Jaya Aiyer, disciple of Guru Smt. Sunanda Narayan of the Thillai Academy of Dance, performed her Bharatha Natyam Arangetram on October 7, 2012 at Regis College in Weston, MA.

There is good Bharatha Natyam with all its key elements- angha suddham, communicative abhinaya, a sound grasp of thalam and laya- and then there is Bharatha Natyam of the caliber that marks the Thillai School.  

Jaya’s artistic lineage is one to reckon with.  Guru Sunanda is a senior disciple of Guru Smt. Rhadha, one of the senior most Bharatha Natyam gurus today and a flag bearer of the Vazhuvoor tradition.  The interpretation of Bharatha Natyam from this bhani is steadfast in classicism and equal parts scholarly and artistic.  The masterful choreography, in which literally every gesture, movement and glance is laden with meaning and purpose, demands a high level of technical capability and artistic sensibility.

That a debutante dancer was able achieve proficiency to such an exacting standard is foremost testament to the rigor and quality of Guru Sunanda’s tutelage. Jaya’s dancing demonstrated very strong ability in technical execution as well as the artistic insight and interpretation that elevates dance from form and movement to art.

Following an inaugural prayer by her cousins, Jaya opened with an invocatory piece dedicated to Lord Ganesha, followed by an Alarippu in Kanda Chapu thala.  The shollus of the Alarippu were juxtaposed with verses from the “Aingaranai Otha Manam” Thiruppugazh in Hamir Kalyani for lovely effect and the dance was executed with precision of movement and angha suddham.

Next followed a Kavuthuvam dedicated to Lord Nataraja or Natesha in Thillai, presented to Guru Sunanda’s pleasing Shollus. Jaya then presented the unique Manduka Shabdam describing the bounties of nature and in particular, how the sounds of the croaking frog, recalled to the poet Lord Vishnu as the savior of Gajendra and as Lord Rama. The interspersing shollus in this Shabdam contained interesting vocal rendition and choreography that effectively conveyed mood and imagery of the piece.

After a musical interlude, Jaya presented Mutthaiah Bhagavathar’s grand Dharu Varnam in Kamas, “Mathe Malayathvaja Pandya Sanjathe”, extolling the virtues of the valorous warrior princess, Meenakshi, who is also Lord Shiva’s consort.  This varnam, the pinnacle of the performance, exemplified the artistry and classicism of Guru Rhadha’s bhani where every nuance of movement, bhava, rhythm and stillness is combined and layered to deep artistic effect.  The jathis were rhythmically sophisticated without being arithmetic and pleasing in symmetry and movement.   The entire presentation, from the arudhi to the swara passages was studded with myriad depictions of the Goddess, greatly enhancing the artistic impact.  Jaya presented this challenging piece with skill, grace and artistic intelligence.

In the second half of the program, Jaya presented three padams. The first “Oraru Mugane, Annai Umayal Magane” described Goddess Uma or Parvathi’s joy as she rejoiced in the beauty of her son, Muruga’s six pieces and depicted how Muruga taught his own father the meaning of Pranava Manthram or the divine syllable “OM”.  This was followed by a most interesting interpretation of the popular javali “Nee Matale” as choreographed by the renowned dancer Smt. Bragha Bessell and Bharathiyar’s “Theeratha Vilayatu Pillai”.  Jaya conveyed moods and stories with maturity, clarity and clearly, her own comprehension of the bhava and subtexts of the piece.  The program concluded with a Thillana in Kedaram, again a piece that exemplified the thoughtful choreography of this bhani with interesting and unexpected combinations of nritta and the creativity of the interspersing arudhis and poses.

The orchestra featured leading artists from the Bharatha Natyam world. Guru Sunanda led the orchestra with her flawless nattuvangam, perfect in enunciation, voice modulation and kala pramanam.  It was a true pleasure for the Boston audience to hear Smt. Asha Ramesh, one of the leading Bharatha Natyam vocalists today.  Her rendition was so pleasing not just for the beauty of her music but so effectively capturing the bhava of every piece.  Sri. G. S. Rajan, our very own Rasika Murali and local teacher Smt. Durga Krishnan provided support on the flute, violin and veena, respectively, and delighted the audience with a musical interlude that included Jagododharana in Kapi and Maand Thillana.  Sri Murali Balanchander on mridangam provided flawless percussion support.  The selection of ragams and compositions was done with full consideration to the dance experience and equally thoughtful and artistic.  The artistry of the orchestra was consummate and central to the performance.

Jaya’s arangetram was indeed her debut and a demonstration of this young girl’s achievement in this art form, but this performance, simply said, was also an experience of really, really good Bharatha Natyam by any measure.  We are sure to hear of the many successes that await her.

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