Radhika Vairavelvan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Challenging the Natya Shastra and its Rasa theory as the first known work on theater art, Sattanar’s Kuttanul, an ancient Tamil text on dance, music and drama, dating to the Third Sangam period (probably 3BCE–3CE). The author Sattannar is believed to have been a contemporary of Tolkapier, the author of the Tamil grammar text, tolkappiyam, Sattanar and Tolkapier were contemporaries and disciples of Agathiyar, who is believed to be the author of AakattiyamThe primary source of Tamil literature, music and drama and the creator of the Tamil language or to whom Shiva gave knowledge of the language.
The Kutanul was written in nine parts. Two were recovered by 2007 and three others later, according to scholar S Raghuraman, who mentions them in his book ‘History of Tamizh Dance’ (translated by Lakshmi Ramaswamy). we have them to thank for bringing weed and the dance component of tolkappiyam And bringing other texts to light through the book. Recently, under his guidance, dancer-scholar Radhika Vairvelvan has carefully translated the first part. weed‘Kuvainul’, which deals with the origin of ‘Om’ as sound, the origin of dance and rasa, and much more.
Radhika had another reason to celebrate – the 30th anniversary of her Arangetram. She is a senior student of Ambika Buch, the famous Kalakshetra veteran and yesteryear heroine of Rukmini Devi’s dance dramas. Radhika is inventive and a mature dancer-teacher. Her Bharatanatyam rendition at Rukmini Arangam at Kalakshetra was full of interesting moments.
refreshing
The opening Alarippu, broken into sections and set in different nadis, each section alternating with a prayer from Kalakshetra, was crisp and refreshingly different. Similarly, the varnam was unusual – with visualization ideas inspired by the nritta by Swapna Sundari and Radhika in ‘Malayamaruthamu Che Mathi Jhalluvanera’ (Malayamarutham, etc., Vummidi Setty Venkataswamy Naidu).
With Swapna Sundari’s poetic flair, the theme of a lovelorn heroine was presented as ‘a young tantrum heroine whose passion is fueled by the mountain breeze, attracts the attention of the Lord of Guntur’ . The communications were roundabout and full of similes; As the mountain breeze caresses the flowers, so does the sad heroine. Another simile compares the crocodile hurting Gajendra to the wind hurting the heroine. There were others, but they could not be developed due to paucity of time.
Radhika’s jathas were mostly traditional, using unhurried rhythms. it allowed grace Azutham in execution. The titular nattuvangam by Sri Sudarsini and the mridangam by Vedakrishnaram, with their occasional sarvalaghus and tailor-made fillings in the steps, enhanced theramanam. Vidya Subhash (vocals), TV Sukanya (violin) and Sujit S. A pleasure to listen to along with Naik (flute). His company Bhairavi was special. The coordination between everyone on the stage was unmatched.
mood piece
Draupadi’s lament ‘Ninnin Sabatham’ about being treated like a commodity, given away, shared and pawned by those around her, written by Professor Raghuraman and set in Taalmalika by Rajkumar Bharati Tuned by Kalyanavasantham, it was a mood piece. The censuring praise on Tiruvarur Tyagesa, ‘Mugathai Kaatiye’ (Bhairavi, Misra Chapu, Papanasa Mudaliar) was conceived by Rukmini Devi, in which the dancer questions the deity as to why he never reveals himself.
The final ‘Kaminimani’ (Poorva Kamodari, Saavari, Mishra Hapu, Swathi Tirunal) was a delightful conversation between the heroine and her friend, where the heroine tries to decipher the telltale signs of a tryst with Padmanabha. A defensive heroine answers a few questions, and finally she almost has to give up.
These pieces required a bit of depth and Radhika was a believable heroine in all three. She ended with a Surya Thillana (Adi, Rukmini Ramani) choreographed by Ambika Buch. Every aspect of the performance was worked with perfection.