TAMIL SHORT STORIES IN BHARATHANATYAM

Description

This DVD is a live recording of two of the performances on the occasion of the thematic dance festival Bharatham Kathai Kathaiyaam of Natyarangam, the dance wing of Narada Gana Sabha Trust, Chennai in August 2011.

Twelve Tamil short stories by eminent authors, spread over the last eight decades, were performed at the festival. The stories represent a wide choice of themes, characters and styles and reaffirm the positive values of life and the underlying nobility of the human spirit.

This was the first time that Tamil short stories were attempted in Bharathanatyam. Performed by solo and duo artists to the accompaniment of non verbal music, both vocal and instrumental, each modern short story was followed by a parallel story from the epics, puranas, legend and history, also presented in Bharathanatyam.

Anilgal -Tamil short story by Sivasankari
Krauncha Vadham – Story from Valmiki Ramayanam
Presented in Bharathanatyam By Sangeeta Isvaran

Asalum Nagalum -Tamil short story by Indira Parthasarathy
Dhruva Charitram
Story from Vishnu Puranam
Presented in Bharathanatyam By Navia Natarajan

Dance Choreography : Sangeeta Isvaran
Music Composer : M.S.Sukhi
Nattuvangam and Vocal : Murali Parthasarathy
Mridangam : M.S.Sukhi
Violin : R.Kalaiarasan
Flute : E.Devarajan
Veena : Srividhya Viswanath
Kanjira : Rijesh Gopalakrishnan
Nagasvaram : M.Balasubramani
Tabla : D.Jayakumar
Anilgal is a modern short story on a woman’s grief and anger over the mindless killing of squirrels by her neighbour, who takes the extreme step to protect the fruits of her guava trees. The parallel story of Krauncha Vadham from Valmiki Ramayana describes the anguish of sage Valmiki over the killing of one of a pair of birds during their love play. His anger bursts forth as a verse that leads him to compose the epic Ramayana.

Dance Choreography : Navia Natarajan
Music Composer : Debur Srivatsa
Nattuvangam and Rhythm Pad : Prasanna Kumar
Vocal Music : Debur Srivatsa
Mridangam : Lingaraju
Violin : Easwar Ramakrishnan
Flute : Venugopal
Sitar : Suma Rani
Asalum Nagalum is a modern short story about a little girl Usha, who prefers a living mother in flesh and blood, albeit a step mother, to a lifelike portrait of her real mother, who is no more. The parallel story of Dhruvan from Vishnu Puranam depicts the story of a young prince yearning for his father’s affection. Thwarted by his step mother, he enters the forest where his prayers and penance to Vishnu elevate him to the status of a star in the firmament.