Dance for the God

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At the recent Vasuki Natyashala programme, Vrinda Chadha and Sharanya Chandran told Utpal K Banerjee how they present developmental issues in their performances

Bharatanatyam and Odissi — among the established classical genres of dance in the land — have one striking common feature. Both owe their origin to the living temples; and both styles, once upon a time, were danced exclusively by “God’s maids”: consecrating their entire life for the privilege of offering their art inside sanctum sanctorum. These maidens, named devadasis, were literally employed in their hundreds in, say, Brihadeeswarar temple of Thanjavur in the 11th-12th century and, by the end of the millennium, were so despised by society that a special legislative act was needed to protect the form and turn it into socially acceptable Bharatanatyam.

In Odisha, the maids were called maharis: also completely marginalised by the colonial era. If Bharatanatyam’s resurrection came in the 1930s by the valiant efforts of E Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale in the South, Odissi’s consolidation came a good quarter century later — through the services of “Jayantika” — a group of gurus and scholars like Kelucharan Mohapatra, Debaprasad Das, Kalindicharan Pattanaik and Mayadhar Raut, among others.

In the recent Vasuki Natyashala programme, organised as young dancers’ conclave at Triveni, Vrinda Chadha put up a mellifluous performance in Odissi style. A gifted student of guru Ranjana Gauhar, she began with sthayee, a pure dance, in raga Bhairav, specially composed for her by the guru. Vrinda’s gestural language was soft and tender, entirely suited to Odissi’s lasya mode.This was eloquently expressed in the next ashtapadi — a composition by guru Kelucharan Mohapatra in Kalyan raga — from Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda. She concluded with an elaborate pallavi as pure dance, in raga Mishra Sahnkarabharanam.  Commenting on her postures and poise, Ranjana said, “All of 18, she is already learning for 11 years under me and seems destined for greater things in her dance career. She is a student of Psychology Honours…”

Another dancer, marked for higher glories, is Sharanya Chandran who performed Bharatanatyam later. Opening with katubham, as an ode to Shiva in raga Maligai (string of ragas), she demonstrated various manifestations of Shiva, such as, Eashan, the wild one; Dakshina Murthi, the universal teacher and Kaal Mari, the ominous one with right foot raised. A scintillating Varnam followed in raga Behag. Composed by TR Subrahmanyam, it celebrated Krishna: depicting both his pranks and prowess. The finale was a traditional mangalam.

A disciple of the noted dancer Geeta Chandran, her mother, Sharanya had started at age of four and has already completed 21 years of learning. She has a Masters from London School of Economics under her belt.  

On how she combines her subject Development Studies with her performances, she said, “I think I’ve done it in two different ways. One, I’ve taken up gender issues re-telling mythology. There is, for instance, a legend of a temple having buried skeletons of female embryos which we took up to highlight female foeticide. Two, I’ve been performing for SPIC-MACAY all over the country. You’ll be amazed how many rural schools in UP and Assam have never been exposed to any classical genre! Sensitising them to our heritage is part of my ‘connect’ with development.”

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