The forthcoming three-day Divinity Series will be an attempt to go back to the roots of Bharatnatyam. Dancers Rama Vaidyanathan and Meenakshi Srinivasan talk to Iknoor Kaur
Bharatnatyam is a fantastic blend of tradition which is relevant even in modern times,” says dancer Rama Vaidyanathan who will be seen doing her signature moves at the forthcoming Divinity Series along with Meenakshi Srinivasan and Mythili Prakash. The three-day festival showcasing three unique, modern and bright dancers will commence on September 27 with Vaidyanathan followed by Meenakshi on 28th and Mythili on 29th.
Vaidyanathan believes that this particular dance form is the best way of communication. “Bharatnatyam is extremely versatile and it is a world’s dance form,” says the dancer who will perform the dance of the peacock in Alarippu. She explains, “I have used the imagery of a peacock because it is a symbol of beauty and dance. So I basically used Bharatnatyam to show the dance of the peacock.”
Her next piece will be a dedication to poet Maharaja Swati Pirunal. “It is his bicentenary year. He was a poet from Kerala and since it is an occasion I have chosen one of his authentic compositions,” she adds.
Keeping the theme ‘divinity’ in mind, Vaidyanathan will also be performing ShivoHam — a dance drama. She says, “It will convey the message that there is divinity in every man and man himself is divine.” She will be ending her performance with this act.
The special factor of her performance will be the display of new choreography. She elaborates, “Each set of choreography is separate from the other. I touch upon a wide range of motion and language, through the movement, vocabulary and beauty of Bharatnatyam. In ShivoHam, I have used the vibrant movements of the dance with meditative postures. I am trying to find a kind of stillness in my movement.”
While Vaidyanathan uses Alarippu and ShivoHam to express her views, Meenakshi will be seen performing Margam. She explains, “Margam is a traditional Bharatnatyam repertoire that combines poetry and literature to explain my character. It has been taken from different regions of the country.”
Meenakshi wants to present the purest form of the dance. She adds, “Dance is always better when done in its purest form. I don’t believe in altering a dance to cater to younger crowd because it is not that the youth is not aware. I feel dance reaches any kind of audience if performed in the purest form.”
The thread that runs along Meenakshi’s performance is Shringhara Bhakti which means divine love for lord Krishna. She elucidates, “I have explored this thought through the persona of Radha, Meera and Andal, who are all from different regions. Andal is poet from the South, Radha is explored through poetry of Jayadeva from Bengal and Meera is from the West. It’s their poetry that dominates my dance.”
The dancer says that there is no special feature in her dance as the entire combination of poetry and literature is unique. “Dance is all about sharing an experience. As long as I can give the audience a piece of my understanding, I will be contented,” she adds.
The show will go on from 7 pm to 9 pm on all three days at the Chinmaya Auditorium.