CHENNAI: She is at the forefront of the new generation of Bharathnatyam dancers. Her refreshing approach to the dance has won her many accolades from dance lovers around the world.
She is none other than ‘Nadanamaamani’ Janaki Rangarajan, the co-founder of Kalashraya, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of classical arts, that raises funds to support various organisations working towards educating children.
Janaki was guided by Padma Subramanian, with whom she studied for 17 years after a short stint with dancer Madhavi Chandrasekar in Tiruchy.
Janaki, a globe trotter and winner of many awards, recently presented Voices, a unique programme, at the 2014 Yagnaraman Festival, along with Sudha Raghuraman. It was a creative juxtaposition of the spoken word, song and dance.
Voice celebrated the incredible human accomplishment of creating magic with the words. “Just as water flows in a river, sometimes with serenity and some times with turbulance, words also flow to create splendid poetry that can ease and engage the mind, and fuel passion,” says this gifted dancer and choreographer.
When she commenced with Poetry arrived in search of me, the soulful words of Pablo Neruda revealing the genesis of poetic inspiration, she did her guru proud. She revealed the beauty of the lyrics accompanied by articulate and poetic expressions, illustrating a range of emotions.
Kamayani, the next item, included beautiful verses from Sri Jaishankar Prasad’s epic 20th century Hindi poem, which takes its inspiration from the ancient Sathapatha Brahmana. It made us understand the greatness of un-conditional love. Kamayani depicted the interplay of human emotions, thoughts and actions. The intelligent choreography and spirited dancing, together with captivating music by Sudha Raghuraman, eased our mind.
Some of the poems explored included Where everything is music by Rumi (13th century poem in Persian language), Draupadi’s dharma by Pramila Venkateswaran (contemporary poem) and Juda by Amir Khan (13th century Persian poem).
It was heartening to see the effort that the dancer and musician had put in to make a seamless connection between the ancient and modern, from the profound to mundane, from the universal consciousness to individual soul, revealing that poetry is a great river that traverses time and memory.