Music is the language of emotion and dance, the language of expression. Both are integral parts of ancient cultures, capable of transforming subtle thoughts into refined ideas. With the dynamic forces of history and creative influence of great masters, the fundamental heritages of these have been passed on through many generations. MITHAS is a unique organization in the New England area that endows our community to enjoy, nurture, present and preserve the great heritage of South Asian arts for the past 21 years.

As a non-profit, supported by the music and dance enthusiasts around, MITHAS has brought out several productions along with many stalwarts in concerts. The New England music community’s Nadha Sangamam and the dancers’ Navarasa Nayika in 2010 raised funds for this worthy cause; however, this time both the communities came together and gave us “Poetry in Motion” on September 28, 2014 at the MIT Krsge Auditorium.

The moment the idea of poetry in motion was floated around, teachers of dance and music became students themselves almost instantly. Whether it was a composition from a contemporary musician, a rare item, or choreographies of accomplished dancers, the senior and the upcoming artists came together synergistically with one goal in mind – to perform their best. Many summer hours and week-ends spent in rehearsals built new collaborations, friendships and inspiration that they brought out this memorable production as a Fall Sensation! Gurus Durga Krishnan and Jothi Raghavan worked tirelessly with the music and dance community, serving as the Coordinators, and were the entrancing EmCees for the program.

Poetry in Motion started with an invocation song on Lord Ganesha followed by Shiva navarasa, a composition of Dwaraki Krishnaswamy. The narrative skillfully twines the legends of Shiva through navarasa, the nine sentiments or emotions. Padmini Ravi’s scintillating choreography was matched quite effectively by the dancers, Suman Adisesh, Sangita Raghunathan, Suja Meyyappan, Thenu Raajan, Sangeetha Prasanna, Preethi Ramesh, Poornima Surya, and Vyju Prasad. No easy task! Special mention must be made about the brilliant musicians (Pavithra Devarajan (vocal), Prafulla Velury (nattuvangam), Sahana Srinivasan (violin), Shanthi Ganesh (Veena), Krishnaprasad (flute) and Pranavdath (rhythmpad) and N. G. Ravi (mridangam) whose hard work shone - to reproduce live the complex jathis set by Mridangist Ravi, gurus Padmini Ravi and Neela Ramanujam.

The next item was Chirantani, a Rabindranath Tagore’s composition on the Eternal woman, by Mouli Pal, Dipon Ghosh, Bipasha Chatterjee and Manisha Sinha. Tagore’s proclaim that only half of the woman is God’s creation and the other half is in the eyes of the beholder, was portrayed effectively; presented in sharp contrast to the previous item, the lilting and fluid movements told the hard story quite well. The music was soothing and refreshing, thanks to Sujata Bhaatacharya, Sharanya Sarkar Verma, Abhijit Brahmachari, Anuradha Sanyal, Piu Mukherjee Chatterjee, and Pratik Chatterjee (vocal), Shiva Ramakrishnan (flute), Fawad Reza (keyboard), Sahana Srinivasan (violin) and Sankat Joshi (tabla).

Following this was the Tarangam in Kuchipudi style, presented by Neena Gulati, Prafulla Velury, Deevena Annavrajula and Krishnasampada Velury as a dedication to Lord Krishna by Saint Narayanatheertha. Dancing on the edges of a brass plate, a unique feature of Kuchipudi, the performers executed complicated rhythmic patterns effortlessly. The live music for this item was soulfully and ably rendered by Anuradha Palakurthi and Bhuvana Ganesh (Vocal), Poornima Surya (Nattuvangam), Gaurishankar Chandrashekar (mridangam), Surya Sundararajan (violin), Shanthi Ganesh (Veena) and Prayuth Naduthota (flute).

An Offering of Lights in Kathak style by Gretchen Heyden, Anjali Nath, Shefal Jain along with the Youth Ensemble of Chaandika, Maya Koorapatthy and Esha Nijoff Asser was presented next. The vibrations from a Kathak dance are often mesmerizing and this presentation was no exception. Saint Poet Surdas’ poetry along with Pandit Chitresh Das’ interpretations of Devi stuthi were well brought out.

Mohiniattam, the dance of the enchantress, is a graceful and feminine dance form from Kerala. Compared to the vibrancy of Kathak music, the music here is often soft and soulful. Two accomplished exponents of this art from in this area, Sheethal Dwaraka and Neha Parikh brought this art form to us live. While Sheethal presented Thrissur Janardhanan’s Mayasundhari, Neha presented Kavalam Narayana Panicker’s Ganapathi, quite enchantingly.

The next item was a Manipuri piece by Jasmine Shah. With flowing and delicate movements to Lalitha Lavang, a composition of poet Jaideva Goswami, Jasmine highlighted the eternal love of Radha and Krishna aesthetically. The distinctive costume was picturesque and gorgeous.

The concluding item, a fitting finale was Bharatam Bharat Bhaaratam by Gayatri Srinivasan, Janani Swamy, Kalpana Balachundar, Meena Subramaniam, Manasa Jayanthi, Sangeetha Vijayasarathy, and Soumya Rajaram. It was a medley of compositions by poet Subramanya Bharathi, highlighting the vibrant and passionate messages of social consciousness. Roja Kannan and Priya Murle, two well-known Bharatanatyam performers from Chennai provided their expertise and trained the dancers. It was a visual treat to watch.

Special thanks to MITHAS volunteers Srikanth Sampathkumaran and Hari Arthanari who handled the audio and lighting very effectively, amidst wearing many other hats. Overall the program was a mega-production – along with the many performers, numerous volunteers from the community putting in countless hours, working on various aspects, starting well before the day of the program until the day of the show. Everyone has to be commended for coming together, working side-by-side setting aside any differences, and bringing out a fabulous show that they could be proud of! Blessed was the audience who were mesmerized and amazed.  May the bliss of it all reverberate and enrich us for a long time!

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