Mr.N.Pattabiraman spoke on behalf of the Sruti Foundation. He awarded the E.Krishna Iyer Medal to Ms.Kalanidhi Narayanan through Ms.Sarada of Kalakshetra. This award recognises an individual or an institution for their efforts in the preservation and promotion of Bharatanatyam.

Smt.S.Sarada spoke about Ms.Narayanan & Mr.E.Krishna Iyer. A few verses composed by her, blessing Ms.Narayanan, were sung by Ms. Seetha Rajan in Kambhoji. Ms.Narayanan was also felicitated by two senior disciples Ms.Jamuna Krishna & Ms.Menaka Thakkar.

The covener of the Natya Kala Conference, Padma Bhushan Ms. Kalanidhi Narayanan, abhinaya maestro, thanked everyone for their kind words. She said this conference was for 7 days, with one guest speaker a day. A one and a half hour lecture demonstration, followed by an open house for questions, was the pattern to be followed for every session.

BHAKTHI POETRY IN THE NORTH AND SOUTH

Smt.Jamuna Krishna of Delhi spoke on Bhakthi poetry. A dancer and musician, Smt. Jamuna researches into works of Hindi and Tamil poets. Formerly a student of Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan, she runs a dance school, Kalangan, in Delhi.

Smt.Jamuna chose poets Ramalinga Swamigal (Tamil) and Kabir (avadhi Hindi) for delineation. Though they lived 400 years apart and were from different regions and backgrounds, they shared a common ideology. Both poets were against religious fanatism, casteism and supersition. They spread the message of love and humanism.

"Varuvar Azhaithu Vadi" of Ramalinga Swamigal was demonstrated wherein the nayika longs to see the divine, dancing, Lord Shiva. Kabir's 'Mohi Tohi' was next. The poet asks, "How can the bond between us snap? I cannot live without you.... as the bees without flowers... as the river merges into the sea."

The next poem in Tamil 'Ennakkum...' had an abstract meaning. The nature of the relationship between the poet and Lord Shiva is questioned - is it that of father and child or that of mother and child? .... 'Enrum Dayavam' was about a virahotkhandita nayika pining for her Lord, who has forsaken her.

In 'Supane mae sayi milae' Kabirdas says, "In my dream I found my Lord.... why should I stop dreaming?" The last poem 'Naachu re mere manmata .... was also Kabir's.

Smt.Jamuna Krishnan and her daughter Ragini both danced in the Bharatanatyam style to the Tamil and Hindi poems.

ABHINAYA IN KATHAK

Sangeeth Natak Akademi Award winner, Smt. Rohini Bhate, is a kathak exponent from Pune. For more than 50 years, she has run a dance school, Nrityabharati Kathak Dance Academy.

Kathak is better known for its nritta (pure dance aspect) than for its abhinaya (emotive aspect) due to the practice of performers and teachers today. Abhinaya has always been an integral part of the dance style. In fact 'Kathak' means one who tells a katha i.e story. There are no specific rules for angika abhinaya (gestural expressions) in kathak. Dancers just pick them up from their gurus, their contemporaries or add them on their own. This leaves a lot of room for imagination.

Another feature of Kathak abhinaya is the format of the Gatabhava. This enables enactment of short stories or incidents from the epics without the accompaniment of either words or a specially composed musical score. An incident about Mandavi, Bharata's wife, unhappy about her celibate life with her husband until she sees Urmila, Lakshmana's wife, happy just in memory of her absent husband was enacted. A thumri, geet, ghazal bhajan or even a poem or doha gives full scope for abhinaya. A poem was recited where a hurt and angry nayika asks of her lover... ghar aaye, kahan beet sari raat?.... You have come home. Where did you spend the whole night?

A samasyapurthi i.e. a question raised by one poet and answered by another in verse was demonstrated. Between Akbar and Birbal the question was: Have you ever seen the Sun and the Moon at the same time? Birbal answers: After a night of love when the woman went to the river Jamuna to bathe, the reflection of her face in the water was like the moon. When she came out of the water, her face was so lustrous, it was like the rays of the sun. This doha is danced to without any taal.

Smt. Bhate concluded with a bhajan `Gopal Radheshyam Govinda Radheshyam'. A light hearted group presentation, it had Krishna (Smt. Bhate) in the centre and gopis around dancing to a lively beat.

RARE ABHINAYA RACHANAS OF SOLO FEMALE DANCES OF KERALA

Dr.Prof.Leela Omcherry, an erudite scholar and musician, along with her dancer daughter Deepti Omcherry Bhalla, gave a lecture demonstration on Abhinaya in Mohiniattam.

Four major schools of dances which brought Mohiniattam to its present state are:

• Kovil Vazhakkam - temple tradition
• Arangu Vazhakkam - theatre tradition
• Kottara Vazhakkam - durbar tradition
• Naattu Vazahkkam - popular tradition

1. Dance competitions of the temple dancers like the Pushpanjali, Varna Padam or Geya Padam, with or without meaningful words, Ashtapadis.
2. Pre Mohini Attam period compositions like Varana Padam, Nritya Prabandham, Ardha Naareeswaram, Tarangam.
3. Maharaja Swati Thirunal period compositions like the Pada Varnam, Saami Unaye Nambinen in Kalyani Ragam, Daru Varnam in Mohana Ragam, Padams and tillanas of Swati Thirunal. Javalis also formed part of the repertoire. An example is Raamakomalaakaara by Kuttikunju Thankacchi in Ragamalika.
   This period is called the golden age of Mohini Attam. Adavus and the repertoire of items performed, costume and make up, were all streamlined under Swati Thirunal in his court.
   The afore-mentioned pieces were sung by Dr.Leela Omcherry in the original Sopaana music style, having directly learnt them from her grandmother. Her grandmother's teacher, Kuttykunju Thankacchi was a contemporary of Maharaja Swati Thirunal.
4. Compositions in the post Swati period: This period is known as the dark age of Mohini Attam when the art and music were abused, degraded and thus disappeared.
5. Modern compositions in the post-independence period.

There were demonstrations of some Swati Thirunal numbers by Smt.Deepti Omcherry Bhalla.

ADOPTION OF BHARATANATYAM AND CHAU FOR GREEK AUDIENCE

Ms. Leda Seitamidis, better known as Leda Shantala, is a Greek who has studied Bharatanatyam under gurus Adyar Lakshmanan, V.P.Dhananjayan and Kalanidhi Narayanan. Besides dance, she also teaches yoga in Greece. She is also a qualified dance therapist. She has many dance productions to her credit in Greece: Shakuntalam, Geeta Govindam and Kumara Sambandam. She communicates using the body language of Bharatanatyam, most often with Greek commentary in the background or with just instrumental music and, more often than not, with the use of face masks.

She commenced her lecture demonstration with her entry on stage as an old man, 'Kalidasa'. He totters to the front, disrobes and unmasks himself. He becomes Shankunthala, the central character of the play he wrote. Leda also demonstrated a Greek mythological story about King Zeus through the idiom of Bharatanatyam with Greek words in the background. The most moving demonstration was the character of Kam as a Vidushaka who has been entrusted with the task of creating love and passion in the heart of Lord Shiva that he may bring Shiva and Parvathi together.

Leda threw some light on ancient Greek civilisation by drawing parallels with ours. Most of the Gods in both cultures are portrayed as dancing figures. A common belief is also that the Gods themselves taught mortals how dance should be performed. For the Greeks and Indians, the rhythmical movements of the planets in the sky constitute a cosmic dance.

Unfortunately, the dance of the ancient Greek civilisation did not endure. With the advent of Christianity, the dance was banned from temples. Thus the art form lost its patronage and soon disappeared.

EMBIRAN EMBERUMAN

Padmashri Smt. Vyjayanthimala Bali needs no introduction to the connoisseur of dance. She has been a performer par excellence for five decades or more. Smt.Vyjayanthimala documented the stages in the life of Krishna, as described and sung by the Alwars in the Divya Prabandham, and by Andal in the Thirupavai.

The lecture demonstration commenced with the birth and the coming of baby Krishna to Gokulam. The whole village rejoiced in 'Aaduvar.... theiduvar...' Perialwar's `Manikkam Katti' has the poet singing, as Yashoda, a lullaby to her child.

'Karandha Narpalum Thairum' is a verse where Yashoda is entreating Krishna to come bathe - 'manjanamaada ni varai'. She says she will not complain in front of the others, though she has not even tasted milk, curd or butter since the day he came into her house.

In 'Shepoonda Shada', Krishna's leela is wondered at. The same boy Krishna who today shakes with the fear of his mother's anger when caught stealing butter, was the other day frightening all the children with his 'aapuchi'.

Smt.Vyjayanthimala moves into Krishna's young adulthood. The next two pashurams deal with Krishna as a lover - 'Shangani vaayin thiratha thayum' and 'Ni alaye sheer poovai'. In the latter, the nayika tells her pet bird, "I only brought you up. Now you refuse to tell Krishna of the pain I am suffering without him. I cannot look after you anymore".

Thirumazhisai Alwar in 'Seyyan, Anian, Siriyan, mige perian..' speaks of Krishna as the one who expounds the philosophy of life in the Bhagwad Gita. Those who do not learn from this upadesha have no spiritual sensitivity, he says. In Andal's Thirupavai 'Sitram Chire' and in the last verse 'Vanga Kadal kazhanthe Madhavanai, Keshavanai', the poet implores Krishna to help her set aside all other desires, that she may exist only to serve him, now and forever.

EVOLUTION IN KUCHIPUDI

Dr.Pappu Venugopala Rao, an eminent scholar and linguist, started his lecture demonstration with a brief history of dance from the Natya Shastra. According to the text, dance has never been the exclusive domain of any one sex. Kuchipudi is believed to have evolved from a dance tradition of Andhra, called the Natya Mela. This was performed by both men and women.

Siddhendra Yogi, an ascetic, was instrumental in the formation of Kuchipudi. He lived between the end 14th and early 15th centuries. Among other things, he confirmed the dance to only male brahmins. The ascetic composed a dance drama, Bhama Kalapam, which even today is one of the most prominent items in the Kuchipudi repertoire.

In the early 20th century, a revolution of sorts in Kuchipudi was heralded by Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Sastry. He started initiating women from respectable families into the art. With the advent of women, choreography, music and even the literature changed. Also kuchipudi, hitherto in an exclusive dance drama form, evolved into one with solo items. Today a soloist's choice of items ranges from praveshika daruvus, tarangams, ashtapadis to padams, javalis and even tillanas.

Pasumarthi Rattayya Sarma, from Kuchipudi, performed the Balagopala tarangam, standing on a brass plate and balancing a small brass pot full of water on his head. Vedantam Venkatachalapathy ,also from Kuchipudi, did a female role as was traditionally done - Satyabhama in Bhama Kalapam. He also danced as a male, the demon Hiranyakasipu. Mallika Ramprasad donned a male role of Krishna from Bhama Kalapam. Kalpalathika took a female role as Usha.

Thus a man danced as a female and a male. Today a woman too dances as a male or a female. A dasaavatar number was done by male and female dancers together, denoting modern kuchipudi that makes no gender differentiation any more.

KRISHNA IN ODISSI

Smt.Sonal Mansingh, prominent Odissi dancer and researcher, gave the lecture demonstration in conjunction with the essay written by Late Sri Jeevan Pani on the same subject.

The history of Odissi in its present form is very recent. The roots of the dance form can be traced back to the ritualistic temple dancers, the maahaaris and the popular, mass entertaining, gotipua dancers. It was only in 1959 that a group of scholars and gurus relaid the format of modern Odissi.

Literature on Krishna is, of course, much older. Though the Gita Govinda of Jayadeva is still the most popular treatise on Krishna, other poets and playwrights of Orissa have also written on Krishna's shringara aspect. Sri Jeevan Pani traces the work of a playwright of the 7th century, Bhatta Naaraayana, who wrote about the Krishna - Radha legend back then.

Smt.Sonal commenced her demonstration with the first slokha of the Gita Govinda, 'Meghairmedura mambaram'. Jayadeva opens his treatise with a statement of that moment when Krishna's leela began.

Verses from the poet Upendra Bhanja describing Krishna and Radha were also demonstrated by Smt.Sonal. Krishna seems to be able to lend himself to all emotions - love, anger, devotion, etc. by not showing people his true swaroopa.

Sri.Jeevan Pani mentioned the 'Gopi vastra haran' episode where Krishna hides the clothes of the gopis while they are bathing. Krishna indicates to them that since he is 'antaryanmee' and limitless, the gopis need not feel ashamed of him. Sri Pani concludes his dissertation with the plea that all the Krishna - Radha literature should be understood with its inherent symbolism. Otherwise, it will dwindle into meaningless words and stories.

The music with the vocalist Sri Vankim Sethi was in the original Oriya Style. Smt.Sonal Mansingh and Sri Jeevan Pani revived this music tradition according to the 13th Century text, Sangeetha Ratnakara. This music is different from North Indian or South Indian music and has its own distinct identity and ragas.

The 18th Natya Kala Conference came to an end with a vote of thanks by Sri B.Natarajan, Vice-President of Sri.Krishna Gana Sabha, along with a request to Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan to continue as convener for one more year. Earlier, on a request by Sri.Yagnaraman, Secretary, Sri.Krishna Gana Sabha, Sri.V.A.K.Ranga Rao, dance critic and scholar, was made a one-man judge for the lecture demonstrations. Sri Rao declared the session with Dr.Pappu Venugopala Rao on the 'Evolution of Kuchipudi' as the best. Among others, one important reason given was the accuracy of Dr.P.V.Rao's research on each item demonstrated by him - names of the composer, Iyricist, musician, choreographer etc.