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06/13/09 |
      
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Guest Speaker Arpan is privileged to have Spider Kedelsky as the Guest Speaker at Ehsaas 2009. Spider is the curator/producer of the Global Rhythms series at Town Hall Seattle, and a three-time recipient of NEA Choreography Fellowships. Arpan is thankful to Spider for his continued support and encouragement. Guest of Honor Arpan is honored to have Melissa Hines as the Guest of Honor at Ehsaas 2009. Melissa Hines is the director of civic partnership programs at the Mayor’s office of arts and cultural affairs.
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Pushpanjali 6:00 mins
Ragam : Gambheeranatai Talam : Tisra eka Choreography : Traditional Nrithyanganas : Girija, Meera, Sampoorni, Stepanka, Vilansini
Pushpanjali, a Sanskrit word, literally means “offering of flowers”. A traditional Bharatanayam recital typically begins with a Pushpanjali. Here, the dancer prays to the Almighty to give her strength, and seeks the Lord’s blessings before continuing with the recital. The dancer also welcomes the audience by offering flowers, bowing and gesturing ‘Namaste’. This Pushpanjali is a prayer to Lord Ganesha, the god of wisdom and intellect. A Hindu god with an elephant head, he is believed to be the remover of all our obstacles and a force that gives us the strength to face problems in our lives. |
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Shabdam : ”Sarasijakshulu” 10:35 mins Ragam : Ragamalika Talam : Mishra Chaapu Composed by : Tanjore Quartet Sancharis by : Dr. Joyce Paul Poursabahian Nrithyanganas : Girija, Meera, Rajeshwari, Sampoorni, Vilasini
Shabdam is a composition with a judicious mixture of pure and interpretive dance. This song contains verses set to a medley of ragas, known as ragamalika. In each verse, the dancer communicates a story using Bhava (emotion through mime). Each section ends with a pure dance piece (Nritta), which serves as a bridge between the verses. This shabdam describes the playful nature of Lord Krishna depicting his childhood pranks along with the adoration & devotion of the cow-herd girls “Gopis” surrounding him. |
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Keerthanam : “Natanam Aadinar” 8:12 mins
Ragam : Vasantha Talam : Kanda Jathi Atta Composer : Gopalakrishna Bharati Choreography : Rukmini Devi Arundale Nrithyanganas : Meera, Sampoorni, Stepanka, Vilasini
A Keerthanam is composed of pure dance (nritta) and expressional dance (abhinaya). This keerthanam describes the dance of Lord Shiva at the temple of Chidambaram. The pallavi, or the first segment describes Lord Shiva dancing skillfully and beautifully at the golden temple of Chidambaram. The anupallavi, or the second segment, narrates how Lord Shiva, after being requested by great sages, comes to the temple of Chidambaram without fail, to dance on the auspicious day of gurupoosam, in the Tamil month of Thai. The charanam goes on to describe how the eight directions resound with the sound of Lord Shiva’s anklets as he dances joyously. Tiny droplets of water splatter from the river Ganga as he dances upon the hoods of snakes, his thick matted hair swaying to-and-fro. Even the gods celebrate upon seeing this sight. |
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Padam : “Theyyale” 7:45 mins Ragam : Kalyani Talam : Adi Choreography : Mylapore Gowri Ammal Reinterpretation : Girija, Rajeswari Nrithyanganas : Girija, Rajeshwari
A Padam is a musical composition meant for abhinaya or expressional dance. Padams are known for their slow tempo, saturation with the shringara rasa (depiction of love) and the nayaka-nayika bhava or hero-heroine sentiments. Padams frequently refer indirectly to God. The naayaka represents the “paramaatma” (Great Soul, God) the naayika the "jeevaatma" (human soul, man), and the tozhi the "guru" (teacher). The dynamic interplay between the three is thought to convey the concept of moksha (liberation) to the audience. This padam, is a dialogue between the naayika, a gypsy girl and her tozhi/sakhi (friend). The tozhi describes to the naayika how much Lord Subramanya pines for her, how his heart melts with love for her, and how great and learned the Lord is. The tozhi says, “Vayyam pugazhondu, meru tannil mevum, Ayyan Muthukumaran, uyyaam ayyalil nindru” Meaning, He who is being praised by the whole universe, who lives on the hill Meru, watches over and blesses everyone, that Lord Muthukumaran is waiting for you completely intoxicated by your love and lost in your thoughts. The tozhi then beseeches the naayika to go and become one with the Lord. |
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Kala Prayanam 17:00 mins
Ragam : Bageshree Talam : Adi Choreography : Dr. Joyce Paul Poursabahian Original music : Arijit Mahalanabis Vocalist : Gaurav Chanda Tabla : Manoj Biswas Flute : Satyajit Limaye Konnukol compositions : Dr. Joyce Paul Poursabahian Nattuvangam : Dr. Joyce Paul Poursabahian Nrithyanganas : Amudha, Anitha, Deepthi, Girija, Meera, Praveena, Rajeshwari, Sampoorni, Sangeetha, Shivani, Shreedevi, Srimathi, Stepanka, Swaroop, Veena, Vilasini
Kala Prayanam means ‘a journey in time and space’. The intricate rhythms and formations in this dance are intended to communicate how life itself is a journey - at times random, at times fixed, at times fluid, at times firm. The piece begins with slow languorous movements interlaced with equally slow but terse movements. It then moves on to the rudiments of Bharatanatyam; simple strikes, placements and glances that get progressively more complex. You will notice groups of dancers executing the same step or movement at the same time but in different time intervals. As the journey reaches its end, it displays many complex dance movements from the Bharatanatyam repertoire. As the dancers weave patterns in space they are also playing with Kala or time, who at the end, defines each dancer’s destiny. How we respond to the dictates of Kala, defines the path our lives will take. Sit back and enjoy the progression of dance in time and space as the dancers take you on this journey. |
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Laya Samvaad (Rhythmic Conversations) 18:00 mins
Choreography : Dr. Joyce Paul Poursabahian Konnukol compositions : Dr. Joyce Paul Poursabahian Nattuvangam : Dr. Joyce Paul Poursabahian Nrithyanganas : Amudha, Anitha, Deepthi, Girija, Meera, Praveena, Rajeshwari, Sampoorni, Sangeetha, Shivani, Shreedevi, Srimathi, Stepanka, Swaroop, Veena, Vilasini
“Rhythmic Conversations or Laya Samvaad was born out of the chronic lack of local Bharatanatyam musicians. As dancers, we were limited by the pre-recorded music we could obtain from India. This meant not being able to work on new productions locally and improvise on stage. As I pondered on the idea of a new production, I thought, why not have the dancers do nattuvangam and speak out the jathis for other dancers? Why not have a challenge-response sequence performed by the dancers themselves? That is how Laya Samvaad was born. Laya Samvaad does not have boundaries except for that of a rhythm pattern. What you see today cannot be considered complete. Its ever growing, constantly evolving depending on the dancer and the respondent.” - Joyce |
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Creative Pieces |
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Maadumeikum kanne 5:00 mins Ragam : Chindu Mettu Talam : Ekam Composed by : Uthukadu Venkatakavi Singer : Aruna Sairam Choreography : Meera, Savitha Nrithyanganas : Meera as Yashoda, Savitha as baby Krishna.
Maadummeikum kanne is a Tamil folk song which is a dialog between the little lord Krishna and his mother, Yashoda. Krishna wants to go outside and graze the cows and play with his friends, but Yashoda wants him to stay inside. Yashoda persuades him in many ways, but Krishna leaves Yashoda and runs out, leaving Yashoda shaking her head with frustration. |
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Flavors 5:00 mins Dance Style : Influenced by Indian Classical, Salsa and Freestyle Music : Prasanth Mohanan Choreography : Anisha, Candice, Naina Nrithyanganas : Anisha, Anitha, Candice, Indu, Naina, Vilasini
“Flavors” explores the similarities between various dance styles from across the world. It depicts how different dance forms draw on similar movement techniques and gestures and can be performed to the same beats and rhythms of music, regardless of culture, geography, and roots. |
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Emotions 10:00 mins Music : Joe Satriani, The Corrs, Secret Garden Choreography : Shreedevi, Praveena Concept and Story : Anitha, Deepthi, Shreedevi Nrithyanganas : Anisha, Deepthi, Indu, Praveena, Shreedevi, Veena
In Bharatanatyam, Abhinaya has often been the dancer's tool to express various emotions in a story. You would have seen facial expressions accompanied by hand gestures telling you the story of pain, separation, mischief and love in our Bharatanatyam section. The interpretation we present to you through this dance piece is the outcome of our exercise to depict emotions through music, rhythm and body movements. We narrate the emotions during a day in the protagonist's life where she goes through a mixture of experiences. |
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Hope 6:00 mins Dance Style : Influenced by Flamenco & Freestyle Music : “All Those Yesterdays”, Pearl Jam & “Autumn”, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Choreography : Bindu Pillai Nrithyanganas : Amudha, Anisha, Anitha, Bindu, Candice, Girija, Naina, Shreedevi, Srimathi, Veena
Hope, just a glimmer, is the essential state of mind that gives us the strength to overcome obstacles. This dance ensemble demonstrates this premise. The composition consists of two sets of characters - Colors who symbolize happiness, joy, life, energy, inclusion and all things positive; Darks representing rage, anger, envy, exclusion and all things negative. The piece begins with the Colors free and happy. The Darks observe them, approach them and finally in an act symbolizing suppression they completely overpower them. But, they are unable to eliminate the eternal hope in them. With the change in music one brave Color who refuses to be subdued, helps break others out and gain their freedom. Instead of retaliating they bring about the transformation of the Dark’s into Color’s. As it began, the piece ends on a cheerful note with everyone dancing as one. |
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This site was last updated 06/13/09