 The
dance ballet, ‘Adi Parashakti’ was staged on October 27, 2007,
at the Ganesh Temple in Flushing, New York. It was presented by
students of ‘Mukthamber Fine Arts,’ a music and dance school
directed by Saavitri Ramanand, a well known singer and sibling
of the eminent Bombay Sisters. The dance ballet was
choreographed by Saavitri Ramanand, who was also the vocalist
for the show.Though classical dance all over India varies in
its footwork, various body postures and the raga and tala, the
main principles for all these classical dance forms have been
laid down in the Natya Shastra treatise of Bharat Muni, handed
down by Lord Brahma. The antiquity of this divine art form goes
back to the Rig Vedic hymns and it is believed that the Natya
Shastra is based upon the much older Natya Sutras.
The dance ballet “Adi Parashakti” was a
unique presentation depicting the pristine, divine and feminine
energy of the goddess. The programme, that commenced with a
Pushpanjali, also had a Mallari, Padam, a Bharathiyar song and
‘Ujjayani Nithya Kalyani’ in the ragam Kalyani. These three
dances were performed by 26 kids ranging in age from 5 to 15.
Then commenced the Adi Parashaki, a drama
presentation with a dance depicting the cosmic dance of
primordial energy with the ‘Pancha Bootham’ (five elements of
fire, water, air, earth, and space). This was performed by
Aarati Ramanand with 4 students:
Dr Prabha Krishnan
Sreeja Mani
Divya Mary James
Amy Thomas
 The
song for this dance was the popular, traditional Tamil song
‘Ananada Natanam Aadinal Parasakthi Natanam’ in Kambhoji. The
song was interspersed with 5 jathis in various nadais (rhythmic
patterns) such as Chathusram (4-beat), Thisram (3-beat), Kandam
(5-beat), and Misram (7-beat).
This was followed by a dance on Durga,
Lakshmi, and Saraswathi. She is the ultimate entity representing
Gnana Sakthi, Itcha Sakthi and Kriya Sakthi.
This dance was presented by senior students:
Pavithra Sundar
Neethu Moolayil
Jaunita John
For this dance, the very popular song of
‘Durga Lakshmi Saraswathi’ in Aarabhi by Papanasam Sivan was
utilised.
Following this was a detailed segment on
Gnana Shakti (the gift of knowledge and wisdom). This was
depicted with scenes from the life of Mahakavi Kalidasa. For
these scenes, songs of Saint Purandaradasa and Mysore
Vasudevachar were used.
This was followed by a segment on the eight
forms of Itcha Sakthi (the gift of prosperity) with a dance on
Ashtalakshmi.
Adi Sankaracharya's ‘Kanakadhara Stotram’ was
then sung to further detail this segment.
Finally, the last of the three Shaktis -
Kriya Shakti (the Universal Force of Destruction & Creation) was
enacted with stories of Kanchi Kamakshi Amman and Karumari
Amman. Songs such as Kanjadalayadakshi of Sri Muthuswamy
Dikshitar were used for this segment.
Pure instrumental music was the basis for
scenes depicting Shantham (peaceful co-existence with nature)
Bhayam (negative energy creates calamity and an imbalance of
evil over good) Roudram (Shakti as dark and violent figure of
annihilation to prevail over malevolence)
These instrumental segments depicted the
story of Bandasura and Mahishasura and their aides, ending with
the Mahishasura Vadham.
The dance ballet ended with Utsavacharana
(celebration of the all pervading Goddess, the feminine energy
as creator, preserver and destroyer). For this, a Thillana in
Gambheeravani by Sangeetha Kalanidhi T K Govinda Rao was used.
This grand finale was followed by a Mangalam, ‘Om Shakti’
composed by Mahakavi Bharathiyar.
Apart from students of Mukthambar Fine Arts
Inc., there were two guest artistes from the Jeevadhara School
of Dance (director Manju Thomas):
Jeevan Thomas did the role of Bandasura and
Mahishasura
Jyothi Thomas did the role of Goddess Saraswathi in the Kalidasa
story segment.
Other senior students involved were
Nishalakshmi Iyer
Gayathri Panhani
Lakshmi Chandrasekhar
The concept and choreography were by Saavitri
Ramanand and Aarati Ramanand
The narration for the performance was done by
Saavitri Ramanand with quotes from Soundarya Lahari, Saraswati
Andadi of Mahakavi Kambar, and Ashta Lakshmi Stotram with apt
descriptions.
The pre-recorded music was sung by Saavitri
Ramanand.
Nattuvangam was done by Aarati Ramanand.
Mridangam and other percussions were by
Murali Balachandran.
A R Balaskandan played the violin while Pavithra Sundar was on
the keyboard.
Instrumental music for ‘Shantham’ and
‘Bhayam’ segment was courtesy V K Raman
Guru Saavitri is not two-in-one (music &
dance) but all-in-one.
‘Adhi Parashakti’ presentation proves beyond
the shadow of doubt that MFA has verily fulfilled the founding
purpose - promoting local talent to encourage growth of the
Indian classical culture in the US. The show was not of any kind
of 'fusion' while creating 'confusion' but quintessentially a
spiritual expression as it cannot be adequately performed by
anyone without reverence for technique and spiritual life.
It was scintillating (literally) when
Mahishasuras entered the scene spectrally! Every item was
spectacular for every spectator! It's not an exaggeration that
with only 42 artistes you depicted 64 forms of art! Dance and
music have been said to be the favorite pastime for the Gods in
Hindu literature whereas you made it possible for us humans as
well to enjoy, that too in America.
Parthasarathy
New York
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