MOTHER GANGA, THE RIVER IMMORTAL
(A Dance Ballet with Live Music)

One of the most absorbing themes in Bharatanatyam continues to be the ‘roles of the mother’ in our society. Several of the major productions by dance schools around the Bay Area in 1997 have focused on the roles of the mother: as the motherland that protects and shelters us and as a woman who nurtures and teaches her children and all those around her. From this large concept of a mother playing inimitable roles in Indian culture came the new production, Mother Ganga: The River Immortal, presented by the Shri Krupa Dance Foundation of San Jose on January 11, 1998 at Cubberly Theater, Palo Alto, California. Ganga as a mother who provides purity and bliss through her serene waters to all those who seek her, was the strong theme as thirty-six dancers, trained by Guru Vishal Ramani, charmed the audience with beautifully choreographed dance pieces. It was indeed the reiteration of this theme during the course of the program that became the backbone to the show’s overall success. With a well-thought out theme, good choreography by Vishal Ramani and reasonable coordination between the younger and older dancers as well as excellent vocal support from Mrs. Rama Thyagarajan, Mother Ganga had more than its share of highlights that kept the audience glued to their seats.

The most enchanting aspect of dance programs, especially ones like Mother Ganga, is the participation of young dancers between the age of six and ten. It is during these events that these younger dancers have the opportunity to showcase their talent and potential to be excellent artists in the future. The use of the younger dancers amongst the thirty six who participated in the first piece, Jaya Gange, immediately caught the attention and interest of the audience.  During this piece, all the dancers entered the stage to offer flowers to the dancer supreme and pay respects to their guru, the musicians and the audience assembled.

The more senior dancers played a major role by carrying this program on their shoulders. The piece, Triveni Sangamam, stood testament to the agility and limitless expressions of Anjali Shiralkar, Sita Chokkalingam and Nitya Venkateswaran. All three dancers showed a passion for the piece as they illustrated the roles of Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswathi together forming the triveni; all three strive toward protecting humans from sin and providing purity and salvation. Furthermore, Anjali, Sita and Nitya showed their stage presence, maturity and composure during Triveni Sangamam and also managed to generate more expectations from the audience who were in hopes of seeing them perform once again during this program.

Aparna Sundaram, alongside Nitya Venkateswaran, danced the Varnam with tremendous fervor and grace. Aparna’s pleasant smile with Nitya’s charm brought about an excellent re-creation of the beautiful Ganga, whose waters flowed down Lord Shiva’s matted locks in a mere trickle. Both dancers with their excellent dance skills and their ability to perform comfortably on stage would have made their Guru Vishal Ramani very proud that day. Indeed, one cannot ignore that most of the pieces showed some coordination problems between dancers, but the overall presentation of the program usually covers up well for such errors. This show was also been blessed with such a scenario.

Both Sita Chokkalingam and Neha Marathe, who painstakingly danced the Kashi Vishwanathan and Ganga Ashtakam pieces respectively, after the intermission, were almost flawless in their execution and confident in their approach to these pieces. In particular, Neha Marathe took special care in visually bringing forth Mother Ganga to be the holy waters which brought final bliss and peace to all those who prayed to her. The O’Honeybee item featuring Sandhya Uthup and Nitya Venkateswaran was definitely the piece that earned a few excited murmurs amongst the audience. What a perfect choice of little Sandhya Uthup to play the Honeybee, clad in a distinct yellow dance costume and so beautifully capturing the movements of a bee in the spring season. A special hats off to Sandhya for just being a graceful and beautiful honeybee and for maintaining her composure on stage at such a young age. Once again, Nitya Venkateswaran showed her style as Ganga pining for her Lord Shiva and pleading with the bee to deliver her love message to Him. On an interesting note, the brochure indicated that the O’Honeybee was a Sanskrit song, yet the actual song was credited to Mrs. Asha Ramesh and was sung in Tamil. A minor discrepancy and yet so delightful to the eyes and ears.

The final two pieces, Saagara Sangamam and the Thillana, brought a memorable close to this dance ballet. The Bengali song with the common folk on the boat enjoying the pleasures of travelling on Ganga’s waters and women carrying pots of water praising the love and hope Ganga instills in them, was well presented by all the dancers who participated in the program that day. Here again, there were a few instances of coordination troubles between dancers but their ages and difference in approach to dancing might have been the primary reason for such troubles. The Thillana performed by Aparna Sundaram and Neha Marathe was performed with precision and style as the program concluded memorably, not only for the performers but also for the audience.

A very special mention has to be made of Mrs. Rama Thyagarajan’s vocal support, Mrs. Vishal Ramani’s Nattuvangam, Mr. Natarajan Srinivasan on Mridangam, Mrs. Lalitha Venkataraman on Veena, and Dr. P. T. Narasimhan on flute. This melodious combination of singers and instrumentalists made for a delightful evening of music and dance. Unfortunately, the flute and veena, which were supposed to be playing at the background, sometimes drowned the narration by Susmita Ramani.  Regardless, a very remarkable contribution by all those who worked long hours to make Shri Krupa Dance Foundation’s presentation of Mother Ganga: The River Immortal, a memorable, colorful and successful dance ballet. Shri Krupa Dance Foundation, its present event organizing committee, its Guru Vishal Ramani, the thirty-six dancers alongside the singers and instrument players can be proud of providing an incredible annual program for their dance school and jumpstarting 1998 in a gala fashion.

- Reviewed by Sandya S. Krishna -

NRI News

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