Dance musicians

By Anjana Anand

Dr. Vanathy Raghuraman

Dr. Vanathy Raghuraman, daughter and disciple of Sangita Kalanidhi, Dr. S. Ramanathan, has been a vocalist for dance for the past two decades. Following in her father’s footsteps, Vanathy Raghuraman ventured into research and obtained a doctorate. An approachable singer, ever willing to encourage young artistes, she has performed with stalwarts like C.V Chandrasekhar, the Dhananjayans, Kalanidhi Narayanan, and Vyjayanthimala to name a few. 

Her honours include the “Best Singer for Dance” award from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in 1998 and 2004, and the title Sangita Vipanchi from the Balamurali Krishna Trust in 2007.

Her success as a dance musician stems from her training in Bharatanatyam as a young girl in Madurai. 

Vanathy Raghuraman spoke to Sruti:

Your background in music?

I learnt music from my father. We are a family of musicians and I was always surrounded by music from a young age. I was giving concerts before coming into the dance world. I did my Bachelors in Music from Queen Mary’s College and Masters at Madras University, where I also completed my Ph.D. My thesis deals with musical instruments and dance details from the Kamba Ramayana.

You are one of the few musicians who also learnt and performed Bharatanatyam….

I was always interested in dance. I did my arangetram under the tutelage of Trigokarnam S. Ranganayaki Ammal. I used to come to Chennai from Madurai to perform with Kameswaran’s and SujataVijayaraghavan’s dance group. Once we moved to Chennai I came to the Dhanajayans and studied with them for some time. I also learnt the varnam Manavichekona from Anandhi Ramachandran of Kalakshetra. SK Rajarathnam Sir also taught me. At that time, I sometimes sang for some dance programmes but not in a serious way. I am glad now that I also learnt nattuvangam from Sri Seetarama Sarma. After my daughter was born, I took a break.

How did you start singing for dance after that?

My nieces from my husband’s family in the US were having their arangetram and asked me to sing for them. I did not have much experience singing for dance, so I went to meet Dhananjayan sir to guide me. He and Shanta Akka took a lot of interest to train me in a meticulous manner. I used to sit in their classes and learn the items performed in their school. The first varnam I learned to sing was Ati moham konden, which I sang for their student the very next day!

From then, I have mainly been singing for the Dhananjayans. 

Over the years, I sang for others like Vyjayantimala, CV Chandrasekhar and Lakshmi Ramaswamy, to name a few. I used to travel extensively for arangetrams abroad, sometimes months on end. Now I have slowed down a little and prefer taking performances here and at my own pace.

Without a doubt, my Bharatanatyam training has been the reason why I enjoy singing for dance. Being a good singer does not automatically make you a good dance musician. From the Dhananjayans, I learned when to sing and when not to sing! For example when the dancer is performing a sanchari, Dhanajayan Sir would insist that I give a break for the instrumentalists to take over. This not only gave some relief for the listener but also a chance for the accompanists. This technique is crucial for the success of a show. Besides these tips, I found it easy to sing because I could watch the dance closely and understand where to take a sanchari or what sangati to sing, as I am familiar with the dance mudras and vocabulary. When I am singing, the dancers do not need to fix the number of times to repeat a line, as I often keep a visual cue. I also identify with the mood of each scene and sing accordingly.

Did you miss perfoming as a cutcheri artiste?

Not at all. I loved singing for dance, maybe because I was a dancer myself. I found it interesting to work with different dancers. Each one has her own style – Kalanidhi Mami’s rendition of padams or Vyjayantimala’s preference for certain sangatis to suit her composition—which keeps me on my toes.

What are the challenges you have faced?

Singing for many dancers means acquiring a huge repertoire of songs, with each school differing in the way the composition is sung! That requires practice and alertness. Also getting used to the style of each performer takes time. Some dancers give you the freedom with just a cue to move to the next line while others prefer a fixed number of repetitions for each line. At times, dancers are particular about certain sangatis that must be sung as they would have composed the movements accordingly. That is a pleasure to observe. Sometimes dancers who do not have music knowledge ask me to sing songs from recordings which have not been sung correctly or lack classicism in the rendition. I avoid singing for them. 

You have composed music for dance. 

I have tuned songs chosen by dancers for the traditional margam and for dance productions. I have worked a lot on tuning Sangam poetry and lyrics from ancient Tamil literature. For these items and productions I use traditional panns to suit the era of the compositions. Rather than modern ragas like Revati or Vasanti, I set most of these compositions in traditional ragas. I enjoy composing for dance as I can visualize what the dancer wants.

Dr. S. Raghuraman has been a great support in your career. 

My husband Dr. S. Raghuraman has encouraged me as a musician from the time we were married. Later, he too got involved in the dance field as he is a Professor in Tamil with a lot of knowledge and interest in the arts. He has a passion for the Tamil language and has been encouraging artistes to share our rich literary heritage which is suitable for natya. He has been helping dancers with their productions by giving research inputs as well as penning lyrics for dance productions. I have tuned many compositions he has written. He was a great support for my Ph.D as well.

Please name some productions for which you have composed.

Ashta Nayikas and Rasa of Sangam Age for Kalanidhi Narayanan, ‘Maname Brindavaname’ for Malavika Sarukkai, Puranaanooru, Aalaavadu Eppadiyo and Aindhum Aiyanum for Dr. Lakshmi Ramaswamy, a production on Urmila and Sita for Dr. Draupadi, and ‘Ramayanam’ for Hariharan.

A tome and a demo

By S. Janaki

You know the Season has truly begun as soon as you open the newspapers on the morning of 1st December and see pages and pages of season schedules staring at you. My opening menu for Season 2013-14 was a book release function followed by a talk on the Melattur Bhagavata Mela Natyam by Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao at the TAG Centre in Alwarpet on 1st December. Dr. Rao and Dr. Yashoda Thakore have translated into English the ‘Nrtta Ratnavali’ of Jayasenapati, a military general of the Kakatiyas. There was a colourful crowd of over 50 dancers – special invitees – who had been assured of a complimentary copy of the book. After tucking in a traditional breakfast (hosted by the ever-generous R.T. Chari) of kesari, idlis, pongal, vadai and coffee, the invitees assembled in the small, cosy hi-tech hall.

The book was released by Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam who presented the first two copies to Sudharani Raghupathy and Chitra Visweswaran. A few more copies were handed over to eminent dancers/teachers like Vasanthalakshmi-Narasimhachari, Malavika Sarukkai, Savithri Jagannatha Rao and Kala Ramesh Rao. The book priced at Rs. 1,200 was on sale that day at a special rate of Rs. 600. It was a short and sweet function with crisp speeches as Venugopala Rao conducted the proceedings with an eye on the clock because R.T. Chari is a stickler for time. 

In the Southern Heritage TAG lecture that followed, Venugopala Rao presented an overview of the male-dominated Melattur Bhagavata Mela natakam tradition. The participation of Bhagavata Mela artists, made the presentation all the more enjoyable. The orchestra was led by the Tiruvaiyaru Brothers (vocal) who sang excerpts from traditional compositions in ragas like Ghanta, Chenchuritti, Kambhoji and Poorvikalyani with depth and feeling to depict some pravesa darus and characters like Leelavati, Hiranyakasipu, Kamsa, and Harischandra. 

Bhagavata Mela artist Kalaimamani S. Kumar is the younger brother of Bhagavata Mela artist S. Natarajan who has carved a niche for himself for his portrayal of female roles. Kumar is well known for donning the roles of macho kings like Hiranyakasipu, Kamsa, Dharmadeva and Harischandra. His demo that morning of the demon king Hiranyakasipu was amazing. One moment he was the pleasant tech savvy gentleman sitting beside you, but as soon as he stepped on to the stage he metamorphosed into the egoistic arrogant demon king Hiranyakasipu with his superb dialogue delivery, robust gait, quaint neck movements, hand gestures and facial expressions. He won deserving applause from the audience.

It was also heartening to see talented next generation Bharatanatyam dancers like Vijay Madhavan and Prasanna take to the Bhagavata Mela Natakam to keep it alive in the decades to come. It would augur well for younger artists to maintain the special quality of Bhagavata Mela movements and not give it the sophisticated sheen of Bharatanatyam.

Friendly and fun-loving

Sudha has had a long and consistent career in Carnatic music. She has come up to this high level by dint of her hard work and discipline. She is sincere and serious about her music, and very punctual too. She puts in as much effort for a kalyana kutcheri as for a sabha concert, whether she is singing for free or receiving more than a lakh for an event. I started accompanying her on the mridangam in 1989 and our latest tour was in May this year to U.S.A. I am indeed proud to have played the mridangam in her concerts for so many years. It has given me an insight into her music and helped develop a sound musical rapport with her. It was Sudha who suggested the name ‘Vibrations’ for my percussion ensemble. In 2006, she even sang for my student’s arangetram in Toronto.

Sudha is a religious person and does a lot of meditation and dhyanam. She has enviable stamina and most of her marathon four-hour concerts are a success. She takes good care of her voice which traverses the three octaves with ease. She is one musician who continues to draw full houses over the decades – from the 1990s to now! You get to see more of the friendly, fun-loving side of her personality when you travel with her. She is an excellent cook too and loves to share some of the delicious items she makes. The journey by train from Boston to Washington this summer for the Morning Ragas series was a memorable experience.

Sudha is not one to make undue fuss about acoustics; she will manage with the existing mike facilities in any hall. She does not grudge giving time to her accompanists in a concert; I remember an instance when we played a 40-minute tani avartanam during her concert in Muscat and she enjoyed it.

I am very fond of the GNB style because my guru Tiruvarur Nagarajan provided mridangam accompaniment for the maestro. I have had the good fortune of playing for vidushi MLV, for Trichur Ramachandran, and for Sudha Ragunathan. Initially, Sudha’s music resembled that of her guru MLV a great deal. It has always been briga laden, bright and joyous. Sudha also attempts sruti bhedam like her guru. She is fond of exploring prati madhyama ragas. I still remember the Shanmukhapriya raga she sang at Sastri Hall in the mid 1990s. Over the years, Sudha has gradually added her own dimension to the style. She has kalapramana suddham and a good grip over tala. Of late she has been playing with tala changes in her RTPs. For example, starting with Misra Jhampa in a pallavi, she will shift to Khanda Chapu; or from Tisra Triputa to Misra Chapu. Her breezy style has now moved towards saukhyam as she handles more of slow 2-kalai compositions. Her stage presence and music reflect her confidence and success.

TIRUVARUR VAIDYANATHAN
Mridanga vidwan

A Dancing Ganesa from the Pala era

By Chithra Madhavan

One of the most glorious epochs in Indian history was when the Pala dynasty ruled over most of what is today Bengal, Bihar and Bangladesh between the 8th-12th centuries A.D. Although much of Pala art is Buddhist, it also has many images belonging to the Hindu pantheon. Stone carvings of Nataraja, Surya, Uma Maheswara, Ganesa and Vishnu of superb workmanship belonging to this era can be seen in various places. Many of the metal sculptures of this period are also excellent pieces of art.

An image of Ganesa, carved of black stone, now in the Government Museum, Chennai, belongs to the Pala times. The stone on which it is carved is broken at the top, but fortunately, except for some minor damage, this image is intact.

This exquisite sculpture of this deity (Nritta Ganapati) dancing on a full-blown lotus is in tri-bhanga, with three bends in the body and eight hands and not four as is normally seen. His left leg, slightly bent, rests on the lotus. In the uppermost right hand, Ganesa holds a garland of beads (japa mala), held ever so delicately with just one finger. Another hand holds the axe (parasu), the third, unfortunately damaged, is in the gesture of assuring devotees not to fear (abhaya hasta), and the fourth right hand is seen hanging reaching down to the waist and holding an object not easily identifiable.

The topmost left hand is uplifted and does not hold any attribute so as to enable Vinayaka to depict various mudras; the second holds the elephant-goad (ankusha), the third holds an object not easily identifiable, but probably is the pasha (elephant-goad) and the fourth reaches out to a cupful of modaka. This image is much bejewelled with crown, necklaces, bangles, armlets and anklets.

Flanking the feet of the deity are tiny figures of two Siva ganas playing musical instruments. The one to the dancer’s right plays on two vertically placed drums, while the musician to the left sounds the cymbals. Both the artistes are apparently watching the dancer in blissful rapture, going by the expression on their faces. On one side of the base of the pedestal of the image is Ganesa’s mouse-vehicle (mushika-vahana) and on the other side is a supplicant devotee.

The sensitive onlooker can actually visualize this stone Ganesa dance. This anonymous sculptor of the Pala times surely deserves our appreciation.

Attendance annual awards 2013

By Samudri

The Attendance annual awards 2013 were presented on 1st December 2013 to seven eminent personalities in the field of dance.

Guru Jaya Alva (Mangalore)—Lifetime Achievement Award

Guru Lalita Srinivasan—Rukmini Devi Significant Contribution Award

Gurus Nirupama-Rajendra—Dance Couple U.S.K. Rao-Chandrabhaga Devi Award

Dr. Avanthi Meduri—Mohan Khokar Academic/Overall Excellence Award

Jaychandran Palazhy—Uday Shankar Award for Choreography 

Rahul Acharya—Ram Gopal Best Male Solo Dancer Award

Violin maestro L. Subramaniam did the honours and educationist Vimala Rangachar felicitated the awardees. Chiranjiv Singh, President Alliance Francaise, delivered the inaugural address. Veteran guru Maya Rao blessed the awardees. Pada pooja for the awardees was performed by debutante dancers.

The award ceremony was complemented by short films and acceptance speeches by the awardees. Madhu Nataraj and Murlimohan Kalva conducted and compered the ceremony.