Desh (Nation)

A collaboration between Sunanda Narayanan and Soumya Rajaram, DESH was showcased this past Saturday October 15 at the Chinmaya Mission Boston auditorium. The original production, touring across the US in 1998, was choreographed by Guru Rhadha and performed by Sunanda and her sister Sumitra. Sunanda has re-choreographed and structured the show for a group including Soumya and Sunanda’s students Jaya Aiyer, Amrita Sridhar, Ashwini Vytheswaran, Krithi Tupil, Anika Sridhar, Smita Rajan.

Desh pays homage to India, celebrating different aspects of its moral, spiritual, and historical legacy. Set in the traditional margam format, the show drew from staple Bharatanatyam pieces and interwove historical and mythological stories that highlight values and principles central to Indian life. The compere for the night, Smt Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, was also the musical director of the show.  A leading scholar and musician in India, Sujatha provided a wealth of information to the audience in between each number. 

Keeping with the margam format, the dancers began with a Pushpanjali and ended with a Thillana. Veda Vakyam, in the Shabdam style, featured very interesting and beautiful jathis that gave life to the voice of ‘thunder.’  The varnam drew from the two great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, pulling familiar episodes from each and highlighting values important to the Indian community.  The true dance highlight was Soumya and Sunanda’s duet in Sarvam Brahma Mayam. Taking an episode from Adi Sankara’s life, the two depicted a conversation between Sankara and his Guru. Both dancers’ strong abhinaya was highlighted, with Soumya’s humility as Sankara and Sunanda’s wisdom as the guru shining through. No extra costuming was even needed as both captured their respective characters perfectly. Lastly, the scintillating finale, celebrated Gandhi’s non-violent movement to gain independence and his vision for India’s future. The music was filled with familiar tunes and energetic beats, and the dancers matched with vigor and enthusiasm.

The younger dancers, students of Sunanda, were showcased equally and given varied roles throughout the performance. The production was a great introduction for them to explore bhakti and participate in a full show. The girls danced earnestly and showed promise for their future. One can only imagine how intimidating it is to dance alongside Soumya’s sharp movements and Sunanda’s mature and layered abhinaya! But they were able to rise to the challenge, and I hope this wonderful opportunity will motivate them to continue and deepen their practice.

The band, Aatma Tones, preceded the show to welcome guests. The talented young musicians included Hari Narayanan (vocal), Raghav Kadambi (flute), Rishi S Khanna (keyboard), Amit Vallabh (cello), Inesh Vytheswaran (mridangam), and Sriram Narayanan (keyboard). They performed renditions of Swagatam, Saare Jahaan Se Achha, Raghupati Raghava. 

Janani is a Bharatanatyam dancer based in New York City. She grew up in the Chicago area, dancing under the direction of Hema Rajagopalan. In 2011 she completed her arangetram, and in 2015, she received the Thomas J Watson Fellowship to research Bharatanatyam choreography abroad. Janani is a first year MD-PhD student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and an avid dancer and arts rasika.

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