിക്ക് ചാക്ക് നൂല് പ�ോലുമില്ല.
ങാഹാ! രാവണനെവടെപ്പോയി! നാരദൻ വീണ മീട്ടി ച�ോദിച്ചു.
കഥകളി പ്രേക്ഷകർക്ക് രാവൺജി ആബ്സെന്റ് ആയതിനാൽ,
അപരിചിതമല്ലാത്ത “സുസ്മേരചാരുവദന: സമവാപ ലങ്കാം...’ എന്ന് ഹുസേനിയുടെ
ചില അനുഭവങ്ങളെ എല്ലാ വകഭേദങ്ങളിലും നീട്ടിയും കുറുക്കിയും പ�ൊന്നാനിയും
നർമ്മത്തിന്റെ ശങ്കിടിയും മാറി മാറി പാടിക്കുഴഞ്ഞുക�ൊണ്ടിരുന്നു.
മേമ്പൊടിയിൽ ഒരു ഒടുക്കം അതാ ഛത്രാധിപതി രാവണൻ
മിനിക്കഥയായി വെറും കയ്യോടെ കേറി വരുന്നു.
രൂപപ്പെടുത്തിയതാണിത്. പ്രശ്നം ഗുരുതരമാണ്. ചന്ദ്രഹാസം കാണ്മാനില്ല. രാവണൻ വാൾ
വെച്ചു മറന്നോ അത�ോ പെട്ടിക്കാരൻ വാൾ എടുക്കാൻ മറന്നോ!
രാവണൻ മുരണ്ടുക�ൊണ്ട് തിരശീല പിടിച്ചിരുന്ന മെയിൻ
പെട്ടിക്കാരൻ ചന്ദ്രന�ോട്, “പ�ോയി വാൾ തപ്പിക്കൊണ്ട്
വാ...” എന്ന് വാച്യത്തിൽ മുദ്രാവാക്യം മുഴക്കി, ശേഷം
തിരശീലപിടുത്തം സബ്സ്റ്റിട്യൂട്ട് ആയി ഏറ്റെടുത്തു.
തിരശീല രാവൺജിയെ ഏൽപ്പിച്ചു ചന്ദ്രൻ ചേട്ടൻ പുറക�ോട്ടോടി.
പിന്നണിയിൽ പ�ൊന്നാനിയും ശങ്കിടിയും ശ്ലോകത്തിന്റെ ലാസ്റ്റ്
ലൈനിൽ കടിപിടി കൂടിക്കൊണ്ടിരുന്നു. ഒരു വേള, ഹുസേനി
മാറ്റി പല രാഗങ്ങൾ രാഗമാലിക ആയി പരീക്ഷിച്ചാൽ
എന്ത് എന്നുപ�ോലും പ�ൊന്നാനി ചിന്തിച്ചു. പിന്നെ, അത�ൊരു
ചിട്ടയായി മാറിയാല�ോ എന്നുശങ്കിച്ച് ശങ്കാഹീനനായി
ഹുസേനിയിൽ തന്നെ നീട്ടിക്കുറുക്കി പരത്തിക്കുഴച്ചു.
അണിയറയിൽ, ചന്ദ്രൻ ചേട്ടൻ പെട്ടിയായ പെട്ടിയ�ൊക്കെ
ന�ോക്കിയിട്ടും, കിളച്ചു മറിച്ചിട്ടും വാൾ കിട്ടിയില്ല. ചിന്താധീനനായും,
പരവശനായും, വിയർത്തൊലിച്ചവനായും കാണപ്പെട്ട അയാൾ,
താൻ വാൾ വെച്ചു മറന്നതെവിടെയായിരിക്കുമെന്ന് പേർത്തും
പേർത്തും ചിന്തിച്ചു മണ്ടിപ്പാഞ്ഞ് നടന്നു. പശ്ചാത്തലത്തിൽ
SETHUNATH U.N. has learned Kathakali for മുഴങ്ങുന്ന ഹുസേനിയുടെ ആവർത്തനങ്ങൾ അയാളെ തളർത്തി.
nearly fifteen years and is passionate
about classical art forms. He is active
in different cultural forums while in the
വാൾ കിട്ടാത്ത ആ സാഹചര്യത്തിങ്കൽ, ആ സമയത്തില്,
profession heads Mavis DX Consultants അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ആ ടൈമില് വാളില്ലാതെ ഇരുന്നു കളയാം
(IT), T’puram.
 artograph
എന്ന് രാവണൻ തീരുമാനിച്ചു.
ചന്ദ്രഹാസരഹിതനായി, വാൾ പിടിക്കേണ്ട
വലം കയ്യിൽ ഉത്തരീയവും പിടിച്ചു രാവണൻ
നാരദനെ പ്രതീക്ഷിച്ച് ഇരിപ്പായത്തോടെ
ശ്ലോകത്തെ സംഹരിച്ച പ�ൊന്നാനി “ജയ
ജയ രാവണ...” മുദ്രാവാക്യം മുഴക്കി പദം
തുടങ്ങി. നാരദൻ വീണ മീട്ടുവാനും തുടങ്ങി.
പിറകിൽ ഉള്ളിൽ തീയുമായി ചന്ദ്രൻ ചേട്ടൻ
തിരഞ്ഞു നടക്കുകയാണ് അപ്പോഴും.
ഹതാശനായ അയാൾ പുറത്തേക്കിറങ്ങി. വാൾ
കിട്ടില്ല എന്ന് ഉറപ്പായ സ്ഥിതിക്ക്, ഒരു വാൾ
ഉണ്ടാക്കാൻ പറ്റിയ സാമഗ്രികൾ എന്തെങ്കിലും
കിട്ടിയാല�ോ എന്നായിരുന്നു അയാളുടെ
ചിന്ത. ക�ൊടുംകാട്ടിൽ ദമയന്തിയെ ഉപേക്ഷിച്ചു
പ�ോകാൻ നേരം, നളന് ചുമ്മാ അവിടെക്കിടന്ന്
ഒരു മുറിവാൾ കിട്ടിയതു പ�ോലെ തനിക്കും
ഒരെണ്ണം ഇപ്പോൾ കിട്ടിയിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ എന്ന്
അയാൾ ആഗ്രഹിച്ചു. ആട്ടക്കാർക്ക് കളിയിൽ
എന്തും കാണിക്കാം. പക്ഷേ, തനിക്കൊരു
വാൾ തന്നെ വേണം. ഇല്ലെങ്കിൽ രാവണൻ
റിട്ടേൺ ആയാൽ തന്നെ നിഗ്രഹിച്ചു കളയും.
ബാലിയെ പിടിച്ചു കെട്ടാൻ പുറപ്പെടാൻ നേരം
കൈലാസ�ോദ്ധാരണം ആടാൻ പാകത്തിന്
ഇളക്കിക്കാണിക്കാൻ വാളവിടെ ഇല്ലെങ്കിൽ...
അയാൾ ഉത്സവപ്പറമ്പിലെ ഒഴിഞ്ഞ ക�ോണിലേക്ക്
നടന്നു. ഇരുട്ടത്ത് ഒരനക്കം. വെളുത്ത
ഭീഷണങ്ങളായ രണ്ടു ക�ൊമ്പുകൾ.
ചുല്ലക്കൽ ഗ�ോപാലകൃഷ്ണൻ.
അയാളുടെ ഉള്ളൊന്നാളി.
ആറേഴുപേരെ
നിർന്നിമേഷനായി
തട്ടിയ ആനയാണ്.
ശാന്തനായി
നിന്ന് മടലിൽ
നിന്ന് ഓല
ഇരിഞ്ഞു
തിന്നുന്നു.
അപ്പോഴാണ്
അത്
സംഭവിച്ചത്.
അയാളുടെ
ദൈന്യം
കണ്ടെന്ന
പ�ോലെ,
■ HAREE FOTOGRAFIE
GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 08
മുഴുവൻ ഓല ഇരിഞ്ഞ ഒരു വലിയ
പച്ച മടൽ, അതും ആനക്ക് തിന്നാൻ
ഏറ്റവും ഇഷ്ടമുള്ളത്, ഗ�ോപാലകൃഷ്ണൻ
അയാളുടെ മുന്നിലേക്ക് നീക്കിയിട്ടു.
ഒരു നിമിഷം ഇതികർത്തവ്യതാമൂഢനായി നിന്ന
അയാൾ യാന്ത്രികമായി അത് എടുത്തു ക�ൊണ്ട്
അണിയറയിലേക്ക് മടങ്ങി. ഗ�ോപാലകൃഷ്ണനെ
അയാൾ സ്നേഹത്തോടെ തിരിഞ്ഞുന�ോക്കിക�ൊണ്ട്
മുൻപ�ോട്ട് നടന്നു. ഇത�ൊന്ന് വെട്ടി കുറുക്കി
ചീകി മിനുക്കി, വാളിന്റെ രൂപത്തിൽ ആക്കി, കരി
പുരട്ടി, ഒരു വക്കിൽ വെളുത്ത സിങ്ക്വൈറ്റും ഇട്ടാൽ
ചന്ദ്രഹാസമാക്കാം എന്നയാൾ കണക്ക് കൂട്ടി.
അരങ്ങത്ത് “ചിത്രമഹ�ോ നമുക്കൊരു
ശത്രുവുണ്ടായതും...” എന്ന്
രാവണൻ ഗർജ്ജിക്കുന്നു.
അണിയറയിൽ ചെന്ന്, ഓലമടൽ ചീകാൻ
കത്തി തിരഞ്ഞു അയാൾ. വൈകിട്ട് ഓലഞർക്ക്
ഉണ്ടാക്കിയിട്ട് വെച്ചതെവിടെയായിരുന്നു? അതും
മറന്നു. എന്തൊരു നശിച്ച ദിവസം. അയാൾ
അതും തിരഞ്ഞു നടപ്പായി. പെട്ടെന്നാണ്
അത് അപ്പുറത്തെ ചായ്പ്പിന്റെ മുകളിൽ
ചേടി വെച്ചിട്ടുണ്ടാകും എന്നോർത്തത്. ഇരുട്ട്
നിറഞ്ഞ ചായ്‌പിൽ ചെന്ന്, മേൽക്കൂരയുടെ
പട്ടികയിൽ കൈകള�ോടിച്ച അയാളുടെ
കയ്യിൽ അതിന്റെ പിടി തടഞ്ഞു. അയാൾ
അത് മുകളിൽ നിന്നും ഊരിയെടുത്തു.
അത് കത്തിയായിരുന്നില്ല. കളഞ്ഞു പ�ോയ വാൾ
തന്നെയായിരുന്നു - രാവണന്റെ ചന്ദ്രഹാസം.
വാൾ ക�ൊണ്ടുപ�ോയി രാവണന്റെ ഇടതുവശത്തെ
പീഠത്തിൽ വെച്ചപ്പോൾ അരങ്ങിന് ഒരാശ്വാസം
ക�ൊടുത്തതു പ�ോലെ ത�ോന്നി അയാൾക്ക്.
തിരികെ വന്ന്, ആ പച്ചമടലും എടുത്ത് അയാൾ
ഗ�ോപാലകൃഷ്ണന്റെ നേർക്ക് നടന്നു. അല്പം അകലെ
നിന്ന് ആനയുടെ കാൽക്കലേക്ക് അയാൾ
നീട്ടിയിട്ടുക�ൊടുത്ത പച്ചമടലിന്റെ ത�ോല�ൊക്കെ
ചവിട്ടി ഉരിച്ചു വെടിപ്പാക്കി ഒരു മുഴം കഷ്ണം ഒടിച്ചു
ക�ൊതിയ�ോടെ പിന്നെ തിന്നാൻ ക�ൊമ്പിനിടയിൽ
തിരുകി വെച്ച് ഗ�ോപാലകൃഷ്ണൻ അയാളെ
ന�ോക്കി. പിന്നെ ബാക്കി തിന്നാൻ തുടങ്ങി.
അരങ്ങത്ത് രാവണൻ ‘കൈലാസ�ോദ്ധാരണം’
ബഡായി തുടങ്ങിയിരുന്നു.
നളന് കിട്ടിയ ആ മുറിഞ്ഞ വാളിനെക്കുറിച്ച്
അയാള�ോർത്തു, അതിനാടകീയതകൾ
അരങ്ങിനു പിന്നിലും സംഭവിക്കാമെന്നും.
ചന്ദ്രൻ ആശ്വാസത്തോടെ ചിരിച്ചു.
ചന്ദ്രഹാസം. ●
09 WATCH OUT2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph

FEATURED

INDIAN
RAGA
IndianRaga provides a
slew of opportunities
to aspiring artists as
a platform to explore
their talents.

STATISTICS: NOXINFLUENCER
TEXT: PRIYANKA B.

Joined on Average Video Views

IndianRaga founded by Sriram Emani is a sponsored project of Fractured
Atlas, a non-profit arts service based in North America. Co-founded by
Anasuya Mandal and managed by a team of nine other members, its mission
2012 OCT 29 4.32K is to identify the best talents, and be the largest global platform for innova-
Subscribers Total Videos
384K 674
tion and advancement in Indian performing arts.
Total Views Conceptualized with a holistic approach towards dance and music in both
62.42M classic and contemporary styles, it offers an opportunity for talented artists
to collaborate and perform, both live and online. A platform for aspiring
artists to explore their talents, it provides a slew of opportunities focussing
* Data as on 2020 Jun.
on presentation and performance, high-quality audio and video production
for digital channels, and acquaintance with accomplished artists.
Designed with the flexibility to participate from anywhere in the world, the
programmes offered include fellowships, Raga Labs (innovative music and
dance workshops where a group of 6-8 artists get trained to produce a
high-quality video), Raga Jam (a music or dance collaboration of 4-6 indi-
viduals that can go from a concept to full-fledged professional music or
dance video), certification programmes (to showcase talents to universities,
employers, organizers and the media) and monthly competitions.
Their activities over the past five years have connected over 3,000 artists,
from 40 cities and have collaborated to produce 400 masterpieces viewed
by 10 million people across 65 cities. Having credited with hosting live con-
certs worldwide, IndianRaga fellows have performed at the United Nations
General Assembly, World Government Summit, Times group Gaana Music
Festival, Lincoln Center, Chicago Cultural Center, TEDx and so on. With a
wide following on Facebook (35K+ Likes) and 384K subscribers on YouTube,
IndianRaga is among the top charts.
Channel link: youtube.com/user/indianragaproject

THIS SEGMENT FEATURES YOUTUBE CHANNELS THAT PROMOTE

CLASSICAL DANCE AND MUSIC RELATED CONTENT.
 artograph ART COLLOQUY
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 10

a
COVER STORY

MASTER
of the times
T. REDDI LAKSHMI

A
journey of thousand miles starts with a single step, likewise the
dance career of this legendary artist began from the remote
village to the national capital at the tender age of twelve. The
eldest among the six children of Durga Rao and Shanta Appayamma,
Veeranala Jayarama Rao was born in the temple village of Pithapu-
ram in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. He belonged
to a tradition of historic folk theatre form called ‘Pagati Veshalu’.
However, he discovered his destiny in Kuchipudi after witnessing a
performance of guru Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma, famous for
his portrayal of the character Satyabhama in ‘Bhama Kalapam’. His
passion took him to ‘Kuchipudi Kalakshetram’ and later around the
globe, fetching him numerous accolades including the Padma Shri,
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, and the Delhi State Award. It was
a journey of crests and troughs, and from the challenges
encountered, he rose like a phoenix bird.
Q: What prompted you to take up Kuchipudi?
As a tradition, my family used to travel and
perform in different villages near Pitha-
puram. We never stayed in any place
for longer, and this hampered my
prospects for formal education.
I learned Hindi and English
much later, once I shifted to
Delhi. I had a flair for acting
and used to play small char-
acters along with my father
and uncle. The Kuchipudi perfor-
AVINASH PASRICHA

mances of eminent artists during festive

occasions helped me develop a passion for the
art form. Though unwillingly, upon my demand,
parents sent me to ‘Kuchupudi Kalakshetram’ when I
■

was too young to be left alone.

Back in 1962, I was the only student living in the school
premises, for there were no hostel facilities. I slept on a
mat in front of the school veranda, took showers under
a hand pump in the village. The villagers fed me as my
gurus insisted, and on some days, I cooked myself. Though
all these sound tough for an eleven year, I couldn’t have
asked for more. Even my mother tried to dissuade me,
11 ART COLLOQUY
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph
but my instinct was quite strong. On a brighter side, I received a
scholarship of 5 rupees per month which later got increased to 10
INR. And this way, my training continued in Kuchipudi Kalakshetram
for as long as seven years.
Q: Though you got your training in Andhra Pradesh, you later
shifted to Delhi. How did it help flourish your art career?
It all looks like the call of destiny. B.K.L. Rao, the head of Kuchipudi
Kalakshetram, advised me to move to Delhi for teaching, on a request
made by K.L. Rao, who was then the Minister for Irrigation and
Starting his dance Power. Thus, I had the fortune of being the first one to have intro-
journey from the remote duced Kuchipudi to the Delhi learners. I remember, it was the occa-
sion I bought my first ever set of footwear and boarded the train for
village of Pithapuram, my dream journey to the capital. Wife of K.L. Rao and the president
Jayarama Rao built a of Delhi Andhra Ladies Association, Varalakshmi Rao provided for
successful career as a my accommodation until I settled down in Delhi. She also arranged a
dancer and guru after few students to begin with, and the classes happened at their house
in Janpath. What started with just five students gradually increased
moving to the capital to five branches, with several students including the now-famous
city of the country. Swapna Sundari and Meenakshi Seshadri.
In 1973, I registered and established the Kuchipudi Dance Academy.
Being a guru helps you mature as an artist. I taught many students
in the initial phase of my career. Not all experienced the same level
of success. Giving due credit to a guru is critical, and not receiving it
makes one more conscious. As a guru, I try to do my best for all those
who come with a professional approach.
Q: Breakthroughs in your career.
After focusing solely on teaching for nearly five years, I concentrated
on giving performances. But most of the opportunities also demanded
a female partner. My first duet performances were with Meenakshi
Jayarama Rao along with his wife Vanashree Rao Seshadri and the breakthrough came when I paired with Vanashree
during a photoshoot in their early days. Rao. Our duet performance under the aegis of the academy in 1980,
PHOTO: AVINASH PASRICHA
with the financial support arranged by Suvra Mukherjee, (the wife
of Pranab Mukherjee, the former President of India) was quite suc-
cessful. Afterwards, she took us to France along with her musical
ensemble from Bengal. In Paris, I had the opportunity to conduct a
month-long workshop, and since then, it was a rain of opportuni-
ties. Vanashree and I got married in 1981. Though a post-graduate
in political science, she chose to be an artist, supporting and pushing
me better with her ideas. We have performed together in more than
60 countries and became one of the prominent couples of Kuchipudi.
Q: It must not have been a smooth journey. About the struggles
and challenges faced.
Being an artist comes with its own set of struggles and challenges.
The hardships one faces during each phase of growth are different.
It was my inherent nature to see only the brighter side of life, and I
made no comparisons. As a performer, I never had an urge to surpass
anyone, and being myself kept me away from the stress of compe-
tition. When a few shows got cancelled due to political reasons, we
were demoralised at times, but never made us quit. Those days, the
only means of communication was letters, and we often had to wait
long for the replies.
 artograph ART COLLOQUY
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 12
The most challenging incident I remember was travelling to Afghani-
stan in the mid of Soviet-Afghan War in 1987. We went through ICCR
The scope that and after the performance, got to stay in a hotel next to the war zone.
That night we hardly had any sleep and prayed for our lives. The
Kuchipudi offers hardships we had then are far different from that of today. We were
is enormous when happy and content with the opportunities we had. As seniors or old
performed in the school artists, we see the times have changed and our challenges too.
Now, our main concern is about the future of the art form and the
original format with
next generation.
conviction.
Q: Your choreographies are a blend of multiple schools. How
did it happen?
After basic training under guru Vedantam Parvateesam, I learnt
dance numbers such as ‘Dasavatara Sabdam’, ‘Rama Pattabhishekam’
and ‘Prahlada Pattabhishekam’ under guru Pasumarthy Venugopala
Krishna Sarma, also a Carnatic musician. It was a norm for us to learn
Carnatic music along with the dance training those days. Dance-dra-
mas such as ‘Usha Parinayam’, ‘Bhama Kalapam’, ‘Prahlada Natakam’
and ‘Yakshaganam’ were taught to me by kulaguru Chinta Krish-
namurthy, the then principal of Kuchipudi Kalakshetram. All my
gurus were very young, most of them in their mid-thirties. Though
I’ve moved to Delhi as a dance teacher, during vacations, I used to
learn at Kuchipudi Art Academy of guru Vempati Chinna Satyam in
Chennai. Hence, my performances and choreographies are a blend
of multiple schools.
Q: The favourite numbers you like to perform...
When I was young, I performed ‘Dasavatara Sabdam’ in
several stages. Hence, people used to call me ‘Dasa-
vataram Ramu’. I always liked playing charac-
ters of valour like Hiranyakashipu in ‘Prahlada
Natakam’, Arjuna in ‘Geethopadesam’, Ravana
in ‘Mandodari Sabdam’ etc. Recently the
character Karna, which I performed in
Delhi, has become a dear number. I thor-
oughly enjoyed the script prepared by
Vanashree as it gave me the scope to
present the character through
■ T. REDDI LAKSHMI
13 ART COLLOQUY
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
abhinaya elements suitable for
my age. The female characters I
portrayed in my young age, and
the humorous role of Madhavi in
‘Bhama Kalapam’ quite recently
have all been in the list of favour-
ites. I feel fortunate in being able
to play all these, which fulfils the
life of an artist.
Q: As a disciple, I always felt
you have a unique way of
teaching female characters.
How did you develop it?
It happened naturally for me,
I guess. Performing ‘Bhama
Kalapam’, and the role of Saty-
abhama is like a dream come true
for any artist. I had the opportu-
nity to share the stage with vet-
erans like Chinta Krishnamurthy
and Pasumarthy Venugopala
Krishna Sarma when I enacted
Satyabhama for the first time.
Along with my training, I had the
good fortune to be a part of the
stage shows of guru Vedantam
Satyanarayana Sarma.
As mentioned earlier, he was
a doyen of female characters,
especially that of Satyabhama.
I used to play the roles of Che-
likatte (Sakhi) for him in ‘Usha
Parinayam’ and many support-
ing characters in different plays.
Such practical experiences come
handy while teaching female
roles.
Q: About your general appro-
ach towards new choreogra-
phies...
I have spent a lion share of my
time as a student, learning the
already existing choreographies
or traditional numbers which
were less seen and explored
during those times. Later, when
I started performing together
with Vanashree, we had to
create something new to meet
the settings and give extra scope
for duet performances such as
‘Geethopadesam’, ‘Ardhanari’,
‘Shiva Tarangam’ etc. We created
a distinct repertoire which
included invocations on different
gods and goddesses, jatiswarams,
thillanas and the exploration of
non-Telugu compositions such
as Meera Bai poems, Ashtapadi,
Swati Tirunal bhajans and many
more. These works choreo-
graphed for duet performances,
also gives scope to be presented
as solo numbers.
When it comes to teaching new
items, it all depends on individ-
ual quality and the interest of
each student. Many a time, when
students come with a composi-
tion, theme or their idea, I con-
sider while setting the items.
Q: What about the traditional
pieces? Did you add anything
new to them?
I like to perform and teach the
traditional numbers precisely
the way I learnt from my gurus.
I feel they are already well-pol-
ished gems and no need for addi-
tional treatment. The scope that
Kuchipudi offers is enormous
when performed in the original
format with conviction. I add
a few of my ideas only when I
seem to have forgotten some-
thing or if there is a step which
I feel could be changed. We do
not have a record of the things I
have learnt to go back and refer.
Sometimes we present only the
artograph
small excerpts of a whole play
due to time constraints. Even
such instances offer great joy and
help us to be in touch with the
core of the art form.
Q: How do you think Kuchipudi
as an art form has evolved
over the years? What were
your contributions?
Kuchipudi is one such dance
form which gives tremendous
scope to the performer and an
unforgettable experience to the
rasikas. It includes every aspect
of ‘Natya Shastra’. Performers
of several art forms learnt a few
numbers from Kuchipudi, and
merged it with their stream, as
this delighted the spectators and
helped them gain global recog-
nition. I know many artists who
originally learnt a different dance
form, but later got attracted
towards Kuchipudi. When I was
learning Kuchipudi, we draped
sarees as costumes and wore
jewellery made from lightweight
wood. Then came revolutionary
changes in the aharya and also in
the ways of presentation, giving
the artform identity and recogni-
tion in every aspect.
My contributions are to be eval-
uated and appreciated by others.
If you insist, I would only say that
being alive in the dance form
since my boyhood through learn-
ing, teaching, and performing is
the least I could do for this grand
art form. Even now, I feel like a
drop in the ocean of arts.
Q: If I may ask, in what ways
are you different from your
gurus?
It’s a rather interesting question.
There has been a considerable
improvement in my tempera-
ment in the course of my life as
a guru. When I was a student, the
teaching methods were rough,
and we used to be beaten up by
gurus very often. Such practices
artograph
were there in my teaching as
well for some time, but eventu-
ally, I changed.
My disciples have total freedom
to express their opinion on or
off stage. Without freedom of
expression, it is hard to bring out
the uniqueness in an individual.
I do not want my students to be a
replica of me, but make their own
identity and perform better than
me. Oppressing them with the
authority of being a guru, doesn’t
work well with this generation.
After all, in guru-shishya param-
para, it is not just learning an art
form, but knowing life lessons
required to move forward.
Q: What does your experience
suggest for the young gene-
ration?
The next generation will surpass
the previous one. Success should
not be something which others
make you realise. It comes with
Guru Jayarama Rao as Madhavi and T. Reddi
Lakshmi as Satyabhama in 'Bhamakalapam',
presented as part of 'Nartanam Conclave' in 2017
at Hyderabad.
PHOTO: AVINASH PASRICHA
self-contentment, and it is best
to discern it on your own. I was
neither privileged nor had the
amenities when I started, but on
looking back, I feel the content
of being able to make an identity
using my abilities. Many artists
of my generation had a similar
start and reached the top of their
careers. This generation has
experienced gurus to guide them.
I believe in embracing vast pos-
sibilities the world offers, coming
out from the web of comparisons,
and being firm and determined. I
already see many young artists
with this conviction, and it feels
great to see them touch the sky.
I would also like to remind the
organisers that many young
artists are very hardworking.
Despite having plenty of opportu-
nities in other fields, many prefer
learning and performing tradi-
tional art forms, which should be
appreciated. We, as art promot-
ers, should identify such talents
and create more opportunities
for them. And it’s the only way of
keeping art alive.
ART COLLOQUY
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 14
Q: We are going through an
unprecedented pandemic sit-
uation. How does it affect your
life?
I have never seen or experienced
something like this during my
entire lifetime. As someone from
the older generation, it is diffi-
cult for me to operate or conduct
online classes for children in this
dire situation. I feel sorry for
many students who depend on
the space of their gurus for prac-
tice. I am concerned about many
artists who face a financial crisis
in this situation. Those who did
not make art a business suffer the
most today. Also, many are hesi-
tant to ask for help, out of their
self-esteem. It becomes even
more difficult, as we do not know
what is to follow. The world as a
whole was not expecting some-
thing of this sort. All I can hope
and pray is that let there be an
end to this calamity soon. ●
T. REDDI LAKSHMI, an established artist
of ICCR, who has performed around the
globe, is a recipient of the Indira Priya-
darshini Award and Women Achiever
Award. Govt. of Delhi has sponsored
her to pursue the nuances of Kuchipudi
under well-known guru Jayarama Rao.
15 FEATURED
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph
Opening the frontiers of

Kuchipudi HAREESH N. NAMPOOTHIRI

The first online international seminar on Kuchipudi brought several noted

artists and connoisseurs in the field together.

T
he pandemic, the varied levels of lockdown, introducing the speakers and bringing the ques-
and restraints in the movement have made tions raised by viewers at the end of each session. A
a vacuum when it comes to art-related dis- few of the sessions were in Telugu, which was a bit
courses. Shambhavi School of Dance hosted an restrictive, at least for some viewers. Madhumathi
online Kuchipudi seminar, first of its kind, fea- K. and Rajashree Holla came to their rescue by pro-
turing many artists and connoisseurs around the viding a crux of each such sessions in English.
world. Though the sessions on the initial days were
within the two hours mark, as the days went on, it Initial sessions
often got extended by hours further, and it went The online seminar got to a start featuring Raja
on for half a month, touching a total of nearly 45 Reddy and Vedantam Ramalinga Sastry. The former
hours. started talking on the greatness of Kuchipudi as
an art form and remembered Vedantam Prahlada
There is no doubt that the sessions were informa-
Sharma, who always looked for perfection among
tive, as it explored many aspects of Kuchipudi in
his students. Singing and performing a portion
general and on specific topics. The speakers, all of
from the ashtapadi “Nijagadhasa...”, and demon-
them in some way or the other connected to the
strating the lasya and tandava aspects made the
great lineage of gurus and traditions, were in their
session more intriguing.
own houses, at their comfort, and they all seemed
to be willing to share without bounds, compared to Vedantam Ramalinga Sastry touched upon how the
a formal presentation in the real art form evolved over the years, and how Siddhen-
world. But, so much informa- dra Yogi opened a new stream with his magnum
tion also made it hard to opus ‘Bhama Kalapam’. An interesting question
comprehend. With each raised was, why Satyabhama and not some other
session having enough character? Ramalinga Sastry responded to it by
content to make into saying, Bhama was apt to highlight the Advaita
separate write-ups, philosophy, and before Siddhendra no one else has
bringing it all together explored that particular character.
into one was even The second day had renowned art critique Sunil
harder. Kothari and well known danseuse Rathna Kumar.
And it was Vyjayanthi Being a dance historian as well, Sunil talked with
Kashi all along, who con- a lot of passion and reminded of the good old days
ceptualized the event and and artists during that period. The personal connec-
convened the talks. tion he had with the artists helped him to mention
Prateeksha Kashi not only their artistic skills but also to touch upon
chipped in by their persona.

It was Vyjayanthi Kashi who conceived the idea and executed it under the
aegis of her institution Shambhavi School of Dance.
PHOTO: HAREE FOTOGRAFE
artograph
Rathna Kumar started with men-
tioning her gurus and why she
decided to stick to Kuchipudi
instead of Bharatanatyam. She
welcomed changes but made it
clear that the aesthetic aspects
should not be compromised.
Within the constraints of the
space, Rathna also took the
trouble of presenting a few snip-
pets from her repertoire.
Reminiscing the past
Pasumarthi Ramalinga Sastry
and Suvarnalatha Nemalakanti
were the speakers on the next day.
Ramalinga Sastry shared about
his association with Rukmini Devi
and a few of the dance produc-
tions that they worked together.
The facilities of Kalakshetra
made a difference, he recalled.
He also highlighted Kalakshet-
ra’s style of using stage settings
and different props, which was
later adopted by Vempati Chinna
Satyam as well. Compared to Yak-
shagana, this helped to reach the
public more effectively. Speaking
about the lost vachika tradition,
he opinioned that leaving music
to the orchestra has some bene-
fits. But, if it is the musicians who
do the music and dialogues, then
it can’t be vachika abhinaya.
How Kuchipudi differentiates
itself from other dance forms, like
Bharatnatyam? Suvarnalatha
Nemalakanti started by answer-
ing this and demonstrated the
torso move with fixed feet, an
adavu typical to Kuchipudi. She
also recalled a few jathis and
portions of Tyagaraja keertana,
that she learned from her guru.
Speaking of the musical aspects
in dance, Suvarnalatha said it
should blend like the fragrance
to the flowers. Knowing the text
and being well versed in music,
like the dancers in olden days
could be helpful, she observed.
Vedantam Radhesyam and
Yeleswarapu Chalapathi Sastry,
FEATURED
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 16
Raja Reddy (clockwise from top-left), Vedantam
Ramalinga Sastry, Sunil Kothari, Rathna
Kumar, Suvarnalatha Nemalakanti, Pasumarthi
Ramalinga Sastry, Chinta Adinarayana Sarma,
Pasumarthi Seshu Babu, Vedantam Radhesyam,
and Yeleswarapu Chalapathi Sastry during their
sessions.
SCREEN CAPTURES
two of the legends admired for
their female lead roles were
the speakers on the fourth day.
Vedantam Radhesyam told, for
him, it was the lineage that made
him. Right from childhood, he
could familiarize with the tradi-
tion and had the opportunity to
learn from multiple gurus. He
explained about some of the roles
that he excelled by presenting
excerpts, and the portion from
‘Usha Parinayam’ turned out to
be quite enthralling. Many things
and items in the tradition are
no longer learned or presented,
which he thinks should be pre-
served, and not let them go for-
gotten.
Chalapathi Sastry outlined how
Kuchipudi got evolved into a
solo dance form. With the help of
‘Ramayana Sabdam’, he demon-
strated how the abhinaya karma,
as mentioned earlier, got refined
to defined hand gestures over
time. Transformation into the
solo form also saw many more
hasthas coming into practice. He
concluded by acting the Kshet-
rayya padam “Challanayana
manasu...”.
Chinta Adinarayana Sarma and
Pasumarthi Seshu Babu were the
speakers on the fifth day. Adina-
rayana Sarma remembered the
days he learned the character
of Prahlada, and how his guru
emphasised on making it simple
and less vigorous, focusing on
the devotion. A short demonstra-
tion using the daravu from ‘Usha
Parinayam’ with minimal as well
as robust footwork helped the
viewers get his point better. The
vachika aspect also got to a back-
17 FEATURED
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
seat, as Kuchipudi moved away
from the Yakshagana tradition,
he opinioned. However, agree-
ing to what Vyjayanthi Kashi
has commented in between, he
added what Vempati school did
was making the dance form cross
the boundaries by taking away
the language barrier, and made it
accessible to a broader audience.
Being from a traditional family,
Pasumarthi Seshu Babu is also
well versed in both dance and
music. He sang some of the rare
daravus from ‘Rama Natakam’
Yakshagana. To show how
dance music is different from
the concert, he sang a piece and
showcased how with limited san-
gathis and focus shifting to bhava
and tala, a composition will fit
into dance. He further explained
‘Saptatala jathi’ and presented a
portion of ‘Sringara Lahari’.
Halfway through
Bhagavatula Sethuram and
Maddali Usha Gayatri, in their
sessions on the sixth day, shared
a lot of anecdotes with their late
gurus. They both emphasised
how they all dedicated their life
for the artform. Sethuram focused
mainly on his father Bhagavatula
Ramakotaiah, and also his con-
temporaries. Speaking about the
school that he belonged, men-
tioned how his father introduced
female dancers to take up male
roles, especially during a time
when male dancers used to do
even female characters.
Usha Gayatri demonstrated
the difference in style between
her gurus, and their approach
enabling a dancer to take the
tradition forward than perform
a few items. To make her point
on padams, why it needs a more
sensible approach based on the
nayika, performed a Kshetrayya
padam in raga Shahana.
Smita Shastri and Seetha Naga-
jothy were the guests on the
seventh day. After detailing
her experience as a student of
Kuchipudi hailing from Gujarat,
Smita Shastri explained the rep-
ertoire of her guru C.R. Acharya.
She performed an ashtapadi and
a sabdam to show the nuances
of her guru’s choreography.
Being a disciple of Vempati
Chinna Satyam, Seetha Naga-
artograph
jyothi told how she was able to
contribute to her guru’s efforts
to bring in the ideas of ‘Natyasa-
stra’ into Kuchipudi, and further
explained the process. She pre-
sented a ‘Krishna Sabdam’ and
the popular thillana in raga Hin-
dolam, which her guru choreo-
graphed for her arangetram.
The eighth day had Sury-
anarayana Sarma from Mah-
ankali tradition and also P. Rama
Devi, again a follower of the
same school. Mahankali Sury-
anarayana Sarma got his train-
ing in both dance and music
right from his childhood, and
he mainly shared his experi-
ences. Speaking about his works,
mentioned about the complete
choreography of ‘Krishna Leela
Tarangini’, and demonstrated
some footwork in some rare vari-
eties of misra chapu and khanda
chapu, based on Rupaka tala.
P. Rama Devi started by speaking
how the legendary Kuchipudi
gurus moulded their students
for the art form in olden days.
While the foundation remained
the same, it was in the nuances
the schools diversified. As a
scholar who had done extensive
research in the art form, she
shared a snapshot of her knowl-
edge on different aspects. She
also performed a snippet from
‘Golla Kalapam’, and the pravesa
daravu of Ravana.
Narasimhachari and Vasantha-
lakshmi are a celebrated couple
in the field, and the latter partic-
ipated in the event the next day
to talk about their dance journey.
By giving apt instances and anec-
dotes, Vasanthalakshmi could
CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 ►
Bhagavatula Sethuram (clockwise from top-
left), P. Rama Devi, Seetha Nagajothy, Smita
Shastri, Mahankali Suryanarayana Sarma,
Maddali Usha Gayathri, Leela Venkataraman, and
Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari during their
sessions.
SCREEN CAPTURES
artograph STAGE
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 18
19 STAGE
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph

EXPOSURE: 1/125 | F2.5 | ISO 800

CANON EOS 450D / CANON EF 50MM F1.8 II

FEATURED

GOPI
KA LAMAN DA L A M
O ffstage captures of octogenarian Kathakali maestro
Kalamandalam Gopi from different venues. The
photos in make-up were from backstage before he
wears the headgear and transforms into the evening’s
character. The capture on the right is when he attended
the sixtieth birthday celebration of his disciple Kalaman-
dalam Ramachandran Unnithan.
PHOTOS: HAREE FOTOGRAFIE

EXPOSURE: 1/50 | F2.2 | ISO 800

CANON EOS 450D / CANON EF 50MM F1.8 II

EXPOSURE: 1/125 | F7.1 | ISO 800

CANON EOS 450D / SIGMA 70 - 300 MM F4-5.6 DG MACRO

THIS SEGMENT FEATURES PHOTOGRAPHS CAPTURED DURING LIVE PERFORMANCES OF DIFFERENT

ARTISTS MANY YEARS BACK.
artograph
FROM PAGE 17 ►
make her points
clear; how the artists managed
to deliver their best irrespective
of lack of facilities, on having the
presence of mind, knowing the
pulse of the audience, the impor-
tance of observing the world,
and the like. She presented a few
photographs from the past and
also the video of one of their duet
performances.
Art critique Leela Venkataraman
was the next speaker for the
day, and she began mentioning
the artistic excellence of Yamini
Krishnamurthy. Talking of the
Kuchipudi village and the gurus
in the early days, she discussed
gender aspect in dance and elab-
orated how the body is an instru-
ment which is asexual. She also
traced how from a male-domi-
nated tradition, Kuchipudi trans-
formed into a female-oriented
dance form.
The final lap
On the tenth day of the seminar,
Anuradha Jonnalagadda, after
mentioning how she got trained
in her childhood, elaborated
upon how Kuchipudi evolved, fol-
lowing the changes in the society
and catering to the needs of it,
like films influencing the dance
stream to have a structure. She
had a methodological approach
in explaining different aspects,
and for the gender aspect, she
mentioned that the gurus inter-
nalized and channelized the
movements to suit the female. A
meaningful way of teaching shall
be instilling the habit of making
the students think of what they
are doing, she suggested. By
showing two demonstration
videos of Vempati Chinna Satyam
- one that of Ravana and the
other a nayika, Anuradha high-
lighted the unique approach of
the visionary.
Pasumarthy Vithal on the next
day started saying about how
Yamini Krishnamurthy inspired
him in the early days. Laced with
a lot of song passages and extem-
pore enactments, he shared a lot
of his dance journey.
The day moved on to the session
by Aruna Bhikshu. To begin with,
she talked about the socio-cultur-
al-political scenario, prevailed
during a time that the evolution
in Kuchipudi started to happen.
She particularly mentioned
Indrani Rahman and Lanka
Annapurna to make her points
in these lines. Remembering her
guru Yeleswarapu Surya Prakasa
Sarma, Aruna touched upon the
specificities of the gestures and
spontaneity of expressions that
she learned from him. Later
she also shared why and how
she came up with ‘Rudrama
Kalapam’, and also acted a short
segment from it.
The twelfth day featured Vanaja
Uday and Rajyalakshmi Seth.
Vanaja Uday initially talked
about how she got introduced
to her guru Uma Rama Rao,
and then about her guru’s con-
tributions. She also presented
FEATURED
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 20
Anuradha Jonnalagadda (from left), Pasumarthy
Vithal, Aruna Bhikshu, Vanaja Uday, Rajyalakshmi
Seth, and Shobha Naidu during the sessions.
SCREEN CAPTURES
an excerpt from ‘Sree Krishna
Janaka Sabdam’. On the other
hand, Rajyalakshmi Seth talked
about her sisters and gurus Uma
Rama Rao and Sumathy Kaushal.
Later she demonstrated a few of
the rhythmic variations that they
brought into their choreography
works. The session concluded
with a video record of the perfor-
mance by Sumathy Kaushal.
The last individual speaker of the
event was Shobha Naidu, and the
session started with the stream-
ing of an excerpt from “Marataka
manimaya...”, a unique taran-
gam by Vempati Chinna Satyam,
choreographed for herself. She
touched upon who all inspired
her, the dance journey that she
has taken, her approach towards
abhinaya pieces, among many
things. Shobha then danced seg-
ments of a javali, roles of Padma-
vati and Satyabhama, portions
from a few other items, and her
dance did the talking for the rest
of the session.
The last three days featured a
handful of artists and gurus
across the globe, and it was more
like a set of interviews, aimed at
finding the answers to some of
the frequently asked questions
connected to the repertoire. The
event was streamed live in both
Facebook and YouTube handles
of Shambhavi School of Dance
from May 07th to 21st. ●
21 GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph

Live
Stream
Strive
The ongoing pandemic situation
made online initiatives more
significant, and many programs got
staged during the period.
PRIYANKA B.

T
he dangers posed by the COVID-19 pandemic
unlikely to end sooner, online art activities
have become increasingly significant. The
trend which began since the first phase of the lock-
down continues, with the events getting a more
serious and disciplined approach. Many programs
got staged in traditional spaces with proper stage
settings, and those who couldn’t afford
ensured a reasonably good backdrop
and lighting to meet the standards.
Leading by example
Sangeet Natak Akademi, the pio-
neering institution in the field of
performing arts, set an example by
conducting a series of online events
that excelled at artistic and academic
levels. The Facebook page of SNA
bustled with a lot of activity. More than
130 programmes in different categories,
covering an average screen time of 60-90
minutes, got streamed during the period
of May-June. The major attractions were
‘Deeksha’ online class series, ‘Abhivyakti’
presentations from Akademi’s archives,
and ‘Antarang’ Facebook lives series incor-
porating eminent artists.
Deeksha series featured Kathak, Mani-
puri, Sattriya, Chhau, and Kutiyattam
classes curated by pioneering institutions
Rajendra Kumar Gangani was one of the mentors of 'Deeksha' event by SNA.
This shot is from his Kathak recital at the 'Soorya Dance and Music Festival
2017', organized by Soorya India.
HAREE FOTOGRAFIE [ARCHIVES]
artograph GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 22
training these art forms. The Kathak classes by Rajendra Gangani
and the Kutiyattam sessions by Ammannur Parameswara Chakyar
and Margi Sajeev Narayana Chakyar elevated the standards for web-
based arts education.
The documentary films and recorded videos from SNA’s archives
offered insights into the vast plethora of India’s heritage that encom-
passes traditional and folk art forms. Under ‘Abhivyakti’ and ‘Sam-
preshan’ series, nearly thirty programmes were shared, all bearing
the testimonials of commendable research.
The docu films on Mani Madhava Chakyar, K.P. Kittappa Pillai, Sem-
mangudi Srinivasa Iyer, and Pandanallur Subbaraya Pillai offered
rasikas and performers a blessed opportunity to explore the lives of
these legendary artists. Videos on shadow puppetry, Bhoota Arad-
hana, Mayurbhanj Chhau, Manipuri Raas, and folk dance forms of
the north reminded rasikas of the cultural richness of the country.
Variety of programs
An organisation of this stature, SNA takes the credit for possessing
such rare records of historical significance and the efforts to share
them with the public highlights their commitment to arts and the
art fraternity. Nevertheless, there were fewer performance videos of
From the documentary film on Mani Madhava dance forms from the South, with the only exception of tanavarnam
Chakyar and the dance performance in the 'Yog
Parv' events.
by Leela Ramanathan. Hoping that this aspect will be taken care of in
SCREEN CAPTURES the forthcoming months, as the Akademi is still in full swing.
SANGEET NATAK AKADEMI The ‘Antarang’ series gave birth to fresh ideas, and those who shared
fb.me/sangeetnatak their experience and expertise were the well-known Deepti Omchery
Bhalla (Mohiniyattam), Gopal Prasad Dubey (Chhau) and Jitendra
Maharaj (Kathak). K.G. Paulose, Sanskrit scholar and the former
vice-chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam also joined through his
lecture on Rasa theory. Besides, the Akademi hosted a three-day festi-
val, ‘Yog Parv’ in connection with International Day of Yoga, featuring

IICF Middle East did a

commendable job by
conducting a series
of live events on their
Facebook page.

'Poothanamoksham' presented by Kalanilayam

Madhumohan under the aegis of IICF Middle East.
SCREEN CAPTURE

IICF MIDDLE EAST

fb.me/iicfme
23 GENERAL 2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph
the interdependence of various art forms with yoga.
Organised as a series of lecture-demonstrations
and live performances, those who participated
included seasoned artists like Mandakini Trivedi,
Aruna Mohanty, Padma Subrahmanyam, Kanak
Rele, Rajkumar Singhajit Singh etc. Kalamandalam
Prasanthi and Kalamandalam Sangeetha marked
the presence of Kerala through Nagiarkoothu per-
formances in ‘Yog Parv’.
More shows going live
International Indian Cultural Forum (IICF Middle
East), aimed at promoting traditional Indian classi-
cal art forms and popularising it abroad, did a com-
mendable job by conducting a series of live events
on their Facebook page. A few of the videos were
later made available via YouTube as well.
The solo performance of ‘Poothanamoksham’ Kath-
akali, was the first among the list of programs. The
play by Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma centres
around the demoness Poothana who sets out to kill
little Krishna, upon the orders of King Kamsa. The
particular scene in the play depicts Poothana in dis-
guise as a beautiful lady reaching Ambadi, and her
attempt to breastfeed Krishna with poison. Kala-
nilayam Madhumohan enacted Poothana, to the
musical accompaniment offered by Nedumbally
Ram Mohan and Naveen in the vocal, Kalamanda-
lam Nandakumar on the chenda, and Kalamanda-
lam Venu on the maddalam.
Vinitha Nedungandi made an enthralling Mohini-
yattam recital by presenting a few of the noted
numbers. She began with a pure dance piece
‘Mukhajalam’, composed by Kavalam Narayana
Panicker in indigenous tala Panchari. She then
moved on to a keerthanam “Omkara karini mada-
hankara...”, a composition of M. Balamuralikrishna
in praise of goddess Tripura Sundari.
Vinitha continued with one of her most lauded
work “Karukare karmukil...”, a rain song in Saman-
tha Malahari, yet again a composition of Kavalam
Narayana Panicker. Employing the less explored
rasa ‘Preyas’, she achieves communion with nature
by taking the form of a peacock who dances and
rejoices under the cloudy sky.
Swathi Tirunal padam “Poonthen nermozhi..”, in
Anandabhairavi followed, and she concluded with
the endearing lullaby “Omanathinkal kidavo...”, by
Irayimman Thampi.

Vinitha Nedungadi presents "Karukare karmukil..." in 2017, for an event

organized by Sopanam commemorating Kavalam Narayana Panicker.
HAREE FOTOGRAFIE [ARCHIVES]
artograph GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 24
Novel choreography
Rajashree Warrier ruled the stage and conquered hearts while she
gave her Bharatanatyam recital featuring three self-choreo-
graphed items, that demonstrated her skill and command over
the artform. She opened with ‘Sankirna Alarippu’ a tradi-
tional piece interspersed with a Ganesha sloka.
The crux of her recital was the varnam, “Sakhiye indha
jalam...”, a composition of K.N. Dandayudhapani Pillai in
raga Sankarabharanam. Here the love-smitten nayika
converses with her sakhi to bring her beloved, in
the absence of whom she passes through a state of
deprivation. Pensive, the nayika neither realises
the fleeting of time nor can eat or drink. She boldly
declares her love for the lord and gives several
instances where he appeared before those who
seek his refuge.
The choreographic brilliance of Rajashree was
evident as she moved to “Shudi koduthava-
lai kudi mana maalai shudi...”. In the cha-
ranam, where she depicted the legend of
young Andal, who offered garlands to the
Lord but not before wearing it herself.
Blessed for her selfless and innocent
love, she is one among many others,
including the Pandavas and Panchali
who reckoned his magnanimity.
Rajashree concluded her recital with
the well-known keerthanam “Manasa
sancharare...”, composed by Sadasiva
Brahmendra. In this abhinaya oriented
piece, she introduced the saga of the Kuchela
who sets forth to meet Krishna, through the
perspective of the wife of the poor Brahmin.
In the enlivening roleplay, the sad plight of
the family and the meeting with Krishna got
portrayed in a heartwarming manner.
Besides dance segments, IICF also featured a
musical concert by Kavalam Srikumar and
a talk on the aesthetic aspects of ‘Nalacha-
ritham’ Kathakali play led by Ettuma-
noor P. Kannan.
Focus on Mohiniyattam
The third edition of Kanak Nrityotsav,
in honour of the legendary dancer
Kanak Rale, combined talents in the
field of Mohiniyattom. Curated by
her senior disciple Sunanda Nair,
the near one-hour, pre-recorded
Rajashree Warrier during the presentation of
the varnam "Sakhiye indha jalam..." at Vyloppilli
Samskrithi Bhavan, T'puram in Dec 2018.
HAREE FOTOGRAFIE [ARCHIVES]
25 GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
session featured four dancers.
The performance began with
a short clipping of Kanak Rele
depicting the Hasya rasa in a per-
formance from her past.
The first performer was the young
Meghna Muralidharan, who pre-
sented the Ashtapadi “Ganayati
gunagramam bhamam..”, in Rag-
amalika, where the nayika con-
verses with her sakhi, recollect-
ing the moments of lovemaking
spent with Lord Krishna. Follow-
ing this, Salini Harikumar pre-
sented the Swathi Tirunal Keer-
thanam, “Gangeya vasanadhara
Padmanabha..”, in raga Hamir
Kalyani, elaborating the virtues
and endearing traits of Lord Pad-
manabha.
The Mohiniyattam adaptation of
the evergreen Kathakali padam
“Ajitha hare jaya..”, by Mini
Pramod Menon came up next. The
slow tempo of the padam, when
met with skilful abhinaya by the
dancer, made it quite an inter-
esting watch. Presented by San-
geetha Prasad, “Bhasurangi bale
madana..”, the Swathi Thirunal
keerthana in raga Saveri was the
final piece. The accompaniment
of live musicians/music added
charm to her performance.
Artists of Natanakairali paid a
befitting tribute to their guru
Nirmala Paniker, who turned
seventy, through a series of per-
formances hosted online. ‘Desi’
items such as Mookkuthi, Kurathi
and Poli revived by Nirmala
Paniker were presented by disci-
ples Sandra Pisharody, Anupama
Suresh and Meenakshy Rajesh
respectively. Sneha Sasikumar,
Shruthi Kezhakepuram Puru-
shotham, Hridya Haridas, Anju
Peter, Keiko Okano and Gopika
G. Nath were among those who
joined the celebrations.
Traditional shows
For traditional art forms like Kuti-
yattam and Koothu, the shift into
an online platform may not have
been easy. Fuelled by the compel-
ling circumstances, pioneering
artograph
Participants of 'Kanak Nrityotsav'; Mini Pramod
Menon (clockwise from top-left), Kalamandalam
Sangeetha, Meghna Muralidharan, and Salini
Harikumar.
SCREEN CAPTURES
institutions in the field came up
with live sessions, kindling hope
among its practitioners besides
giving the younger generation
an exposure to these, otherwise
confined to the limits of Kooth-
ambalam.
‘Nepathya Centre for Excellence
in Koodiyattam’ hosted a series of
well-arranged live programmes
as part of their online initiative.
Chakyar Koothu by Nepathya
Sreehari Chakyar (Part three of
‘Parasuramavijayam’), based on
the episode of debate between
Lord Rama and Parasurama was
the inaugural performance.
The lesser staged Padakam nar-
rating the story of Dasaratha’s
curse by Nepathya Jinesh, ‘Gita
Govindam’ Nangiar Koothu by
Indu G., ‘Parnasalankam’ Kuti-
yattam - Lakshmana’s recapitula-
artograph
Indu G. performs 'Gita Govindam' Nangiar Kuthu
(clockwise from right), Rahul Chakyar, and Yadu
Krishnan during their respective performances.
SCREEN CAPTURES
NEPATHYA CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN KOODIYATTAM
fb.me/NepathyaMoozhikulam
tion by Nepathya Rahul Chakyar,
the second part of ‘Viswami-
thragamanam’ Chakyar Koothu
by Nepathya Yadu Krishnan K.R.
formed part of the performance
series. Besides, Nepathya also
organised a lecture-demonstra-
tion on the significance of the
idakka in Kutiyattam, by Kala-
nilayam Rajan.
Margi, T’puram staged their
monthly programme for June
live online. ‘Panchaliswayam-
varam’ Chakyar Koothu by Margi
Sajeev Narayana Chakyar and
‘Seethaswayamvaram’ Nangiar-
Koothu by Margi Usha were fea-
tured. Moreover, the ‘Kutiyatta
Mudraparichayam’ class led by
Margi Usha, familiarising the
mudras used in Kutiyattam, is
progressing in a way that bene-
fits even the naive audience.
Thodayam Kathakali Yogam
over their Facebook page live-
streamed ‘Duryodhanavadham’
play much to the amusement of
Kathakali enthusiasts.
Video productions
Margi released a five-minute
Kathakali play titled ‘Jagratha’
to create awareness about the
spread of Coronavirus and
the need to fight it collectively.
Written and choreographed by
Margi Vijayakumar, the play
makes use of three characters;
the virus (Karutha thadi), the
common man (Minukku) and a
saviour (Pacha) enacted by Margi
Suresh, Margi Vijayakumar
and Margi Balasubrahmanyan
respectively. The act had the
accompanying support of Kala-
nilayam Vishnu in the vocal,
Kalamandalam Krishnadas on
the chenda and Margi Ratna-
karan on the maddalam.
Paris Laxmi came up with “Odi
poyidu Coronave...”, a dance
video highlighting the battle
between the deadly virus and the
despairing mankind. The virus -
ferocious and inhuman is fought
GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 26
by will-power, leading to the res-
toration of normalcy. Conceptual-
ised, directed and choreographed
by Paris Laxmi, the video makes
use of lyrics penned by M.D.M.
Kalaiselvi Puliyoor Kesigan, sung
by Bhagyalakshmi Guruvayur.
Another attempt along similar
lines was the video ‘Mother
Earth’, paying tributing to nature
and the need to curb violence
against it, released on the occa-
sion of World Environment Day.
Titled ‘Sanjeevani’, Parvathy
Chandran presented a 45-minute
live recital, accompanied by her
students Nandana Gopan and
Sangeetha Santhosh. Breaking
the barriers of home interiors, the
presentation which took place in
the professional space offered
by Cameo Light Studio became a
refreshing experience in itself.
Cameo also staged ‘Malsya-
gandhi’, a Malayalam one-act
play written by Sajitha Madathil,
narrating the woes of fisherfolk
27 GENERAL 2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
enacted by Shylaja P. Ambu.
Interactive sessions
Bharat Bhavan - Kerala, organ-
ised a series of interactive sit-
tings incorporating experts from
various fields. Among those who
enriched the audience with their
thoughts and dance excerpts were
danseuses Rajashree Warrier,
Neena Prasad and Methil Devika
MARGI THEATRE
fb.me/margitheatre
BHARAT BHAVAN - KERALA
fb.me/BharatBhavanKeralaOfficial
Margi Sajeev Narayana Chakyar (clockwise from
bottom-left) and Margi Usha during their live
sessions by Margi Theatre, and Methil Devika and
Neena Prasad speaking on the 'Navamadhyama
Sargavedi', a show hosted by Bharat Bhavan -
Kerala.
SCREEN CAPTURES
in sessions moderated by Sajna
Vinish, Vidya Pradeep and Usha
Raja Warrier respectively.
‘Manathe Macholam’, a revisiting
of Kavalam Narayana Panicker’s
works presented by Sopanam
Institute of Performing Arts,
proved delightful.
Ammannur Chachu Chakyar
Smaraka Gurukulam over their
Facebook page conducted an
online lecture series - ‘Natyasur-
abham’, enumerating on the aes-
thetic aspects of traditional art-
forms. Those who led the sessions
include G. Venu, Kapila Venu,
Ammannur Kuttan Chakyar,
Ammannur Rajaneesh Chakyar,
Kalamandalam Rajeev and
artograph
Paris Laxmi in her video production 'Mother Earth'
and Shylaja P. Ambu (top) enacts the role of fisher
women in the drama 'Malsyagandhi'.
SCREEN CAPTURES
CAMEO LIGHT
fb.me/cameolight.net
Kalamandalam K.P. Narayanan
Nambiar.
‘Lāsya Mukharika’, an online
interview series curated by
Malavika Menon in her YouTube
channel witnessed the coming
together of Mohiniyattam expo-
nents. The theatre talk series con-
ducted by Lokadharmi Theatre,
Kochi on Zoom platform also
caught attention.
For young practitioners of arts,
online dance festivals served as
an opportunity to showcase the
talent and pursue their passion
amidst the crisis. All India Danc-
er’s Association (AIDA), Nãdãm-
rutha, and Maarga School of Arts
curated dance festivals incor-
porating upcoming and estab-
lished artists. Many innovative
attempts are also in the line,
featuring artists coming together
from various locations in a single
video. The wide reach of online
platforms has created ‘generation
next’ artists and rasikas who can
create and enjoy performances
at their leisure. But the far-reach-
ing implications of the emerging
trend should be reviewed and
discussed as well. ●
PRIYANKA B. is a post-graduate in English
literature and an art enthusiast who
enjoys photographing classical dance
performances. She currently works as
Postal Assistant with Department of
Posts, India.
 artograph GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 28

Staging the
LIGHTS
SREEKANTH
■ HAREE FOTOGRAFIE
29 GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
In early days the
‘lightwalas’ hardly
explored the scope of
enhancing the aesthetic
appeal of performances
through illumination.
SREEKANTH is an ace stage lighting
designer who focuses on artistic and
expressive light arrangements. He is
also the founding director of Cameo
Light Academy, T’puram, an institution
offering courses on light design.
artograph
I
t was not long ago that the profession of lighting was totally in
the hands of the so-called technicians ‘lightmen’ or ‘lightwala’.
They had very little knowledge of the principles or even the dif-
ference between various art forms. Their role was only to illuminate
the venue at its fullest and make sure that it is stable and without
interruption. Also, they showed their gimmicks by changing colours,
flickering and smoking the stage. Enhancing the aesthetic appeal of
performances through illumination was not explored in detail. The
light designers of yore neither had a chance nor did they advance
deep into their profession.
The history of all art forms shows a gradual development over a
period. So is the technology associated with the use of stage lighting
and other areas concerning performing arts. Nowadays floodlights
have given way to intelligent lights, known as luminaires or light fix-
tures. Different types of modern LED lights, spotlights along with con-
ventional PAR lights, strips and scoops expand the scope of lighting.
They can do much more than the elemental stationary illumination.
More advanced ways to configure, operate, and effectively utilise
them, made the job easier and allowed the light designers to empha-
sise the artist and the mood required on each instance.
Bridging the gaps
To utilise the stage lighting for the effective communication between
the performer and the audience, it is also essential to methodically
study the advancements in the field over the years. When floodlights
were in use, the sole purpose was to illuminate or make everything
visible. The word ‘everything’ has a lot of significance here.
In modern times, the light designer has much more to contribute.
Now he has to know his tools and make use of them, in technically
and artistically proficient ways, to reveal the subject inline with
the theme of the presentation. However, it doesn’t happen with the
involvement of the light designer alone. To make this exchange pos-
sible, the artists also should have some awareness about the basic
concepts and principles of lighting. And at the same time, lighting
designer also needs to know the type of art form, the theme, the mood,
and the atmosphere that the performer intends to create on stage.
The improper use of the lights and communication gap between
a particular artist and the lighting designer might result in some
unwanted outcome. In short, if the lighting turns out to be less effec-
tive, the responsibility lies with both the players.
The communication between the artist and the lighting designer
should begin right from the inception stage of the work. Starting from
script discussion, the costume selection, colours
CONTINUED ON PAGE 33 ►
■ CAMEO LIGHT
artograph
a blend
of
TWO PADMINI KRISHNAN
W
e often say ‘necessity is the mother of
invention’, and our journey together per-
forming ‘Nritha Samanvayam’ was one
such that myself along with my sister Draupadi
embarked years back. Many a time we come across
the same question, what is it? Well, a little history
before coming to that question.
Myself and Draupadi were trained in different
classical artforms right from childhood. Myself
furthered studies in Kuchipudi, while she chose
INSIGHT
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 30
Bharatanatyam, and eventually, we both started
to perform solo. However, when we got an oppor-
tunity to perform at the ‘Nada Neerajanam’ stage
of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, the single-slot
required us to come together, and it was then we
came up with ‘Nritha Samanvayam’.
The basic idea was to bring both dance forms
together on stage without losing their unique char-
acteristics. The response from the audience in the
initial stages was mixed, as many people perceived
'Nritha Samanvayam' by Padmini Krishnan and Draupadi Praveen as part of
'Onaghosham 2014' organized by Dept. of Tourism, Govt. of Kerala.
PHOTO: HAREE FOTOGRAFIE
31 INSIGHT
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
artograph
it to be an entirely new art form. However, we
aimed to present them together, sharing the same ‘Neelamana Sisters’, Padmini
music and concepts but following the original tech- Krishnan and Draupadi
nique. In effect, the audience gets the opportunity
to experience the two different dance streams
Praveen are known for their
through a common, shared platform. Bharatanatyam - Kuchipudi
duet performances titled ‘Nritha
Bringing them together
Combining two diverse dance forms like Kuchipudi
Samanvayam’, integrating the
and Bharatanatyam comes with its own set of chal- nuances of both the repertoires.
lenges. Foremost among this is to retain the authen-
ticity and tradition of both, without one influencing
the other. Easy said than done! Having trained and
acquainted in both the artforms, we both had to
keep ourselves under check, making sure we are
not accidentally slipping into the other form.
The place of origin, language, adavus, and mudras
being unique to both of these, achieving a commu-
nion demanded stringent planning and a careful
approach. We started by making a set of guidelines
to follow at the time of choreography and per-
formance. Bharatanatyam native to Tamil Nadu
follows natyadharmi, whereas Kuchipudi from
Andhra Pradesh conforms more to lokadharmi. The
gestures in the former follow ‘Abhinaya Darpana’
by Nandikeshvara, whereas the latter takes Bharata
Muni’s ‘Natya Shastra’ as the basis.
The regional and cultural differences have
attributed distinct ways in which these art forms
got perceived and propagated. For example, even a
basic mudra like the one denoting the sun is differ-
ent for both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. The
distinction in abhinaya elements also demanded
caution while merging the two dance items. The
rules for choreography being unique for both,
bringing innovation while adhering to the basics
was the key.
The dance interpretation of lyrics in Bharatanatyam
and the adavus, for instance in thillana, were
attended to while permitting the freedom of move-
ment that Kuchipudi demands. The stage space had
to be shared, keeping in mind equal emphasis for
both items and keeping intact the symmetry of the
dance arena. Lord Nataraja, being the presiding
deity of Bharatanatyam, the base emotion becomes
Veera or valour, whereas in Kuchipudi the underly-
ing sentiment becomes Sringara, attributed to Lord
Vishnu. The characters portrayed justified our body
language, with the expressionist tendencies of both
■ HAREE FOTOGRAFIE

art forms given due regard.

Considering the audience
The audience at different venues possess different
artograph INSIGHT
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 32
sensibilities, and the choreography had to consider the comprehen-
sive capabilities of all. Rasikas include those who don’t have a fair
idea regarding classical dance forms, those who learn the dance
forms, and the dance connoisseurs. While the former group enjoys
synchronisation and stage presence, the latter sections care about the
subtler aspects.
One of our early work was the evergreen composition “Bhava-
yami Raghuramam..”, wherein several characters from Ramayana Combining two
got depicted back to back. During choreography, we delved deeper diverse dance forms
taking into account the attitude of the dance forms, prospects of abhi- like Kuchipudi and
naya, and the aesthetics of movements. Both Bharatanatyam and
Kuchipudi has its roots in the dance drama tradition. To enliven the
Bharatanatyam comes
legend, we have also choreographed a few dance dramas. ‘Aatmanive- with its own set of
danam’, a re-interpretation of Ramayana through the perspective of challenges.
Sita and Urmila was one such. Here, apart from Bharatanatyam and
Kuchipudi, we have also used the possibilities of Tholpavakoothu, an
ancient art form widely regarded as the precursor to drama. ‘Swathi
Smrithi’ comprising the compositions of Swathi Tirunal and ‘Vas-
antham’ portraying ten virtues through the different incarnations of
Lord Vishnu, and ‘Tamaso ma Jyotirgamaya’ leading from darkness
to light were a few others.
Both of us give solo performances but performing together offers
great delight and contentment. Besides rejuvenating the audience
through something new, we also get an opportunity to share thoughts PADMINI KRISHNAN is trained in multi-

and beliefs, which is an enriching experience in itself. ‘Nritha Saman- ple classical art forms and focuses on
Kuchipudi for over a decade. She has
vayam’ enjoys the support and blessings from our gurus and well- won several accolades and has per-
formed at many prestigious dance fes-
wishers, and has been instrumental in going ahead with this experi- tivals, along with her sister Draupadi
mental approach. ● Praveen. She is a doctor by profession.

A scene from 'Aatmanivedanam' presented as

part of the 2013 edition of 'Parampara Dance
Festival' by Soorya India.
PHOTO: HAREE FOTOGRAFIE
33 GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
FROM PAGE 29 ►
on stage, makeup, rehearsals, and
until the performance, the lighting
designer and performer must effectively collabo-
rate to give the audience the intended experience.
One such instance, in my career, was the lighting
done for the drama, ‘Shakuntalam’ by Kavalam
Narayana Panicker, which was hugely appreciated.
In one of the instance where Dushyantha imagines
Shakuntala, a distinctive treatment enhanced the
visual dimension of the scene, making it better con-
veyed to the audience.
Learning the lighting
Light designing institutions, where technicians
and designers of light get formally trained, ensur-
ing quality and expertise are indeed a need of the
hour. Cameo Light Academy, based in T’puram,
works towards achieving this. Here, the focus is
to provide practical and theoretical knowledge in
stage lighting while uncompromising on quality
artograph
and expertise.
Educating the lighting designers alone will not
be fruitful unless the artists know how to use the
capabilities and knowledge of this group. Dancers
and theatre artists should have an idea regarding
the basics of lighting such as positioning during
a performance, costumes and colours, space and
stage management, various terminologies related
to lighting and so on.
Keeping this in mind, Cameo Light Academy ven-
tured on a series of workshops titled ‘beAware’, to
bridge the gap between artists and light designers.
The response was highly positive, and it was appre-
ciated both by the artistic and technical fraternity
alike.
To sum up, the give-and-take between the artists
and the light designers help each other to advance
in their career and leave a lasting impression on
the audience. ●
A dreamy sequence from the drama 'Shakuntalam' directed by Kavalam
Narayana Panicker. Light design was done by Cameo Light.
PHOTO: HAREE FOTOGRAFIE
artograph TALKING FRAMES
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 34
35 TALKING FRAMES
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03
A hub of birds: In the Little Rann of Kutch, the
bird variety ranges from desert birds to water
birds. Every year thousands of Lesser Flamingos
migrate to their favourite spot from different
parts of the world. A variety of birds were there,
starting from small plovers to the fastest moving
Falcons in the world. In this particular picture,
taken in Jan 2019, a group of Lesser Flamingos
are about to take off.
EXPOSURE: 1/1000 | F6.7 | ISO 2500
CANON EOS 7D MARK II / TAMRON SP 150-600 F5-6.3 DI VC USD G2
FEATURED
RAHANA
HAB EEB
A walk in the clouds: Uttarakhand is a corridor
to the mighty Himalayas, and a beautiful hub
of Himalayan birds. One gets to see specific
varieties of species at each different elevations.
Overall the place is a heavenly paradise of birds
from tiny Finches to mighty Himalayan Griffon
Vultures. As we climb up the mountains from the
lower hill area of Nainital, the clouds will create
magic all over the way. It was clicked in March
2020, just before COVID-19 affected the travels.
EXPOSURE: 1/250 | F16.0 | ISO 160
CANON EOS 7D MARK II / TAMRON SP 150-600 F5-6.3 DI VC USD G2
THIS SEGMENT IS FOR SHUTTERBUGS AND FEATURES ONE TALENT
IN EACH ISSUE ALONG WITH TWO PHOTOGRAPHS.
artograph
R ahana Habeeb is a freelance conservation wildlife
photographer, painter, and a blogger who has been
actively pursuing her interests since 2012. Presently a
columnist in Kerala Kaumudi daily and Aranyam Maga-
zine of Kerala Forest Department, her writeups on birds
and endangered species, reflect her passion towards
nature. She also pens regularly in Mathrubhumi Yathra,
Manorama Traveller, and a few other publications.
The founder of ‘Green Voyage’, a nature conservation group and ‘Art and
Alchemy’, a photography community, Rahana became a Certified Educator
of National Geographic Society in 2018.
How did you initiate into photography?
The fascination towards nature attracted me into painting and later on to
photography. In 2001, I learnt pencil sketching from a personal tutor, and
in 2010, joined Sivan’s Institute to learn photography. My first wildlife trip to
Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, under the guidance of renowned photogra-
pher Balan Madhavan, became the game-changer and my tryst with nature
began since then.
About your area of interest in photography...
As a photographer, my core area is Conservation Wildlife Photography. I try
to bring an element of nature conservation in most of my captures. Being in
India, which is rich in diverse topography, I also have an interest in landscape
photography.
Share the details of your gear in use.
Currently, I am using Canon 7D Mark II and Canon 6D Mark II cameras along
with lenses Canon 100-400mm, Tamron 150-600mm, Canon 16-35mm and
Canon 35mm.
Web: fb.me/rahana.habeeb
 artograph GENERAL
2020 MAY-JUN | VOL 02 | ISS 03 36
Playlist Readers’ Response
‘Mother and Baby Elephant’
ft. Neha Bhatnagar
02:45 | 2020 Jun 07
Danseuse Nehha Bhatnagar offers her simple
humble tribute to the gentlest giants that are
elephants. The soundtrack used is ‘Elephant
Bath’ from Wild Karnataka OST by Ricky Kej.
Watch it here: bit.ly/ag-nb-elephant

‘Panchasudhi’ ft. Kalamandalam

Dhanusha Sanyal
16:52 | 2020 May 28
In this dance video, danseuse Kalamandalam
Dhanusha Sanyal explains Sree Narayana
Guru’s concept of ‘Panchasudhi’ connected
with body, words, mind, senses, and house.
Watch it here: bit.ly/ag-panchasudhi

‘Odi Poyidu Coronave’

ft. Paris Laxmi
04:49 | 2020 May 11
Dancer-actor Paris Laxmi impersonates
humans on one side and Coronavirus on the
other and presents the fight between the two.
The vocal is by Bhagyalakshmi Guruvayoor.
Watch it here: bit.ly/ag-pl-opc
Various facets of art
Reading experiences of different
artists from different journos gives
a fresh perspective to look into
that art next time when we watch.
Praveen Kumar
Artist (Bengaluru, India)

Event Highlights: Bharatanatyam

Rangapravesam ft. Gopika Raj Pillai
40.00 | 2020 May 05
Event highlights video of the Bharatanatyam
Rangapravesam by Gopika Raj Pillai, disciple
of guru Nirmala Nagarajan, a senior faculty at
the Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai.
Watch it here: bit.ly/nm-hl-gopika

“Kantha njanum varam...”

ft. Sruthy Jayan
We do love to hear from
04:51 | 2020 May 02 you. Please do send
Dancer-actor Sruthi Jayan presents a young in your feedback and
lady who’s disappointed about the absence comments using the
of Pooram this year because of the pandemic. online form available in
The song is by Masala Coffee band. here: bit.ly/ag_response
Watch it here: bit.ly/ag-kantha-sruthy
ADVT.