Classical dancer Srinidhi Chidambaram, talks about her thematic performances on Nature's fury.
Chennai: Kalaimamani Srinidhi Chidambaram is all set to conquer the stage this Margazhi too, with her thematic performance, an interesting mix of the ancient and the modern. The popular danseuse is one who takes immense pleasure in marrying Tamil poetry and literature with Carnatic music for her performances. “Bharatanatyam is nothing but visual Carnatic music,” she says.
Srinidhi’s three performances that are going to be staged this year are relevant to today’s context. “Each piece is a part of the BharatanaÂtyam margam but does have a certain twist to it. So maybe it is a margam with a twist,” says Srinidhi. The three themes that she has lined up for this season are Anjali, where the alwar pasurams are blended with an iconic composition of the violin maestro, the late Lalgudi Jayaraman. The varnam is a classic Bharatanatyam piece where she has juxtaposed Vaishnavite bhakti poems, then a few pieces on Nature’s fury, global warming and one on modern mothers and thillanas with some interesting blends too.
Although there are many old pieces that a classical dancer can explore, Srinidhi loves creating new ones. “As an artiste I feel I have lots that I want to convey which can’t happen only through older compositions. I also want to explore and present Tamil literary works that I have a personal fascination for. And third, I feel that anything, even a film song, if presented in the strictest classical format that I am known for, will not dilute the performance,” says this passionate dancer.
Srinidhi specifically likes using Tamil poetry and literature along with Carnatic music for she loves the language. Her love for Tamil began when she was in school and she credits her Tamil teacher Shanthi, who instilled the love for reading Tamil works in her. She has done thematic margams calledKaviya Tamizh, using the works of Avvaiyar, Ilango Adigal, Kalki, Bharathiar and Valluvar for the whole margam. This season, Srinidhi will also perform a composition based on a poem that was written by legendary lyricist and writer Vairamuthu.
“His works have been a staple in recent years for me. In fact I like to end my programmes these days with his Malorodu Malar song made popular in the film Bombay,” she reveals. “When I saw the horrifying visuals of the Uttarakhand tragedy, when we all stood powerless against Nature’s might and anger, I was so stricken that I felt the need to communicate the despair and also the way we have abused nature, resulting in this sort of disaster. I asked Thiru Vairamuthu to compose a poem depicting Nature’s fury when we ignore her voice and abuse her and then when she wreaks havoc, we are powerless .The poem is inspiring and I hope to do justice to it through classical Bharatanatyam,” she says.
A gifted dancer, Srinidhi learnt under the tutelage of Smt Kamala and Swamimalai Rajaratnam Pillai. She began learning dance when she was four yours old and has been dancing for around 37 years. “Margazhi always brings with it a sense of breathless anticipation ever since I can remember. I have experienced its joy as well as all the anxieties and hard work that it brings, right from when I was a child, as I have been performing from the age of seven. When I was dancing with my first Guru Smt Kamala, I must have been hardly 6 or 7 when I danced as Sita and Krishna and Prahlad in her dance dramas in the hallowed portals of dance like the Music Academy and Narada Gana Sabha. At that time, dance meant dressing up, crying over thick stemmed earrings, playing with the Alta and demanding popcorn!” she reminisces.
Next: Learning, teaching trends change, but traditional roots remain strong
Learning, teaching trends change, but traditional roots remain strong
DR M. NARMADHA
“Once I became a teenager, under the tutelage of Sri Swamimalai Rajaratnam, Margazhi brought many coveted opportunities. I have actually never missed dancing during any Margazhi season except when I was expecting my daughter. The last couple of years to me have meant new awakenings, new themes and new choreography,” she concludes.
Music is divine. The solid foundation of Indian music is manodharma, the highest level of creativity and the outpouring of a passionate soul steeped in bliss, the sat, chit and ananda. The trinity of Carnatic music, the great Amir Khushro and Tansen occupy an immortal place in the structuring of the great aesthetic value of Indian music.
All seers have advocated guru bhakti (devotion to the teacher) and vinamrata (humility) as the path to attain the knowledge of parama gnan (enlightenment). Traditional musicians underwent assiduous training in gurukula gharana (the tradition of their teachers) and practised with bhakti as their focus, the quintessence of the eternal ananda.
Rules too were very clearly formatted in a number of treatises like Sangita Ratnakara and still earlier, the Natya Sastra of Bharata Muni. These formats became the pillars of a cultural heritage and related the existing systems of music to the earlier forms of renditions and practice.
Performers aim to win the hearts of their greatest supporters - their fans who are the backbone in bringing out the best from every performing artist. It is the audience that gave to the world of Indian music, the immortal melodies of vaishnava janato, the equally bewitching eppa varuvaro of Madurai Mani Iyer, the evergreen Sindhubhairavi taraÂna of the legendary violinist M. S. Gopalakrishnan and kaatrinile varum gitam of the singing nightingale M.S. SubbulakÂshmi. While traditional artisÂtes did derive their insÂpiÂraÂtion from the audience, they alÂso made sure that they maintaÂiÂned the classicism of their presentations as a gift to posterity.
The changing times with socio cultural influences and the advent of technology have brought in changes. Technology too has brought exposure. In the present fast world people have limited time and limited patience, greater commitments and varied activities. The computer has changed the life of every human being in terms of time and output. There is a strong opinion that musicians have to be tech savvy. I appreciate the approach of artistes in handling publicity and promotion as the rasika is able to access music through the internet, live webcasts and so on. Social networks bring artistes close to their fans and millions of rasikas view sites like rasikas.org and even post their comments.
But a live concert is unique and it means much more to be a part of a live audience and enjoy the reverberations. I still hear people talking about my father’s hamir kalyani and his subhapantuvarali which he performed in the 1950s.
Now the audience seeks style and effectiveness within a shÂort time. Concerts beyond two hours are not common now. In Hindustani concerts, the elaboration of one raga followed by a dhun or a thumri makes it a concise duration of an hour and a half, or just an hour. There is also a fascination with fusion concerts with special themes, and these also gain support from good sponsors.
I am a violinist myself and I feel that my violin can reach the global audience through my fusion group Ecstasy besides my regular violin solo in Hindustani and Carnatic music.
It is good that Carnatic classical songs in film music like alai payudhe and classical ragas of Hindustani music like malkauns and bhoop in films are very well understood by the audience.
Music online lessons through skype and facetime have brought the guru sishya connectivity at a mouse’s touch and spread the gospel of Indian music. Learning one on one from a guru however, has its own value and summer sessions for students from abroad has also helped in creating awareness about the greatness of our music throughout the globe. The Cleveland Thyagaraja aradhana festival is a classical festival of Indian music in the US, and that it has continued for more than three decades indicates that Indian music is immortal. Finally, I will say - old is gold. Long live the tradition of Indian music. Practice makes perfection.
(The writer is an acclaimed, third generation violinist of the Parur MSG legacy. Sancara, her brainchild, has taken up the task of perpetuating MSG legacy by teaching violin, vocal in Hindustani and Carnatic music around the globe)
( Source : dc )
Next Story
