Natyanjali 2005

An evening of Indian classical dance presented by MIT Natya

Date: Friday, September 30, 2005
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Little Kresge Auditorium, MIT
Tickets: $5 MIT, $7 Non-MIT
To reserve tickets, please email natya-tix[at]mit[dot]edu

Natyanjali, which literally means "an offering of dance," is our annual program devoted to showcasing the variety and beauty of traditional classical Indian dance. This year's event features dances by MIT students and affiliates in Bharatha Natyam, Kuchipudi and Odissi styles.

FEATURING...

  1. Mangalacharan (Odissi) - Namrata Verma

    The Mangalacharan, "A Prayer to Lord Jagannath" is a dance of invocation, offered for an auspicious beginning, in which the dancer gives salutations to God, Mother Earth, the teacher, the audience and the universe. The dance first starts with the prayer to Lord Jagannath...

    "Sometimes in great happiness, Lord Jagannatha plays his flute loudly in the groves on the banks of the Yamuna. He is like a bumblebee that tastes the beautiful lotus-like faces of the cowherd damsels of Vraja, and his lotus feet are worshipped by great personalities such as Lakshmi, Siva, Brahma, Indra and Ganesha. May that Jagannath Swami be the object of my vision."

    ...followed by the prayer to the Guru

    "Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo Maheshwara. Gurur Sakshat Para Brahma. Tasmai Sri Gurave Namah."

    Guru is Brahma, the creator, Guru is Vishnu, the protector, and Guru is Siva, the destroyer of ignorance. The Guru is the Supreme Being. Salutations to the Guru.

    2. Ragam- Misra Pahadi
    Taalam- Tripatta and Ektali
    Choreographer / Teacher- Guru Jyoti Rout

  2. Tishram Alarippu (Bharatha Natyam) - Manisha Manmohan

    Alarippu literally means 'to blossom', that is, opening of the body and limbs to get prepared to execute more difficult pieces to be performed after. It is a piece with simple poses and movements in an equally simple tune and rhythm, representing the 'nritta' or pure dance aspect of Bharathanatyam. Although Alarippu is the shortest and the simplest item of a Bharathanatyam recital, it often represents a dancers true potential.

    Raagam: Nattai
    Taalam: Tishram Adi

  3. Ganesh Koutvam (Kuchipudi) - Sravanti Kusuma

    This dance is a prayer to Lord Ganesha, son of Parvati and Shiva and the remover of obstacles. Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. Literally, Ganesha means 'Lord of the Ganaas'. The Gannas are the organs of perception and action, the mind and the intellect. Thus, Ganesha is the Lord of the intellect and higher knowledge. This selection is composed by Dr. Balamurali Krishna and praises the elephant-headed God in numerous ways. In this item Ganesha is described as compassionate and protector of good. This is an invocatory dance where the dancer offers her prayers to the Lord Ganesha and seeks his blessings to make the event a success.

    Raaga: Arabhi
    Taala: Adi
    Choreography: Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam

  4. Jathiswaram (Bharatha Natyam) - Priyanka Sundaresan, Shashank Sundaresan

    Jathiwaram is a pure dance presentation, devoid of any abhinaya (facial expression with the intent of telling a story). In this dance intricate pure dance sequencees are fused with repetitive melodic musical notes. The dance deals with the execution of adavus (basic steps) and mudras (hand gestures), combined in definite groups. Jathis (pure dance) are executed combining swara passages (musical scores) in a particular raga and tala.

    Raagam: Abogi
    Taalam: Adi


    5. INTERMISSION

  5. Mayil Vahana (Bharatha Natyam) - Harini Rajaraman

    This is a padham (or song) in praise of Lord Shanmukha, one of the celebrated deities of Hindus all over the world. Karthikeya or Muruga - as He is also known - is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. He rides the beautiful peacock, hence the title "Mayil Vahana," and with the spear in his hand, He traverses the earth as if it is His playground. Bearing the knowledge given by Lord Shiva, and the power given by Goddess Parvathi, Lord Karthikeya graces the world from the hills of India, with his consorts, Devaiyanai and Valli, by his side. This piece highlights some of the episodes from Lord Karthikeya's encounters with His devotees.

    Ragam : Mohanam
    Thalam : Adi
    Choreography: Smt. Devika Raghavan

  6. Idadhu Padam (Bharatha Natyam) - Priyanka Sundaresan

    This song describes Lord Shiva or Nataraja, who dances with the lifting of his left foot. The song describes the shine in his face and the jingle of his anklets, the serpents he is adorned with and the tiger skin worn around his waist. It also describes him as wedded to Parvathi and living in the city of Chidambaram.

    Raagam: Kamaas
    Taalam: Adi

  7. Adhuvum Soluvaal (Bharatha Natyam) - Krithika Sridharan

    This piece is a humorous narration by the jealous nayaki (heroine) who is Devayani, the first wife of Lord Muruga, son of Lord Siva. She laments about her husband's second wife, Valli, a gypsy by birth, who used to live alone in poverty before marriage, but has now risen to immediate wealth, status and "unbecoming" pride. Valli, who used to beg and borrow for any clothes and jewels is now an owner of large houses, rich clothes, expensive jewels, hordes of servants and more. The nayaki starts and ends her complaints by sarcastically stating it is not truly Valli's fault but her husband's for spoiling her. This type of an abhinaya piece is known as javali or padam.

    Raagam: Sourashtra
    Taalam: Adi
    Choreography: Guru Vazhuvoor R. Samraj

  8. Thillana (Bharatha Natyam) - Charuleka Varadharajan

    A fast and lively dance, which traditionally concludes a Bharathanatyam recital. The piece also contains a short dedication to the Goddess Raja Rajeshwari (Parvati).

    Raagam: Parasu
    Taalam: Adi
    Taught by: Gayathri Srinivasan

PERFORMER BIOS

  • Sravanti Kusuma
    Sravanti is a sophomore majoring in chemical engineering. She has been taking Kuchipudi dance lessons since elementary school under Smt. Sasikala Penumarthi, founder and director of the Kuchipudi Dance Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. Through the Dance Academy, she has participated in many performances all over the Southeast.

  • Harini Rajaraman
    Harini has been a student of Smt. Devika Raghavan, director of Kalarasana Centre for Performing Arts, since October 1998. She has honed her dance skills under the tutelage of her dedicated guru and performed her Bharathanatyam Arangetram in August, 2005. Harini's dancing is greatly embellished by her rich musical heritage. She has been passionately pursuing the arts since early childhood. Equally proficient in Carnatic (south Indian classical) vocal and violin, Harini owes her repertoire to a host of renowned music teachers. Currently a junior at MIT, Harini is pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in the Department of Architecture & Design.

  • Krithika Sridharan
    Krithika received Bharathanatyam training from Natyacharya Guru Vazhuvoor R. Samraj and subsequently from Kalaimamani K.J. Sarasa. After her arangetram in 1994, she gave various performances in Tamilnadu including at Chennai for Karthik Fine Arts, at Tiruchirapalli for Rasika Ranjana Sabha, and at Tirunelveli for Nellai Sangeetha Sabha. She has been performing with MIT Natya for the past one year in events like the Ramayana, the Tamil Sangam Pongal Vizha, 2005 South Asian culture show, and the Sidney Pacific cultural show. She is a graduate of Northeastern University where she obtained Masters Degree in Information Systems.

  • Priyanka Sundaresan
    Priya began learning Bharatanatyam in the Pandanallur style at age 7 from Smt. Shobha Sharma in Philadelphia. She continued with most of her training from Smt. Asha Gopal, founder and director of the Arathi School of India Dances, in Phoenix, AZ. She performed her arangetram at Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bangalore, India, in 1999. Priya is a senior in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Environmental Policy.

  • Shashank Sundaresan
    Shashank began learning Bharatanatyam in the Pandanallur style at age 6 from Smt. Shobha Sharma in Philadelphia. She continued with most of her training from Smt. Asha Gopal, founder and director of the Arathi School of India Dances, in Phoenix, AZ. Shashank is a sophomore in Materials Science and Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering.

  • Charuleka Varadharajan
    Charu is a student of the Kalakshetra style of Bharathanatyam and is currently taking lessons from Smt. Gayathri Srinivasan. She began her Bharatha Natyam training at the age of 4 and has previously learnt from Smt. Radhika Shurajit (a disciple of Sri. Dhananjayan) in Madras. She has been actively involved with Natya since Spring 2004 & has performed in various events at MIT and the Boston area, including the 2004 dance drama "Ramayana". Charu is a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT.

  • Namrata Verma
    Namrata has been learning Odissi from Guru Jyoti Rout since 2003 at the Jyoti Kala Mandir College of Indian Classical Arts, Richmond, CA. Before learning Odissi, Namrata has been choreographing and performing folk, classical, and film dance since fourth grade. A member of Chamak, MIT's Indian fusion dance team, and summer bhangra, she enjoys exploring new dance styles. Namrata is currently a sophomore at MIT majoring in Mathematics and Brain & Cognitive Sciences.

PROGRAM CREDITS

Co-Presidents : Neera Jain, Priyanka Sundaresan
Masters of Ceremonies : Sumati Ram-Mohan
Sound : MIT A/V
Lighting : E33 Productions
Program : Harini Rajaraman
Web Page : Charuleka Varadharajan
Poster : Namrata Verma
Ticketing : Shashank Sundaresan