Dancer Vijayalakshmi will give a Mohiniyattam recital on the Bangalore Worldwide Centre (BIC). The night will function a repertoire of conventional Mohiniyattam and modern works, choreographed by the dancer.
“The occasion will showcase the spirit and strategy of the dance type, in addition to highlighting its relevance to modern instances,” says the US-based dancer.
The night will function Ashtapadi, with an excerpt from Jayadeva’s Gita Govindam, Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, Rain and Past Grace, choreographed in Mohiniyattam.
Vijayalakshmi, daughter of the legendary Mohiniyattam dancer, Bharati Shivaji, is also referred to as a choreographer, actor, author and singer. She describes herself as a dancer who is consistently exploring uncharted territory and increasing conventional boundaries.
The dancer, who’s the founder-director of The Mohiniyattam Institute, Los Angeles, and the artistic-director of the Centre for Mohiniyattam, New Delhi, says, she was impressed to take up Mohiniyattam watching her mom. “I noticed her start the method of reviving and restructuring the dance type and giving it a brand new lease of life.”
That was the start Vijayalakshmi says. “I used to be 10 years previous and had been coaching in Bharatanatyam for 5 years by then. I began my Mohiniyattam journey after I was 11 with my mom who grew to become my trainer and mentor. It was a singular, parallel journey I had with my guru. My mom was additionally a Bharatantayam dancer and we transitioned to Mohiniyattam collectively.”
Being in comparison with her mom on stage was inevitable, Vijayalakshmi says. “Once I was youthful, in my 20s, there was a number of strain. By the point I used to be 30, and created my very own choreographies, there got here a second after I grew to become fearless in expressing who I used to be as a dancer and as a girl. My works grew to become distinctive and had been completely different from what every other Mohiniyattam dancer had ever achieved.”
The dance type additionally grew to become completely different from that of her mom’s, Vijayalakshmi says. “She is chargeable for serving to me purchase a sound basis within the spirit and strategy of the dance type. That helped me take off on a quantum leap of interpretation from my perspective.”
Whereas in the present day she is now not in comparison with her well-known mom, Vijayalakshmi says, “I’ve inherited my mom’s legacy and constructed my dance on it.”
The core spirit of Mohiniyattam is femininity, Vijayalakshmi says. “The dance type is rooted within the sacred female, making it related in in the present day’s world. That’s the magnificence and energy of this classical dance type from Kerala.”
Although rooted in historic instances, Vijayalakshmi says, Mohiniyattam is related to girls all over the world. “It epitomises all of the core values and ideas of femininity. This can be a highly effective side of the dance type. It’s also a significant motive for folks to study, watch, be impressed and impacted by this way. It’s therapeutic, therapeutic and empowering. I don’t suppose one may ask for any extra from a dance type.”
Vijayalakshmi will likely be presenting ashtapadis from the Gita Govindam, which has been related to Odissi and can be recognized for its sensuality. “True, it has been distinguished within the Odissi repertoire, and the poet Jayadeva was from Odisha, however, the Gita Govindam travelled to Kerala within the 14th century by the Bhakti motion and to some of the distinguished temples of Kerala — Guruvayurappa, the place the ashtapadis had been sung in a regional type known as Sopana Sangeetham.”
Her mom was one of many first Mohiniyattam dancers to note this and included the ashtapadis in her dance repertoire, Vijayalakshmi says. “On the time it was thought-about an innovation, however in the present day it has turn into an integral a part of the classical Mohiniyattam repertoire.”
The dance, just like the Odissi model, retains its eroticism and sensuality, Vijayalakshmi says. “Whereas Jayadeva writes about Radha and Krishna’s love in erotic phrases, it additionally grew to become a strong side of Bhakti and aesthetic traditions basically.”
Gita Govindam in Mohiniyattam is portrayed with an openness to the erotic side of Radha and Krishna’s love, says Vijayalakshmi. “It’s achieved in an aesthetic method, which is why Gita Govindam works properly in Mohiniyattam.”
A recipient of Sangeet Natak Academy, Vijayalakshmi, who has carried out throughout the globe together with the Bolshoi Theatre, Edinburgh Worldwide Competition and the Lincoln Centre, additionally will current Ramcharitmanas in Mohiniyattam.
“I’m a South Indian born and raised in Delhi. I grew up listening to its recitation and it had a deep influence on me. As my grandmother and mom are classical singers, music performed a big function in my life as a dancer. All these info impressed the creation of Ramcharitmanas.”
Rain is an excerpt from the dancer’s eponymous Indo-American manufacturing. “It’s impressed by British-Indian poet Sudeep Sen’s critically-acclaimed e-book of poetry, additionally titled Rain. The manufacturing is scripted by Los Angeles-based artiste and filmmaker Sara Baur, whereas music is organized by Emmy-Award successful composer, Mac Quayle.” Vijayalakshmi has sung the Rabindra Sangeet for this manufacturing.
Past Grace, Vijayalakshmi says, holds a particular place in her inventive journey. On this excerpt, Vijayalakshmi has included parts from Kalaripayattu and Kaikottikali (additionally a conventional Kerala dance type).
Mohiniyattam is inherent in her, Vijayalakshmi says. “I shouldn’t have to remind myself about being a Mohinyattam dancer, nor can I deviate from the shape even when I need to. Therefore, no matter I do is inside the boundaries of the shape itself.”
Vijayalakshmi’s efficiency is on November 6, 7pm at BIC. It is going to be adopted by a Q&A, moderated by Masoom Parmar, artiste, arts supervisor and curator . Entry is free.
Printed – November 06, 2024 11:15 am IST
