On a warm Saturday afternoon in summer, on July 18, 2015 a colorful array of ladies in gorgeous saris with their husbands and family together with their fashionably dressed teenagers in trendy Indian outfits had gathered at Sharon Middle School, MA to witness Varshini Arumugam’s Bharatanatyam Arangetram.  Varshini is a twelve-years-old dancer who in 2012 was placed under the tutelage of Smt. Veena Teli of Tarangini Creations School of Dance, who molded and transformed her into this, dedicated and disciplined dancer we saw on stage. She is one of the youngest to perform this feat and gave a mesmerizing, spellbinding, and exemplary performance.  We were transported to a spiritual world of peace and being one with the Supreme Being.

Bharatanatyam is the most popular classical dance form in India, which originated from texts of Bharata Muni's Natya Shastra (200 B.C.E.) and has received an enthusiastic acceptance worldwide.  Bharatanatyam is a significant art that aids an artist to be elevated to a spiritual level, the artist tries to 'become' the character she portrays, be it Shri Rama or Krishna or Radha or any beloved consort, and mimics all actions of the Supreme, as best as could be. In essence, it is an offering to the almighty truth through mime, gesture, and the rhythm of dancing feet. Bharatanatyam can be completely abstract or it can interpret songs, moods and meanings visually. It compromises a spiritual base, scientific precision and unlimited emotional content. Aesthetically, it is an exhaustive art, hard to accomplish.  All participants in the program, the artists and the audience alike, elevate themselves to this spiritual dimension, which the Upanishads call, RASA - Raso Vai Sah - He is Bliss Personified.

Behind this recital, there is intense "Tapasya" of several hundreds of hours of rigid practice and repetitive rehearsals. With a sincere desire to perform at her finest, Varshini stepped on the stage and performed for three hours straight. This is done to attain the spiritual dimension of Lord Nataraja, the Cosmic Dancer, who epitomizes this concept and vouchsafes this. Arangetram was derived from the terms “ Aranga ” and “ etram.” The stage (aranga) is what the dancer must ascend (etram) in order to properly complete the first step of her Bharatanatyam career. Combined with a petite frame, agile footwork, poise and aesthetic appeal, Varshini has proved her talent in this art form. Her passion for distinction is quite visibly established in her sincere efforts to pursue this dance form with utmost care, reverence and dedication. It is obvious that she has imbibed her Guru’s teaching, which has enabled her to mature as a talented artist. Her performance added laurels to her achievements and desires.

The evening began with a Pushpanjali, the opening dance of any arangetram, a song in which the dancer presents flowers to the Gods. The alarippu, literally meaning - to adorn with flowers, is an abstract piece combining pure dance with the recitation of sound syllables. The repertoire of Bharatnatyam is extensive, the alarippu served as an introduction to Varshini’s skill in nritta, her footwork keeping pace with the rhythms. Following pushpanjali was the Ganesh Gautham. Here the dancer worships Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles, welcomes her audience, and takes blessings from her Guru and her orchestra. As a solo dance, Bharatnatyam leans heavily on the abhinaya or mime aspect of dance - the nritya, where the dancer expresses the sahitya through movement and mime. Varshini’s abhinay were outstanding. The invocation to Lord Ganesha and Pushpanjali were well-choreographed pieces. Alarippu represents the blooming of the dancer, from a tiny bud to a beautiful lotus. Her movements seemed to bear no tangible meaning to the audience, but it looked as if she was truly blooming. This Alarippu was set to an uncommon 13 beat talam.

Jatiswaram is a rhythmic combination of jatis alternating with swaras in different raagams. It was a short pure dance piece, no sahitya or words, but composed of adavus, which are pure dance sequences performed to the accompaniment of musical notes of raagams Kalyani, Begada, Atana, Surruti and Thodi. This dance beautifully covered the Nrit aspect, or the technical dance, where for Varshini’s symmetry of movements were notable, along with her ability to transition between slow and fast movements with ease.

The Varnam that followed was based on the life story of Lord Karthikeya, the younger son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. Varnam is the most important composition of the Bharatnatyam repertoire as it encompasses both nritta and nritya epitomising the essence of Bharatnatyam. Varshini’s abhinaya deftly conveyed the meaning of the lyrics as she portrayed the demon Soorapadman, and Parvathi, who seeks the help of Manmadhan, the lord of romance. He is burnt into ashes once he strikes Lord Shiva with an arrow. Varshini very ably depicts the complicated rhythmic patterns in two speeds showing the control over rhythm. Varshini rose to the challenge of this 30-minute-long composition that demanded physical stamina by being energy personified.

After a short intermission where the audience enjoyed onion Pakodas and Boondi Laddos, Varshini demonstrated the Male Mani Vanna the 26th song of Thirupaavai, sung by Andal, who prayed for Lord Krishna to come and marry her. She is also known as “Soodhi Kodutha Sudarkodi” as she had the child hood habit of adorning Krishna with a garland only after adorning it on herself.

Sankara, the lord of the mountains is dancing in his entire splendor at Chitra Sabha. With holy ash on his body and a Rudraksha garland of sacred beads adorning his neck, the three eyed-lord is dancing splendidly along with his follower Bhringi and the five elements of nature (Bhuta gana) . The dancing bells on Lord Shiva’s feet are ringing and the celestials and pious sages are witnessing his divine dance from the sky. The melodious voice of Geeta Murali, illustrates the divine dance interspersed with rhythmic jathis. Displaying self-confidence Varshini dances through the intricate movements of Maadu Meikum Kannne, a traditional Tamil folk song popular for its simplicity, emotional content and appeal. The creative choreography of the guru, Smt. Veena Teli, enhances this folk song, which is a dialogue between Krishna and his mother Yashodha. This child is raring to go out, to play and rear the cattle, but his mother has decided to make him stay at home. She keeps giving reasons as to why he should stay but Krishna persists, coming back with smart responses as why he should go.

Finally, Tillana is a brisk and a lively rhythmic composition performed towards the end of the Arangetram. It is a fine blend of jatis (rhythm) and a few lines of Saahityam in the charanam followed by Muktams based on the beloved god, presiding deity of the composer. Dolayam Chala Dolayam , is a Annamaya keerthana describing the ten Avataras or incarnations of Vishnu. The first line started with a dola seva or a swing tone and the ten incarnations of Vishnu were described in each stanza. Varshini depicted the incarnation of Vishnu in Meena, Kurma, Varaha and Mirugapathi or Narasimha avatar. Thereafter the second stanza showed him as Vaamana, Parasuraama, Rama, and Krishna. The last stanza was in praise of the last two avatars: Buddha (Lord Balaramaan) and Kalki.

Playing to a full auditorium, Varshini Arumugam displayed this spirit as well as composure during the three-hour concert. She struggled against odds to achieve the level of dignity and reputation that she has. The culmination of the program, the dolayam demonstrated, Varshini's determination to achieve and her sincerity in dancing, something she was destined to do. Her unmatched talent in abhinay makes her stand out as a promising dancer who has a spectacular future in pursuing her passion, her dance. We are not at all surprised that she could complete this journey of achieving. She charmed us with her quick intricate footwork, graceful adavus, nritta, and nritya, and her almost heavenly elegance of movement.

Varshini’s dance exhibited her stamina, memory and confidence, all commendable traits, together with her abhinaya felt as if she was performing for each member of the audience. The tasteful stage decorations as well as the costumes and make-up complemented Varshini’s performance. The musical team provided considerable support with vocals by Geeta Murali, flute by Hema Bala , Violin by Surya Sundarajan, Mridangam by Gaurishankar Chandrashekhar and the Veena by Durga Krishnan

“I feel a little blessed and challenged as Varshini’s guru,” Veena Teli said of her disciple. Much of what Samuel Johnson said of Oliver Goldsmith would apply to Varshini " She touched nothing that she did not adorn." Applauding her from the audience were her parents Dr, Sarita Venkatesh and Venkat Arumugam, Granmother Kalanidhi Venkatesh, her inspiration -cousin Vinodini Rai, and many friends & relatives from India and the US. Varshini is a third generation dancer who made all three generations proud of her performance.

We pray to that she continues with her strength and ability to entertain. She truly deserves the Certificate awarded to her by Guru, Smt. Teli also asked for the approval of the audience, who responded with a explosion of agreements! May this young artist remain devoted to the great art of Bharatanatyam and the symbolism behind it.

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