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Journey
To The Sacred
A Bharata Natyam
performance by
Rama Vaidyanathan
Choreographed and Presented by
RAMA VAIDYANATHAN
Music composition by G.S.RAJAN
Musical Ensemble ; Nattuvangam - K. Sivakumar
Vocal - Sudha Raghuraman
Mridangam -Sumod Sridhar
Flute - G.S.Rajan
Bharata Natyam is the dance form
now associated with Tamil Nadu but in reality includes all forms of
dance and dance dramas which are in accordance with the shastras as
laid down by the sage Bharata.. In Tanjore, Kanchipuram and other
districts of Tamil Nadu however many talented Devadasis dedicated
themselves to the services of the temple as dancers and Bharata
Natyam as a composite, solo dance form was born. It combines the art
of the stage, drama, music, poetry, colour and rhythm, its message
is not only to the senses but to the soul of the dancer and the
perceiver. It is an art that is meant primarily for spiritual
expression.
This form of dance is intended to
portray all the characters of the epics, the Mahabharata, the
Ramayana and the Puranas and through these stories, give to the
world a whole philosophy of life and of every kind of human
experience. There is no more temple dancing today but at its best
the dancer can bring the spirit of the temple to the stage.
To understand Bharata Natyam one
has to understand music, the movement of the limbs the language of
gesture (hastas), rhythm (tala) as executed by the feet, poetry as
sung by the musicians and most importantly expression (bhava). The
expression in this case is the inner experience of an intense,
uplifting emotion.
Concentrating on its spiritual
aspect one must not forget its tremendous visual and auditory
appeal. It is both subtle and sophisticated, dynamic and earthy.
The basic postures are balanced positions with stretches that give
it a linear quality. The style projects an amazingly equal measure
of beauty and strength, of the slow and the fast, of pure dance and
mime.
Rama Vaidyanathan is one of India's outstanding Bharata Natyam
dancers. She has trained intensively under the legendry dancer
Yamini Krishnamurty and under the guidance of the eminent Guru
Saroja Vaidyanathan.
While being deeply rooted in the traditional form she has evolved
her own individual style and is a thinking dancer willing to attempt
newer themes. She will portray this evening some of the main
concepts of this festival which will cover the fields of AUM the
sacred sound,
SRICHAKRA the sacred symbol,
BRINDAVAN the sacred site and the sacred space within all of us
expressed in a shloka from the Skanda Purana "Aham Brahmasmi" or I
AM THAT.
SACRED SPACE - A verse
from the Skanda Purana speaks of the sacred space within us, when
the jeevatma experiences the presence of the Paramatma.
wednesday 25th february at
8.00 pm
Choir
Acapella
a performance by Cosmic Voices from Bulgaria
Singers:
CHEKERDEKOVA DARINA VLAEVA , PETROVA NEVENA
GEORGIEVA , PRISADOVA BOYKA ILIEVA ,FILIPOVA MARGARITKA ILIEVA ,
KASTELOVA SNEZHANA EMILOVA , STOYNEVA ALBENA BOYANOVA ,YORDANOVA
ANNA YORDANOVA ,TODOROVA MARIYA BOGDANOVA ,VESELINOVA MARIANA
TZVETANOVA ,KURTYAN VESELINA STEFANOVA ,GREKOVA KATYA ,EORGIEVA ,NIKOLOVA
NIKOLETA YOTOVA, DIMITROVA SILVIA PETROVA ,CHAKAROVA SONYA GEORGIEVA
TENEVA DIANA YORDANOVA ,DOYCHEVA DENITSA PETROVA ,TSVETANOVA YANITSA
LIUDMILOVA GORCHEVA PAVLINA ASPARUHOVA
Conductor
- Vania Moneva
Although it had existed for
centuries, the world only discovered the Bulgarian female choral
singing tradition in the late 1980s. The polyphonic and diaphonic
harmonies were indeed mysterious, kept alive in the country's
mountainous villages where people had moved when the Ottoman Turks
invaded the country. The overall sound is more ancient than the
Western European ideal of bel canto, and some believe this rawer
sound was once more widespread
across the
continent. Its isolation in the more remote regions of
Bulgaria
has helped preserve both the style and the local language.
It is a true folk tradition, one
with several regional variations, although it's one that's largely
always been female. The songs may be solo pieces or the full choir
but always with a strong history of diaphonic singing, a two and
sometimes three-part harmony. Although the harmonies are now
generally modern, manufactured constructs, the effect is still
breathtaking, sounding as ancient and ghostly as the mountains where
the music began.
Under Communism, the government
formed and funded folk choirs to help create a national musical
identity (an initiative common in Eastern Bloc countries). The
Cosmic Voices Choir was founded in 1994 by the producer Emil Minev
and conductor Vania Moneva and is one of the most popular Bulgarian
Folk Choirs today. The group performs from the rich musical
tradition of their country – a cross between the European and the
the East European and containing within itself the cultural
influences of the ancient Balkan tribes.
The melodic foundation of
Bulgarian music is formed by a complex amalgam of Middle Eastern
makams (modes), regional microtonal structures, pentatonic scales,
diatonic modes, and major and minor collections and it is these
techniques and the unique harmonic vocabulary that gives Bulgarian
music a sound so different from Western singing.
The "Cosmic Voices
from Bulgaria" choir presents for the first time in India the
mysterious sound of the Balkans, a sound full of sacred atmosphere
and spirituality that bears the culture and the spirit of the
ancient Slavonic, Bulgarian and Thracian tribes.
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