Part 1: Introduction

08-04-2023

What is sangeetam? Music, right? Sarangadeva in Sangeeta Ranakara, thinks of sangeetam as much more-

geetam vaadhyam tatha nrityam trayam sangeetamucchyate,

which means the trio of song, instrumental music and dance is called sangeetam.

To me it seems that this man-made sangeetam is only an encapsulation of the vivid sounds and dances in nature, be it the gurgling water in the brooks, the roll of the thunder, the rhythmic slapping of the waves in the ocean, the rustle of the leaves, the whoosh of the wind through the bowers, the song of the koel and the dance of the peacock.

I cannot imagine any dance form, be it classical or contemporary, Indian or Western, that is unaccompanied by music. In fact, the oldest treatise on Indian music is Natyashaastra by Bharata Muni, which devotes 6 chapters to music (out of 36). In the introductory portion of this text that dates to 200BCE to 200CE, it is said that Lord Brahma created Natyashaastra, the fifth veda, using elements of the text from the Rg Veda, the drama from Yajur Veda, the music and dance from the Saama Veda and the rasa from the Atharva Veda.

The cord that binds Indian music and dance has remained unbroken for two millennia as we know it, both evolving and metamorphosing with the times. The temple sculptures in eras and locations as diverse as Ellora, Mt Abu, Khajuraho, Konark, Chidambaram, Halebidu, Tanjavur or Darasuram, are rich testimony to this continuum. The graceful dancer is always depicted with the troupe of the singers and players of musical instruments. Frozen they may be in stone, but to the discerning rasika, they are pulsating with rhythm, music and rasa.

Fast forward to the decade of 1930, when Sri.E.Krishna Iyer (a lawyer from Kallidaikurichi), along with Rukmini Devi Arundale resurrected Bharatanatyam and brought it back to mainstream. Krishna Iyer was an expert in Carnatic music and in dance. He was a music critic for Ananda Vikatan and Indian Express; he was a founding member of the Madras Music Academy and the Tamil Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram. He had danced, donning several roles in stage plays and movies, often acting as a lady, as women were prohibited from the stage in those days. The revolutionary in him was able to bring to stage the talents of several woman dancers, who went on to become legends, including the venerable Balasaraswathi. He was instrumental in picking up the compositions, the ragas and accompaniments that would enhance their dance performance, transporting the audience from a state of entertainment to enchantment and then to sublime enlightenment.

So, we have the contemporary music structure for the Bharatanatyam performance and for the dance- dramas. The singer conveys the poetry of the lyric, infusing it with the intended bhaava in every syllable, in every one of the numerous iterations of the lyric (sangatis), needed for the dancer to express the rasa in myriad abhinayas. The singer is accompanied by a violinist, a flautist and rarely a vainika, or a keyboard player to enhance the raaga experience. Unlike a music concert, where raaga aalapana and neraval are the crown jewels, the singer for a Bharatanatyam performance highlights the lyrics, sangatis, chittaswarams and swarajathis. A short aalapana may be used to provide a musical continuity, when the dancers are regrouping and also to provide the much-needed rest to the dancer in between two demanding high-energy phases of the dance.

Shruti maataa, laya: pithaa it is said. The rhythm provided by the percussion ensemble is the very basis on which the dance is executed. The rhythm is provided by a mridangist, a tabla player, sometines a kanjira / ghatam / morsing/ konnakkol artiste and most importantly by the nattuvanar, who keeps the rhythm with a set of metal cymbals or simply a wooden stick hit on a wooden plank (thattuk kazhi).

Apart from the rehearsed portions that are faithfully reproduced, the laya team and the dancer sometimes engage in an ex-tempore sawaal jawaab challenge, serving up an intricate rapid rhythm for the dancer to execute it verbatim in the footwork. The jingle of the ankle bells (salangai) of the dancers, tell their own story and the fusion of these rhythms makes a very visceral connect with the audience and makes the audience tap their feet, follow the tala with their hands and nod their heads.

Nowadays, practical difficulties sometimes force the dancer to rely on recorded music. While this can be an indispensable rehearsal tool, it robs the audience of a holistic experience when it is used to do away with live singing and accompaniments on stage.

Part 2- A concluding part to follow, detailing the nature of the musical entities used in a dance performance.