CHENNAI : Acclaimed composer, musician-cum-dancer Madurai R Muralidharan is known for presenting complex concepts with simplicity. The goal is for it to reach the common man and connoisseurs of the arts. Following the success of Chaturvidham, a festival of rhythm, conceived and crafted by Muralidaran, he is gearing up for his next, a three-day dance festival, Dhimahi, celebrating the dynamic meditations on Laya.
“I have been doing this for the past 35 years. From the time I learnt mridangam, I have been interested in the nuances of rhythm. Though there are 35 unique talas in the carnatic sooladhi sapta talam system, no one has used it properly. As part of the festival, I will be bringing on stage, five creative and wholesome Bharatanatyam margams in five unique talas. This is something that’s never seen before,” shares the artistic director of Nrithyaksethra Dance Academy,In over a decade, Muralidharan has composed complete margams in 35 unique talas, over 120 varnams and jathiswarams in all the 72 Melakartha ragas. “About 15 of the 35 have been presented and staged across India. Composing these talas have become an artistic research work of sorts,” he says.
The rehearsals for the three-day fest started in July and is in full swing. “It is certainly not an easy task, and from the musicians, dancers to everyone working for this festival have put their heart and soul,” he says.Spread across three days, each day of Dhimahi will feature full-length margams performed by students mentored by Muralidaran, along with short presentations by guest artistes. “The performances will include pieces in a variety of ragas, all set to the same tala,” he explains.
The dancers who will perform at Dhimahi include Kavya Muralidaran, Varshini Arumugam, Rashmeta Sai, and Vrithi Arvind. Guest artistes include Jayakrishnan, Lavanya Sankar, Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala and Rukmini Vijayakumar. “Shobana, Anitha Guha and Neyveli Santhanagopalan will be the guests of honour,” he says.
His previous venture was widely appreciated by stalwarts, and he adds, “Chaturvidham was appreciated by Umayalpuram K Sivaraman, T V Gopalakrishnan, Madurai Seshagopalan, Ghatam Karthick and Embar Kannan. So, I feel it’s my duty and responsibility to make this fest bigger, better and wholesome than the previous one.”(Dhimahi will be staged from November 23 to November 25 at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha,
T Nagar from 4.30 pm)