CHENNAI: Sound is movement! Where movement begins is also where it ends: rising and falling from a state of rest. Contemporary presentations of movements are minimalistic when it comes to layering it with music. In the contemporary school of thought, music and dance are considered separate disciplines, minimalism is employed in order to let one discipline shine.
That level of understanding and appreciation for art is meant for a small niche, who are serious about art. Contrary to that thought, in our traditions, movements are mastered in a minimalistic environment, but presented grandly with literature and music woven into it as ‘dance’ to engage a large audience.
Dance and its process are many times about bringing out the unseen or to trace very minute but intense inward movements. These artistes have shown a universal approach and multidisciplinary knowledge for intelligently blending and balancing the worldly and esoteric aspects of art and form. All three have also highlighted how a music composer, although their forte is of a parallel tradition, must show restraint in their respective discipline to allow the dance to shine.
What does it mean to hear the dance?
Mohiniyattam has been a late bloomer in comparison to other dance forms. Commenting on the most sensual Indian dance forms, Madhavan shares, “I have accompanied Neena Prasad, even before she chose Mohiniyattam as her specialisation. Looking back, the fact is, Mohiniyattam has been the binding factor for our duo that has lasted 30 years. We wished to build on what Maharaja Swati Thirunal envisioned as Mohiniyattam. Keeping his compositions as an ideal, our goal has been to establish Mohiniyattam as a musical dance form.”
To add context to readers, Mohiniyattam being an enticing dance form, needed a strong musical foundation that would not only bring out the regional flavours of Kerala but add classicism that would not limit its scope. Therefore, for Neena and Madhavan to believe that Carnatic tradition could fulfil those criteria is the God in the detail. The detail would be the realisation of how Carnatic as a musical discipline is different from its scope as a musical form. Picking on such detail is what differentiates rasikas as initiated and uninitiated.
Speaking on his most recent music composition for Mohiniyattam, Madhavan said, “Among the many I have composed, the most challenging has been for the dance production of ‘Tatri, the Woman’. Firstly, it is a contemporary story of a passionate, talented, and sexually attractive woman, who was used, abused and then condemned by the patriarchs of society.
Unlike mythological themes, in this case, we were dealing with social injustice to women that is relevant even today in various professional and public spaces. While Neena wanted to bring out an experimental theatre in Mohinityattam based on social reality; she also wanted to be careful in threading the narrative sensitively so that the right messaging is taken by the audience.” He explained how he always involved himself part of the production from scripting to staging of the dance. Tatri is a Mohiniyattam production that calls out the hypocrisy of patriarchy for not caring and respecting the femininity and sexuality of an elite woman of society.
Changanacherry Madhavan Nampoothiri
Carnatic vocalist, dance music composer
Disciple of: Padmabhushan recipient TV Shankarnarayanan, Prof. PR Kumara Kerala Varma, Prof. Kalanjoor TR Chandrashekaran
Mohiniyattam works: Cholkettu 20 nos; Jathisvaram 5 nos; Varnam 10 nos; Ashtapadi 7 nos
Thematic compositions: Amrapali; Sakhyam; Urmila; Soorpanakha; Thadaka; Devayani; Parijathaprapthi; Keralam Valarunnu
Thematic productions: Sitayanam; Shakuntala; Tourathrikam; Tatri
Musically evoking sentiments
Uma Sathyanarayanan is not only adept as a dancer but also extremely blessed in her grasp of musical traditions. Having undergone rigorous training under Padma Shri awardee Chitra Visweswaran in her academy, Uma is as holistic as a dancer should be. She is probably the only classical dancer of her generation who can compose music and should the need arise, do the soundscaping for it too.
“The first time I composed music for dance was in 2006. I was too young; I didn’t think too much and that, I feel, is a very important quality for creativity. In 2013, while composing music for Pillai Tamizh, a thematic that traces the 10 stages of childhood, I drew a lot of inspiration for music from the lyrics.” Uma is a lyrical person — how lyrics emotionally move her; or, how she should use the lyrics musically to evoke a sentiment in the audience, is her approach to composing.
In 2016, she worked on the thematic Nirmukti: Back to Nature, on the Ramayanam character, Ahalya. She shares, “That project was completely liberating. I picked verses for it from original works like Valmiki Ramayanam and Tulsi das’ Ramcharitamanas. Besides Sanskrit and Hindi, I had also chosen verse from a Telugu poem. So, my choice of ragas was naturally influenced by the language I was using. For Tulsidas’s verse, I introduced verbalisation of dialogue and even recitation to create a certain effect.”
In her latest solo thematic work, Hemanta Ritu, Uma mentioned how she used Kalidasa’s Ritu Samharam, and paired it with Rabindranath Tagore’s Bengali poem to layer the composition. Apart from that, she also demonstrated how ragams themselves had a texture, and with the right treatment, it can add the necessary mood.
Uma (Nambudripad) Sathyanarayanan
Bharatanatyam dancer, Nattuvangam, dance music vocal and composition
Disciple of: Chitra Visweswaran, Srimathy Madkholkar for Bharatanatyam; R Visweswaran, Rajeswari Neelakanthan and S Murali for Carnatic; Hindustani from Kaushik Aithal of Kirana Gharana
Thematic works: Ahalya
Thematic productions: Pillai Tamizh; Hemanta Ritu
Composing for abstraction
Music helps in adding a great deal when it comes to layering visuals for the audience, especially when the dancer attempts to show evolution using abstractions that will amplify the subtle movements. Navia Natarajan, a Bengaluru-based Bharatanatyam dancer, was exploring the concept of ‘paradox’ through her solo dance production, Virodhābhāsa.
She brings out ‘paradox’ through four segments — (i) Origin: Form & Formless; (ii) Birth: Creation & Transformation; (iii) Love: Independence & Intimacy; (iv) Tuning: Chaos & Silence. Navia, as an artiste, is intuitive, aware, and deep, this makes her intellectual and original as an artiste. Thoughts, such as hers, are the ones that push the boundaries of tradition. She took her concept to MS Sukhi, an ace dance mridangist who has created a niche for himself within the Bharatnatyam world.
Sukhi is a self-taught soundscape artist and perhaps the only musician in the dance world who does composing, orchestration, and arrangement of music. Sukhi says, “Composing for a dancer is extremely difficult as the music composer needs to integrate principles of melody, harmony, and rhythm with visuals of a dance that still remains unborn in the mind of the dancer. Many times dancers surrender to the music composers and accept whatever is given to them.
But, I enjoy it more if it is a collaboration. I do not like forcing any of my ideas on them. In the case of Navia, she had already seen and heard the music, much before I had conceived it. So in my approach to composing music for her, I simply aligned my thoughts with that of hers. I have observed that whenever the dancer comes with a clear vision, the music sits more nicely on the dance.”
Navia comments, “For Virodhabhasa’s music, I had to go back and forth with Sukhi. But he showed a lot of patience and gave a lot of time to absorb the theme. The fourth segment on ‘tuning’ required some sounds that are conventionally not accepted in traditions. However, the entire idea of the paradox within ‘tuning’ itself is to highlight how the disharmony is part of chaos and needs to be transcended. Sukhi responded to all of my demands very politely. I loved his collaborative attitude too, a very rare thing for a music composer in this industry.”
MS Sukhi
Dance percussionist: Mridangam, Nattuvangam, Dance Music Composer
Disciple of: R Ramesh, Dr Patri Satish Kumar; Kalakshetra Foundation alumnus
Works: Dance Music CD with OS Arun; Mohiniyattam works: Cholkettu 4 nos; Varnam 3 nos; Jathisvaram 2 nos; Thillana 3 nos
Thematic works: Ganga Nithyavahini for Malavika Srukkai; Sati Dahanam for Gopika Varma; Sita for Deepa Chakravarthy
Contemporary thematic productions: Lion King; Pipe Piper for Sanskruti School of Dance, NJ; Virodhabhasa for Navia Natrajan; Ganga: Myth or Reality for Madhumanti Banerjee
