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Anuradha Annaswamy 10/26/2017 On October 1, 2017, on a
beautiful New England day, Bhairavi Chandersekhar brought the exquisite 2000
year-old art form of Bharatanatyam to life, in Newton South High School, Newton,
Massachusetts in her debut performance, Arangetram, the ascending of the stage. The program began with Thodaya Mangalam, an invocation that belongs to the dance
tradition of the Vazhuvoor village in Tamil Nadu. This
invocation is in praise of Gnanasabesa and Balankurambigai, the reigning deities
of Vazhuvoor, and the song is usually sung as a curtain-raiser. With this piece
setting the tone and focusing the audience attention on what’s to follow,
Bhairavi’s debut performance began. Her first piece was Pushpanjali,
which literally means a salutation with flowers to God. Aptly, in this case,
Bhairavi offered the Pushpanjali to the Lord
of dance Nataraja, the Guru, the musicians and the audience. The item concluded with a song in Tamil, Nadarupini, a composition by Ambujam
Krishna, set to the ragam Saraswati sung in the format of a viruttam, a vocal
rendering without any rhythmic accompaniments. With a brilliant smile, beautiful countenance,
confident footwork, and flowing grace, Bhairavi put the audience at ease and
eager to see the rest of the performance unfold. The Pushpanjali smoothly
segued into a core component of all Bharatanatyam pieces, Alarippu, which means ‘blossoming’. Set to a Misram (set of seven) beat, the Alarippu is a pure dance
number, displaying the harmony of movements between the head, hands, and feet,
in multiple speeds. Throughout this piece, Bhairavi’s dance was accompanied by
an intricate vocal rhythmic arrangement, sollu
kattu. Her performance here was a perfect testimony to the thousands of
hours of practice that Bhairavi has put in to perfect the art form leading to a
mastery over the coordination of her hands, feet, shoulders, and eyes, with
precision, grace, and fluidity. The pace of the evening
shifted into the next gear with the second piece, an invocation to Lord Ganesha,
a divine patron of the arts and the symbol of the primordial sound, Om, and the symbol of Pranavam which
represents the core of the Vedas. Titled
Ananda Narthana Ganapathim Bhavaye, which
means “Oh Lord Ganesha who dances with bliss, I worship you,†is a kriti and an
important piece in the Bharatanatyam repertoire. Bhairavi embodied the essence
of the elephant’s swaying movements with ease and grace, in a crisp 10-min format. This composition was by Oothukkadu
Venkatasubbaier, set to Ragam Nattai, and flawlessly rendered by the orchestra. The crown jewel of
Bhairavi’s performance was the Varnam, designed to showcase all aspects of the
art form including intricate foot work, abhinaya, and graceful movements. Bhairavi
delivered all of them with perfection. This piece, Senthil Vaazh, a relatively
new composition by T.R. Subramaniam in
the Ragam Hamir Kalyani, is about the beauty of Muruga, His valor, and his
protection of those who surrender to him. Through dazzling choreography, Bhairavi
conveyed the lyrics with charm, beauty, energy, and effortlessness. After a brief
intermission, Bhairavi continued to impress us in the second half of her debut
performance with her skilled portrayal of the multi-dimensional aspects of the
Bharatanatyam art form. These include a Kriti, a Padam, a Javali, and a
Thillana. The first piece was a Padam on Krishna, Gummana Kareyadire, a Devara
Nama composed by Purandara Dasa, in Ragam Karaharapriya. We no longer saw
Bhairavi in front of us, but Krishna, a young five-year-old child, who was
beseeching his mother, Yashoda, to please ask the boogeyman to go away. He
promises that he will be good, eat his food, not steal butter, not suck his
thumb, not bully the young children or tease the older ones, not eat mud (!),
and not play (let alone dance) with snakes. That she had us all smiling with
moist eyes by the end of this piece is sheer testimony to Bhairavi’s honed
abhinayas and her guru Sunanda to have skillfully trained her to channel her
inner child and provide this beautiful exposition. Hands down, my favorite
piece of the evening! Next, Bhairavi performed
a Kriti, Aadum Padhanai, set to Ragam Latangi, and composed by Ambujam Krishna.
Bhairavi masterfully conveyed the spirit of the composition, which is in praise
of Lord Nataraja and how poets and saints rejoice with the darshan of His dance.
Bhairavi transported us to the world of temples through the depiction of
various statuesque poses. Javali
Sakhiye Vinuma in Ragam Sankarabharanam came next – Javalis are lilting
songs dealing with day-to-day emotions and situations. This piece deals with a
lovelorn heroine who confides in her 'sakhi' (friend) about her love. She
requests the friend to go deliver her message of love to the hero and ask him
to come to meet her. The challenge of this piece is to convey the essence of
Sringara, which consists of complex, nuanced, and mature emotions including
passion, despair, longing, and loneliness. Bhairavi rose to the occasion
splendidly, and brought the heroine to life brilliantly. The final piece that
Bhairavi performed is a Tillana, a brisk and lively item performed towards the
end of an arangetram. The item was a kaleidoscope of flowing patterns of
footwork, rhythm, musical adavus woven together, and everything coming together
in a joyous and celebratory manner. Bhairavi rendered this visual image with
poise and perfection, filling all of our hearts with sheer happiness!
As
the visual feast that Bhairavi provided enriched our souls, the orchestral
support at the arangetram filled our hearts to the brim. Asha Ramesh’s
impeccable renditions of every piece from the Thodaya mangalam to the
concluding benediction and her skillful reveal of the core emotions of each
raga from Saraswati to Kamas was an absolute treat. The melodious
accompaniments of the violin maestro Tara Anand and flautist Sumhith Aradhyula
were the icing on the cake. The powerful rhythmic support from the veteran mridangist
Murali Balachandran was impeccable and had us all tapping on our toes! The
entire performance was guided expertly by Guru Sunanda Narayanan from start to
finish, including the succinct and extempore introduction of each song and the
precisely timed and spirited sollu kattu. The musical interlude prior to the
Varnam of Brova Barama in the majestic Bahudhari Raga by Tara was a special
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