Danseuse Rama Vaidyanathan has choreographed NaTyatra, a journey undertaken in Bharatanatyam to reveal its underlying philosophy. She speaks to Saritha Saraswathy Balan on how the dance form is more than just steps
Bharatnatyam exponent Rama Vaidyanathan took upon a challenge. She decided to choreograph a piece, NaTyatra, with eight dancers who practise jazz, ballet, Kathak and even martial arts. She trained this motley group, hailing from various cities and dance companies, over 20 days. Through this experiment, she wanted to prove that dance as an artform traverses spirituality and has a deep-set philosophy. NaTyatra depicts the ancient stories and philosophical metaphors of Bharatanatyam. The project was born out of curator Tanusree Shankar’s belief that the eloquent expression of dance is universal. It envisages the grammar of Indian dance to go beyond both traditional and classical. Says Rama, “Through NaTyatra I wanted to convey that Bharatanatyam is not all about the basic steps, adavus and alarippu, that open every performance. The attempt was to dispel the misconceptions that the classical dance form is not open or adaptable to changes. When Tanusree Shankar approached me with the idea of doing something different, it was indeed a challenge.”
She continues, “Contemporary is something which is happening now. That way, every dance is contemporary.” NaTyatra is an ensemble of three pieces. The first piece is Matabhumi, which speaks of how the earth encompasses the whole ocean. “In Matabhumi, the earth is presented like a goddess. Her cloth is the ocean and her bosoms are the mountains. In the performance we beg her forgiveness for stepping our feet on her,” Rama elaborates.
The second part is Kashi. It’s about lord Shiva, the Vishwanatha temple in Kashi and the saints meditating on the bank of river Ganga. In Kashi, visveswara darshan, a famous composition by Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, has been used. The third and the final is Pandit Ravi Shankar’s Tarana where the exponent showcases the rhythmic pattern of Bharatanatyam and it’s complicated mathematics. “It’s my own way of telling that Bharatanatyam is not simply about dha dhi,” says the artiste.
On the experience of training the dancers, Rama says, “I have been teaching since so many years. But this is the first time I am getting dancers from jazz, ballet, Kathak, Odissi and Kalaripayattu. That is a different experience for me as well. I learnt a lot of contemporary dance,” she chuckles.
Incorporating strengths of each dancer, the choreography seeks inspiration from ancient literature and traditions of the dance form. Though it takes years to master it, Rama will depict through ancient stories and philosophical metaphors, the unparalleled beauty of the bharatanatyam. The extremely distinct, clear, precise and direct movements of bharatanatyam will take on the fluid and contemporary vocabulary of these dancers. Having enabled them to unlock the many rasas of bharatanatyam, Rama’s directives will persuade the dancers to create three surreal pieces.
She adds, “I rehearsed myself everyday before training the dancers. I can’t say that we have trained them to become Bharatanatyam dancers in 20 days. I could give them an insight into the dance form, the basic grammar of it, which is similar to teaching alphabets of a language. All the dancers have a very sensitive mind to aesthetic style. They have a lot of respect for classical dance. I watched them dancing before training to realise the potential in each of them. They are professional dancers and their body is trained to dance. I used the potential of each dancer in the production. A ballet dancer will be able to do the leaps and kicks very well. I have been emphasising on usage of head, eyes and neck that makes it possible for us to communicate as much with the face as much as the body.”
NaTyatra will be presented at the Serendipity Arts Festival to be held in Goa from December 16-23.