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Panchamahabootham The stage reverberated with the sound of ankle bells. It was a kaleidoscope of movement, rhythm and music. There was so much to see and hear. The intricate tala patterns, the dancers' movements, their formations, were all happening together, and so quickly. There were no frills, no props, no fancy costumes, no sahitya or words for the music, and subsequently no abhinaya. It was just an abstract theme, with dance and rhythm. Yet it was a very inspiring presentation. This is the genius of an immensely talented and equally modest choreographer and dancer, Professor C.V.Chandrasekhar. The only regret was that Prof. Chandrasekhar did not dance on stage that evening.
The performance in question was a dance drama 'Panchamaha Boothangal' staged at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai, as part of the annual cultural festival. It was based on the five primeval elements such as earth, water, fire, sky and ether. The dancers were mainly postgraduate students from Kalakshetra, and one was from the Dhananjayans' dance school, Bharata Kalanjali. They were of a reasonably good standard, and did justice to their roles. The show began with an obeisance to Lord Shiva, considered the embodiment of the pancha boothas, or five elements, and to Surya and Chandra, with slokhas from Kalidasa's Abhigyana Shakuntala. Upacharas or offerings to the elements as arhiyam for water, pushpam for the sky, chandanam for the earth, deepam for fire and doopam for ether followed. The final part of the programme presented each primordial element singly. Ideas from the Vasthu Shastra were taken as regards formations for each element such as: a horizontal line for water, a vertical line for fire, a diagonal line for vayu (air), a square for earth, and akasha (sky) was left formless. Each element was also given a different colour, different rhythmic patterns and adavus, and different ragams. The pancha ratna keerthanai ragams, the five gems of saint-composer Thyagaraja, were used in this delineation. Professor Chandrasekhar explained his theme and intent at the start of the programme. It certainly helped towards a better understanding of the presentation. This was originally choreographed about 8 years ago, but presented in Chennai for the first time. The costumes were simple and aesthetic, a general theme of white and gold for both the male and female dancers, with the girls sporting green blouses. The dancers were Krishna Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Ranjit Babu, Lavanya, Sai Kripa, Suhasini and Nirmala. The orchestra was headed by Prof. Chandrasekhar on the nattuvangam, Vanathi Raghuraman as the vocalist, Adyar Balu on the mridangam, Sikhamani on the violin, and B.Muthukumar on the flute. The musicians and dancers were in total synchronization for this remarkable endeavor. |
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