Ananya Srinivasan, a disciple of Acharya Soumya Rajaram of the Samskriti School of Dance, performed her Bharatanatyam Arangetram on August 13, 2022, at Lexington Christian Academy, MA.

Ananya’s dancing showcased very strong proficiency in technical execution as well as the imaginative insight and understanding that uplifted her dance from a ‘definitive curriculum’ to ‘performing art.’

She commenced with an invocatory piece dedicated to Lord Nataraja, which carried verses from the ‘Periya Puranam’, compiled by Sekkhizar in the 12^th century. This Tamil poetic account describes the lives of the sixty-three Nayanars, the recognized poets of Tamil Shaivism. Acharya Soumya, in her narration, painted a beautiful image of the cosmic dancer Nataraja – He is Shiva, the creator; He is AdiYogi, the initiator. Ananya truly set the stage for a promising performance ahead with this festive opening.

Following this was an Alarippu in Misra Chapu Thalam. As one may have experienced, rhythm has a rare capacity to invoke concentration. What I truly love about Alarippu is the gradual transition – beginning with gentle atamis moving on to rigorous Mandi adavus, and eventually culminating into vibrant footwork and teermanam adavus encompassing three speeds in a cyclical ascending fashion to fit perfectly into the prescribed thalam. And with every step, there is something significant, there is a poised beauty - that makes you want to take a second look - just like the paced ‘blossoming of a flower’. Ananya executed this Alarippu set to the 7-beat cycle with the precision of movement and anga suddham.  

The shuffling chime of anklets echoed through the auditorium as Ananya danced to the famous Tanjore Quartet’s Jathiswaram in Arabhi next. Jathiswarams have held prominence since the Devadasi era and are critical to the progression of the Margam. The dancer effortlessly leaped and twirled through intricacies in movement spanning the entire stage and did full justice to the delightful choreography by Prof. Jayalakshmi of Kalakshetra.

Next followed the popular ‘Sarasijaakshalu’ Shabdam in praise of Lord Krishna. Shabdam is the first dance exploring Abinaya (facial expressions) with a devotional or amorous theme in the Margam format. Ananya painted beautiful visual imageries with her Abinaya – bringing out Krishna’s coquettish nature while stealing the clothes of the lotus-eyed gopis; his impish self while stealing butter with his friends, and the savior of mankind as Lord Padmanabha.

In the next piece, a Padavarnam in Sriranjani composed by Papanasam Sivan, Ananya exemplified the artistry and classicism of the Kalakshetra Bani. The choreography by Rukmini Devi Arundale effectively portrayed the stance of a Sakhi, describing the lovelorn Nayika’s anguish to Lord Muruga and pleading with Him to appease her friend. The jathis were rhythmically sophisticated and pleasing in movement. Ananya presented this challenging piece with dexterity, elegance, and artistic astuteness. When a prolific composer like Papansan Sivan is in focus, one cannot overlook the wordplay in his composition and the expansive canvas it offers a dancer. In this varnam, the opening lines of the charanam, “Vaatha noi kondal  viraindu marundu ta ivaL perum – pidivaatha noi” is a noteworthy wordplay, and Ananya’s subtle expressions to convey ‘pidivaatha’ was thoroughly enjoyable.

For the second half of the program, Ananya started with a rather new addition to the Margam repertoire – a Keerthanam, ‘Adum Paadanai anudhinamum ninaidhu allal anugumo’ in Lathangi composed by Ambujam Krishna. A choreography by renowned dancer Prof. C.V.Chandrashekhar, the piece carried interesting and unexpected combinations of Nritta and Abinaya elements. Ananya handled the choreography with utmost maturity and clarity.

The debutante delighted the audience with her storytelling for what followed next – a Meera bhajan rendered in a Padam format. With ‘surrender’ to Lord Krishna being the central theme of the Padam, Ananya elaborated on three well-known stories from the Puranas – the disrobing of Draupadi which marks a turning point in the narrative of the Mahabharata, His incarnation in the form of a part-lion, part-man to slay Hiranyakashipu, and His transcendence to earth to protect Gajendra, the elephant, from the clutches of a Crocodile. Acharya Soumya fittingly gave Ananya the due credits in her closing speech and highlighted that Ananya had suggested many inputs for choreography.

The finale was a Thillana in Hamsanandi, composed by K.N Dhandayudhapani Pillai in praise of Lord Nataraja. At this point, it felt like I had done a full pradakshina in a temple - the program commenced and ended with compositions dedicated to the Lord of Dance himself! Ananya performed this piece in a rather nuanced manner – understanding the different nadais and subtle pauses.

The artistry of the ensemble was flawless and central to the performance. Acharya Soumya Rajaram led the orchestra with her nattuvangam, seamless in kala pramanam and voice modulation. Smt.Sahana Narayanan, the vocalist for the evening, rendered pleasing music and effectively captured the bhava of every piece. Sri. Shriram Natarajan, Sri. Pranav Swaroop and Sri. Vaibhav Iyer provided support on the Mridangam, Violin, and Flute, respectively, and charmed the audience with their exhilarating music. Ananya’s dear friend, Shreya Ramanathan, did a fabulous job as the Master of Ceremony.

From the first step to the last, Ananya’s performance was graceful in form and technique. That a debutante dancer was able to achieve proficiency to such a challenging standard is a foremost testament to the consistency and excellence of Acharya Soumya’s tutelage over the last seven years. We wish Ananya the very best in her journey as a dancer.

|