New England’s local Indian arts community was recently graced by the delightful performance of a few bright new stars in the world of Indian classical performance.  Bharata Natyam artiste Lavanya Ananth, along her talented orchestral team, delighted rasikas with a creative and wide-ranging spectrum of stories, musical selections and rasas (emotive expressions) at a performance in Marlboro on Sunday, May 1st.  The program was organized by members of the Sri Lakshmi Temple of Ashland, as a benefit for ongoing projects.

A native of Chennai, Lavanya has trained with illustrious artists such as Gurus Sri S. K. Rajarathnam Pillai, Smt. K. J. Sarasa, and Padmabhusan Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan.  The dance connossieur is impressed by Lavanya’s ability to draw from the stylistic features of various Bharata Natyam styles; while her foundation is in the Vazhuvoor sub-genre of Bharata Natyam, she draws from artists who have contributed to the Kalakshetra and Balasaraswati sub-genres, and has even studied Kuchipudi along her journey.  Lavanya has been conferred with numerous awards for her contributions to the arti, including most recently the “Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar” award from the Sangeet Natak Akademi – New Delhi, and the title of “Nadanamamani” from Karthik Fine Arts – Chennai, both in 2007.

Notable items from Lavanya’s program here in New England included adaptations of sthutis in honor of Devi and Ardhanarishwara; these items were unique and innovative not only for the dynamic and creative choreographies they featured, but also for the rhythmic adaptations of traditional devotional hymns, normally used in worship alone, for dance.   The inclusion of two padams also highlighted Lavanya’s performative range, demonstrating her ability to enact various rasas along the spectrum of human emotion.  The padam “Chikkuvane” delighted the audience with the amazed expressions of grown women, marveling at darling, naughty pranks of the child Krishna.  A javali performed afterward featured a youthful pre-adolescent girl, who is at once intimidated, and yet enraptured, by the advances of the illustrious Lord Vishnu.  The scope of expression in this javali is incredibly difficult to convey, yet Lavanya was able to perform the item with grace and fluidity to a captivated audience.  

The orchestra was an important part of the afternoon’s performance.  Vocalist Sri Murali, nattuvanar Smt. Srilata, violinist Kalaiarasan, and mridangamist Sri Sukhi created the perfect musical ambience, interpreting each item with both the precision characteristic of Carnatic music, and yet a creativity which gave fresh perspectives to the art form.  In particular, the musical arrangements of Sri Sukhi for the varnam and the aforementioned sthutis were integral to the appeal of these items.  

Dance enthusiasts from the local area look forward to more and more programs of this caliber, which draw from the best of Indian classical tradition while demonstrating the creativity and innovative ideas of fresh new artists.  

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