John Wise

The grand finale of the Bharata Natyam Arangetram is a dance of intricate footwork, coordinating body, hand, head, and eye movements known as Thillana. Bharata Natyam is one of eight major classical dance forms of India, the words break down like this: BHA is expression, RA is melody, TA is rhythm, while Natyam means dance. Bharata Natyam is made up of a dramatic element using face and hand gestures, abstract dance featuring complex choreography, and finally, dance and drama to demonstrate the lyric and mood of the music. Expressive and pure dance are the characteristics of Bharata Natyam. The eye, neck, face, and hand gestures are the expressive elements of the dance, and families of basic steps, called adavus represent the pure dance. During the British occupation of India, Bharata Natyam was outlawed and only survived hidden from public view until being brought back to the stage in the 1930s.

This dance or Padam, titled Meera Bhajan, was Hemangi’s solo performance. A bhajan is a prayerful or devotional song, most often of ancient origin. These simple songs or acts are for pleasing or expressing emotions of love for the divine. Meera, also known as Mirabai and Meera Bai was a Hindu mystical poetess who composed hundreds of bhajans. Her bhajans were in the Bhakti tradition, a Sanskrit word meaning devotion. Within Hinduism, the word denotes devotion to a particular God and in the case of Meera Bai, her devotion was for Lord Krishna. Hemu’s recital utilized graceful, flowing movements to portray Meera Bai’s unconditional love for Krishna.

In order to make the long seven-year preparation towards this Arangetram, Poorvi, Hemu, and Sachi studied under the guiding expertise of Ms. Asha Gopal from the Arathi School of India Dances. This Arangetram was one of the first graduations where three students would take the stage simultaneously and represented the nearly 100th student to have graduated from Ms. Gopal’s tutelage. Ms. Gopal is highly regarded with many a recognition for her contribution to the community and her efforts of sustaining a valuable cultural heritage that is being carried into the future.

This is Hemangi Patel or Hemu as most of us call her. After seven years of studying, Hemu took to the stage with two other girls who were also graduating from their dance studies. The dance being performed is called Varnam. Varnam is the longest and most complex dance of the performance and is considered the centerpiece. This dance is challenging in both footwork and interpretation of the lyrics. Not that I know all that much about how the recitation should be performed but Hemu appeared to have learned her material to perfection.