A Delightful Dedication – Priya Venkatesh’s arangetram

I recalled the famous quote, “There is no wisdom or knowledge, no device, no art, no craft or action that is not found in Natya “, when I was sitting in for Priya’s arangetram recently. The happy outfit was held on Sunday, Oct. 6^th at the artistic auditorium which is part of the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, MA.  Priya came under the tutelage of Guru Jeyanthi Ghatraju about four years ago. Over these years, she evinced enormous interest in learning this divine art and put in hard work and sincere application. These helped groom Priya’s interest and raised her to the arangetram performance level.

Priya started her arangetram recital with an invocation consisting of three items – first was a traditional Pushpanjali, composed by Guru Govindarajan in ragam Bhoopalam.; the second was  Paalum theli thenum, a short verse by Saint Poet Avvaiyar in praise of Lord Ganesha; the third piece was a keerthanam, Namaste asthu Bhagavan, a composition of Swami Shanthananda in ragam Basant Bahar.

The next item was the alarippu set in Chathusra nadai and Priya traversed this pure dance with good poise.  She presented a rare kavuthuvam, called Thiruvalangadu Kali kavuthuvam in ragam Hamsadhwani next; the prelude slokam was a composition of Guru K.Lalitha in ragamalika. Priya proved emphatically what is said of Bharatanatyam in this piece, “poetry in motion”;

Priya presented her jathiswaram in ragam Bilahari, a composition of Guru Madurai R Muralidharan; an ornamental piece without any particular emotion, the jathiswaram took the emotion of the underlying ragam and Priya portrayed piety quite effectively.

The evening’s central piece, the varnam, was Sadhinchene, a time-tested gem of a composition by Saint Thyagaraja in ragam Arabhi. Priya lived through the soul-stirring lyrics of the composition and enthralled the audience with her deft dance movements, studded with elegant hand gestures and emphatic facial expressions. She narrated three stories – plight of Arjuna in the Kurukshetra war, friendship of Sudhama/Kuchela and Krishna and the devotion of Shabari to Lord Rama. Her portrayal of the innocent old lady, Shabari, moved so many in the audience. On the whole, the varnam culminated as a natya aradhana to the great saint.

In a margam format, entertaining padhams follow an emotional varnam. Priya presented Mayil Vahana in praise of Lord Muruga in ragam Mohanam. The audience enjoyed the prelude jathis depicting a peacock’s dance and the lilting chittaswarams in this padham.

Priya then presented Kapali nee in ragam Palini and composed by Guru Lalitha Sivakumar.  She vividly brought out two stories related to the Kapaleeshwarar temple in Mylapore, Chennai. Many in the audience had a personal connection with the temple and thoroughly appreciated her depiction of Shiva, Brahma and Parvathi highlighting the temple’s history.

Priya transformed into an adoring mother of baby Rama in Tumak chalathu as visualized by Saint Tulsidas. How a 16-yr old can provide so much depth into the composition was quite amazing! The choreography was simple and catchy.

The concluding number was thillana in ragam Kadhanakudhookalam by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna.  Priya enjoyed every bit of the tempo and embellished it with elegant traversal and lilting twists – all with effable ease at every stage.

Priya presented her mangalam as a solemn bhajan in praise of Bhagavan Baba, transporting the audience to a higher spiritual level.

In a Bharatanatyam recital, the orchestra plays a vital role in enriching the program with synergy and coherence, all the while supporting the dancer. Guru Jeyanthi Ghatraju’s nattuvangam had well-punctuated jathis, vibrating eloquently. She has a particular approach in selecting pieces suited to her student dancer’s abilities and the host family’s audience. Her choreography was crisp, clean and deep, reflecting the amount of research that has gone in from vision to presentation.

Vocalist, Prafulla Velury, an accomplished Kuchipudi performer herself, adorned the songs with her sweet and melodious voice. Mridangist, Gaurishankar Chandrashekar, an experienced percussionist, gave ample and unobstructed support to the debutante, embellishing the rhythm whenever it was appropriate. Violinist, Surya Sundararajan, another experienced musician from this area, scored richly in his melodious accompaniment and contributed highly to the overall program. Flautist, Dr. Suresh Mathur, a senior musician, has been an ever-guiding force and provided subtle but strong support on his flute.

For Priya, the debutante, it was a dream come true and that shone through the entire program. To those who know Priya well, it was a pleasant surprise to see Priya as a transformed dancer as she was completely in line with what was expected of her. In spite of being in the midst of pressing academic commitments, the fact that Priya decided to pursue and complete her arangetram bears testimony to her passion and commitment towards this art form.

I would like to conclude this coverage with a realistic quote from Dr. Wayne Dyer, “When you dance, the purpose is not to get to a particular place on the floor; it’s to enjoy each step along the way!”

Now that the initial journey has started, here is wishing Priya continued success in all her endeavor and may dance be part of her life forever!

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