An Autumn weekend in New England is marked by a crispness in the air and the variations of color. On October 20, the best place to experience this was at the Chinmaya Mission , Maruti Center Auditorium in Andover, MA. Crisp adavus and subtle interpretations of lyrics and melodies poignantly brought to life the music of Sri Lalgudi Jayaram in “Lalgudi Narthanam”.

Conceptualized by Srimati Durga Krishnan, Artistic Director of the New England School of Music and Cultural Coordinator of Chinmaya Mission Boston, over one year ago, Sri Jayaraman gave his approval and blessings for this program. He was especially supportive knowing that Srimati Sunanda Narayanan (Thillai School of Dance) would be choreographing the items and presenting them along with her students Jaya Aiyer, Anjana and Amritha Mangalat, and Ramya Ramadurai. The entire program was a graceful salute to Padmabhushan Sri Lalgudi G. Jayaraman (LGJ) who passed away on April 22, 2013.

The program was further elevated by Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, exponent of dance and music,  writer and published author in two languages, researcher, and the mother of Sunanda, who compered the program. Without detailing every aspect of every dance Srimathi Sujatha educated the audience of the intricacies of the music hinting at the story lines with so much insight, that one did not need a verbatim description to understand the movements.

With volumes of music to choose from, the program was bracketed by a Pushpanjali in praise of Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswathi and Mangalam in praise of Devi in her various manifestations both taken from Sri Jayaraman’s epic Dance Ballet Jaya Jaya Devi.

Each item held a special place in the program. Jathiswaram in the ragam Rasikapriya (the last melakartha raga) was originally composed for legendary dancer Kamala Lakshmanan, the elder sister of Guru Radha, Srimathi Sunanda’s teacher.  The juxtaposition of graceful yet firm adavus chosen by Srimati Sunanda perfectly exemplified the dichotomy of joy and sweet sorrow in this ragam, which was so loved by Kamala.

The Padavarnam  in praise of Lord Shanmugha set to Nilaambari by LGJ challenged the notion stated by esteemed Professor Sambamoorthy, that this ragam should not be used for varmans. Composed originally as a tana varnam, which does not have lyrics for the chittai swarams and on Devi,  Sri Jayaraman composed new lyrics for this varnam including the chittai swarams on Lord Muruga thus changing it in to a padavarnam for the bharathanatyam arangetram of the daughter of their family doctor and was able to show that was the perfect ragam for this piece. Sunday’s audience was given special insight into this conversion by Sujatha who sang both versions.

This was followed by a solo item by Srimathi Sunanda,  Sollu Vallayo with beautiful lyrics by Sri Subramanya Bharathi set to Ragamalika. In this item Sunanda took us on an emotional journey from the joy of the nayika remembering being with Lord Muruga to the distress of missing him. In choosing ragams such as Vallaji, Gaudmalhar, Ranjani, and Saramathi, Sri Jayaraman supported the emotions of delight to yearning.

While varnam is generally considered the most celebrated piece  in the Bharatha Natyam repertoire, this was not the case for this program. The classic Theerada villaiyattu pillai (lyrics by Bharathi) was the star of the evening. The music used was taken from a concert performance by Sri Jayaraman and not sung or choreographed specifically for dance. It exemplied the Lalgudi Bani wherein the violin literally sings and interprets the lyrics by mimicking the pitch and variations of the human voice. . Srimathi Sunanda’s artful choreography and perfect execution by the dancers complimented every movement in the music. The footwork was precise and strong enhancing the mischievous antics of Lord Krishna.

Sri Jayaraman has is well known as a contemporary composer of thillanas for dance. Srimathi Sunanda chose a thillana in the Ragam Thillang. The dynamic rhythms and graceful poses were elegantly intertwined in the music.

Typically, when one describes a dance program the discussion centers on the dancers and their performance on stage. The music is incidental. This program was unique. Under Srimathi Sunanda’s choreographic expertise, each dancer played a significant and vital role without distinguishing herself from the collective. Every movement was precise and well placed. The team of dancers had obviously put in hours of practice together as their footwork and abhinaya were perfectly coordinated. The dancers were a means by which to meld perfectly the music of Lalgudi Jayaram into a visual form and celebrate his immense contributions to Bharatha Natyam.

|