Every year between August and September, Natyarangam, the dance wing of Narada Gana Sabha, hosts its annual thematic dance festival that draws together eminent personalities such as musicians, dancers, and scholars on a unified platform. The festival provides young and talented dancers the opportunity to perform, allowing them to conceptualize and craft full-length presentations on the chosen theme. Each edition of this festival explores a different topic, and this year’s event, titled “Rithu Bharatham,” is themed around the six seasons.
The theme presents the artistes an extraordinary platform to unleash their imagination and delve into the many facets of each season. However, the committee’s stringent guidelines to encompass a wide array of works—from Kalidasa’s poetry to the times of Sangam literature, and from Ragamala paintings to festivals—proved challenging for dancers striving to thoroughly capture the essence of each season. A specific framework that required the dancers to integrate their ideas, inadvertently led to a repetitive pattern across various performances.
Kicking off the festival, Rama Vaidyanathan’s “Vasantha Rithu” (Spring) divided the season into five parts: Saumya (season of Equanimity), Punaravarthana (Rejuvenation), Kama roopini (Love), Bahu Varnani (Multi-hued), and Apeksha (Hope). Vaidyanathan’s performance effectively encapsulated the essence of both day and night through an evocative visual imagery supported by an engaging soundscape. The auditory experience featured the scattering of seeds to a rhythmic tanam melody, complemented by swara passages depicting various seasonal flowers, culminating in a portrayal of the lotus flower upon which Goddess Saraswathi stands. A detailed exploration of the song “Saraswathi namosthuthe,” composed by G.N. Balaubramaniam in raga Saraswathi, followed.
Rama’s depiction of the season also included a graceful presentation of Manmatha gliding on his vahana, the parrot. The cool breeze, swaying palms, and the elements of birds, bees, peacocks, and deer were slightly overextended, which hampered the mood. Nevertheless, aspects such as the Raas, the use of colors during the Holi festival, and the portrayal of Vasantha Rithu as a newlywed season were well explored. The soundscape, envisioned by S. Vasudevan, utilized instruments like ghatam, kanjira, and sitar judiciously, paired with suitable ragas to enhance these sequences.
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Transitioning to the next season, Apoorva Jayaraman’s performance on “Grishma Rithu” (Summer) depicted Kamadeva through verses from Kalidasa’s “Ritu Samharam.” Draped in a waistcoat on top of her traditional costume, Apoorva portrayed the drooping sugarcane bow, wilting flower arrows, and the exhausted parrot, effectively conveying the mood of lethargy and exhaustion pervasive in the season. Jayaraman’s poignant abhinaya sequence depicted a mother’s love during water scarcity, as she quenched her child’s thirst with the little water she had before setting out on a long journey to find more.
Despite the meticulous attention to narrative descriptions and rhythmic jathis symbolizing the blazing sun and fire, the repetitive use of identical musical phrases detracted from the overall impact. Additionally, the costume choice failed to vividly reflect the colors associated with the summer season, overshadowing the overall experience of Grishma.
The series then shifted focus to a mode of dance theater with Vaibhav Arekar’s “Varsha — Harvest of Lost Dreams,” centered on the rainy season. Through an engaging portrayal and an interesting soundscape by a talented musical ensemble, Vaibhav depicted a farmer’s emotional journey as he ploughed, tilled, and planted seeds. Anticipation turned to disappointment when the rains failed to come, escalating to anger and distress during the fierce monsoon. The narrative concluded with the farmer’s humble surrender to the elements. The highlight was a scene featuring graceful hand movements conveying intimacy under a spotlight, depicting the emotional bond between a man and his beloved.
Vaibhav’s performance intertwined elements of dance, such as Jathi korvais and adavus, to convey the intense energy of the sun and the water’s fierce intensity. Musical compositions, including Dikshitar’s “Anandamrithakarshini,” Sangam poetry, and works of Kalidasa and Bharatiyar, were seamlessly woven into the performance to suit the thematic portrayal.
While monsoons often evoke anticipation, joy, and excitement, Vaibhav’s performance interestingly emphasized the angst, anguish, and fury during the rainy season, briefly exploring a nostalgic childhood memory. Ragamala paintings, known for their rich visual depictions of each season’s moods, were used creatively, although not always optimally. The dancers and organizers could have approached this art form with greater sensitivity, especially given its cultural significance.
This year’s edition of Natyarangam’s annual dance festival, “Rithu Bharatham,” celebrated the changing seasons through a blend of thematic dance and theatrical elements, drawing the audience into a mesmerizing exploration of nature’s cycles.
