PUSHPANJALI
Raga: Gambhira Nata
Tala: Adi
Pushpanjali is an invocatory piece performed to evoke the blessings of the almighty and offers respect to the supreme being, guru, musicians and audience. It is made up of two words. Pushpa - flower Anjali - folded hands to show respect. With flowers in their folded hands and devotion in their minds Mihika and Ruhika, our dancers, evoke the blessings for successful completion of their arangetram.
JATISWARAM
Raga: Abhogi
Tala: Aditala
A Jathiswaram is a purely nrittha (dance with no expressions) item that is performed on swarams (notes) as opposed to sahityam (lyrics). Because it is a completely rhythmic dance item, all Jathiswarams follow a specific structure. They begin with a thirmanam, usually 3–4 avartanams (beat cycles) long. Basic steps are strung together to form a Korvai. Every other korvai is followed by a Mei adavu. “Mei” means soft. Here, Mihika and Ruhika are performing Jatiswaram.
VARNAM
Raga: Ragamalika
Tala: Aditala
Varnam is one of the most important and complex part of the Bharatanatyam repertoire. It is usually performed as a centrepiece in a bharatanatyam performance. The song of the varnam is usually in shringara rasa and dwells upon the longing of the nayika, to meet the nayaka, who maybe a God or a king or a patron. A series of pure dance sequences alternate with abhinaya for almost every line of the song and reach a climax in which raga, bhava and talam, find synchronization, with the feet showing jatis in varied and roundabout gaits, the hastas depicting the meaning of the song and the mukhajabhinaya, the facial expressions bringing out the various hues of emotions. Losing themselves in the beautiful thoughts of Shri Krishna, you saw our dancers showcase different emotions like happiness, courage, kindness, terror, disgust, laughter.
DEVARNAMA
Raga: Ragamalika
Tala: Aditala
This item is a devotional piece where the lyrics are in praise of god, describing the god etc. This is a pure abhinaya
item with almost no emphasis on nritta. The compositions are
popularly known as Daasa Sahitya. It is a devotional literatures written in simple language and has made remarkable contribution to the spiritual and cultural upliftment of people by preaching philosophy of Love, Devotion and Peaceful Co-Existence. These songs are the Bharatanatyam compositions of great mystics like Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Vijaya Dasa, VyasaRaja to name a few.
GANESHA STUTI
Raga: Ragamalika
Tala: Aditala
Ganesha Sthuthi: This dance describes all the majestic features of Ganesha, whose head is in the shape of an elephant denoting wisdom and his trunk representing Aum. The dancer is about to embark on the journey for which she offers her humble salutations to Lord Ganesha for divine grace and to remove obstacles from her paths. This is a solo that is performed by Mihika.
Oh my dear elephant faced God!
You are the son of Goddess Gowri (Parvathi).
You are worshipped by all the three worlds.
You are the protector of all the good people.
PADAM
Raga: Punnagavarali
Tala: Aditala
Adu Pambe (literally means 'Dance Oh Snake') - This is a Pambatti Siddhar's composition. This dance elaborates on the significance of the snake in Indian mythology. The dance specifically talks about Lord Shiva, the great yogi, wearing the snake around his neck like an ornament representing his everlasting state of consciousness and his wife goddess Parvati wearing the snake on her wrists as bangles and also baby Krishna being protected from a storm by Adisesha, a 1000 headed snake. The inner meaning of this dance is the triggering of Kundalini energy that is present in everyone of us in a dormant stage. Great yogis used Hathayoga to activate the kundalini energy to attain an expanded state of consciousness.
This dance has been choreographed by Guru Kavita Thotakura for disciple Ruhika Iyer keeping in mind her extreme flexibility and excellent body conditioning attained through years of dance and gymnastic training.
LAVANI
Lavani means “beauty” and is a folk dance performed by women, on the beats of “Dholki”. It is mostly performed in the state of Maharashtra, India. During the 18th and 19th century, when Maharashtra was facing a lot of battles, Lavani was performed to entertain the soldiers and boost their morale. It has evolved to catchy Bollywood numbers performed by leading actresses of the film industry. The dancers wear “Sari” wrapped in an unconventional manner and is called “Navvari” which means "nine yards" (is a sari that is nine yards long). Accessories worn are bangles, kamarpatta (worn around the waist), a heavy necklace and a nath (large nose ring). The hair is tied in a bun called “Ambada”, in Marathi. A large red coloured round “Bindi” is put on the forehead which is distinctive of their makeup. Mihika and Ruhika picked this dance form to depict forms other than Bharatnatyam that they have learned from Guru Kavita Thotakura. It makes is special as this also depicts their Maharashtrian roots.
THILLANA
Raga: Brindavani
Tala: Aditala
This is usually the last item in any bharatanatyam performance. Thillana is full of complicated movements &
postures. This will also have complicated Muktayas or Sholkattu, ending of any step or aduvu. This is mainly a
nritya piece which might have a charana and meaningfull lyrics for which abinaya is shown.
MANGALAM
Raga: Brindavani
Tala: Aditala
Mangalam is the ending piece of the performance. Here the artist will again salute God, Guru and the Audience for making the performance a success.
