CHENNAI: She personified the grace of feminism along with the enchanting vigour of the Thandava . Nancy Boissel Cornier’s recent presentation of the ethereal dance of Nataraja at Courtyard By Marriott, captured Bharatanatyam in all its glory.
The compositions narrated how the cosmic dancer had created the entire universe with his rhythmic movement.
The French danseuse started off with a Pushpanjali on Lord Shiva in Hamsadhwani ragam and Adi talam , following which was the Anandha Thandavam in Shanmughapriya ragam , also set to Adi talam . The main piece of the evening was the Raagamalika set in five ragams — Hamsadhwani, Shanmughapriya, Revathi, Sahana and Anandha Bhairavi. This piece, also being a part of her final year MFA project at the Government Music College, Chennai, was a crucial one for Nancy.
Next came the popular song Bho Sambho , composed by Dayananda Swami in Revathi ragam and set to Adi talam . Nancy’s performance culminated in a thillana in Kathanakuthuhalam ragam and Adi talam. All the sequences were choreographed by her guru, Kalaimamani Kuttalam M Selvam. Her expressions brought out the embedded meaning of the compositions perfectly.
Later, a freewheeling chat with the performer revealed not just how much she loved the dance form, but also how she had come to embrace it thoroughly. “I came to India in 2003. I was trained in ballet when I was five years old, and that made me all the more ambitious to learn Bharatanatyam,” she said.
While learning the dance form, linguistic challenges and adaptability to new styles never got the better of Nancy. “As an artiste, I believe that there are universal cultural chords, common to different forms of art, which anyone can connect with. That’s probably why they say that the arts transcend all barriers,” she said.
Nancy’s Bharatanatyam guru Kalaimamani Kuttalam M Selvam is the director of Chevalier V S Muthuswamy Pillai Laya Natiya School in Mylapore.
From him, she has learnt the basic forms of expression, the mudras , and the postures. “The postures in Bharatanatyam are so different; so is the body language. Simultaneously, I familiarised myself with the Tamil script too,” revealed Nancy.
Admitting that she couldn’t speak Tamil proficiently, Nancy added that she could read and write the language to a considerable extent. To prove her point, she scribbled out the name ‘Shiva’ in Tamil and displayed it with a glint of pride.
It was back in 2005 that Nancy had her arangetram at the Santhome Higher Secondary School, Mylapore. Then on, she has even performed during many Margazhi seasons. As of now, she is all set to pursue her PhD and submit it to the University of Paris. “My topic would be based on my experience while learning Bharatanatyam. It will be written in French,” said the dancer.
While pursuing her degree in MFA, her final year project was based on the Ardhanareeshwara. “Auguste Rodin, a noted French sculptor had conceived the form of the Ardhanareeshwara in a bronze sculpture. His detailed understanding of the form was based on in-depth research. The basis of my project is a translation of the same in verse, by poet Sree Ram, set to tune by classical singer Nanda Kumar,” said Nancy. “Crossing over what the man-woman confluence of the Ardhanareeshwara means in mythology, what I wanted to convey in my study, was the confluence of Indian and French connections,” she added.
Nancy currently stays in Chennai with her husband, who is a photographer by profession. “I visit France once in a year to meet my near and dear ones. But I have found a home here. I simply love this city,” she said.
