Uniqueness of Bharatanatyam revealed in Alvas Virasat-2015

Bharatanatyam is a style of classical dance that is quite popular to the world due the efforts of many people that we know and don't.  The flavour of the dance is from purely orthodox and classical to contemporary mix and fusioned.  The dance for given by Bharata Muni has its roots strong and it's branches spreading pretty wide in today's world.

Alva's Virasat 2015 held at the Alva's College in Moodbidri was held from 8th to 11th of this month. It is a national level music and dance programme that gets people into the mood of the fine arts. Over the years many new experiences and experiments in the fine arts have been tried and tested on this stage but this year gave me a big surprise.  Making it one of a kind of experiment of the classical dance, the Virasat platform brought together 30 talented bharatanatyam dancers at the same time for a performance. What would be a big deal is your question right now. There have been performances of bigger cadre in bharatanatyam after all. The fun part of it is that all 30 dancers were male. Yes, it was an exclusive performance of the 'not so fairer gender'. Not only was it a change from the usual stereotype of many women and one or two guys in their midst to a full blown performance by the gentlemen.

Put together into the team called Nithyapurusha headed and choreographed by the reknown dancer and teacher Vidwan Chandrasheker Navuda. There were some big names and new faces bringing in energy and experience to the performances. Kicking off with the traditional pushpanjali as a welcome which continued on with a prayer to Lord Ganesh, the reliever of all obstacles. From here, it moved on to celebrate the Goddess of knowledge, Goddess Saraswathi.  A delicate and artistic performance by the men and boys of the team showed that they are no strangers to the feminine side. This, then transitioned into a master piece titled Dashavatara.  The dancers weaved in and out into different formations while narrating the story behind each of the  avatara of Lord Visit,  namely, Matyaa,  Kurma,  Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana,  Parashurama,  Rama,  Krishna,  Buddha and Kalki. 

Then came the power packed display of the men with the performance on the stotra by none other than Ravana or fondly known as the villian of Ramayana.  This stotra named Shiva Tandava Stotram stays true to its name with the artists giving an energy packed and exhilarating dance. It consisted of the showcase of the variety of steps in this classical art forms along with the performance of the shlokas. The posture and skill in the performance was unbelievable and definitely a sight to behold. This performance ended with a lasting impression on our minds.

The artists were introduced personally along with their gurus. It was definitely a proud moment as a performer to be identified as the product of learning and dedication by a certain set of people, specially, teachers who give everything to succeed in life. Bringing together the artists from various parts of Karnataka into practice together is a tough task indeed but it paved way into an resounding performance.Dr. Mohan Alva needs to be credited in bringing such an idea and bravely putting across this unique effort in the Virasat 2015 platform. May such special performance thrill the audiences for years to come.

Athmika Ramachandra

Mangalore

Photo: Nithesh Bydur