Religious diversity at Anjana’s arangetram

By Nila Ranjan.

( November,11, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) The arangetram of Marionne Anjana Sooriakumar at the packed Riverside Theatre Parramatta was indeed a spectacular affair. From the ornately decorated hall, the kolam in the foyer, sculpturesque posters, to the actual performance – everything was perfect.

The orchestra included the very best musicians – Smt Pathmaranjini Umashankar (the Guru) alongside Anjana’s aunt Smt Srikanthy Satkunam on vocal, Sri Chrissan Segaram on mridangam, Sri Narayanadas Kopathidas on violin, Smt Devaki Vignesh on flute, and Sri Senthuran Thevarajah on tabla, ghatam, kanjira, and dholak.

The stage setting bore all the hallmarks of Anjana’s strong Catholic background with the statute of the Infant Jesus alongside Lord Nadarajah epitomizing her unflinching Catholic faith with her philosophical respect for the Bharathanatyam that was once performed in the sacred environment of the Hindu temples.

Transcending the cultural and religious barriers, Anjana ascended the stage with the invocatory Pushpanjali. The program began with the warm-up piece Alaripu, in which the formation of steps evolved like a bud blooming into flower. This was followed by Jathiswaram, demonstrating the fusion of intricate pure dance sequences with repetitive melodic musical notes. In the next segment, Krishna Kauthuvam was performed with fine lyrics in praise of God.

Varnam was the next in the repertoire, which not only stretched the limits of Anjana’s stamina with ease, but projected her rhythmic talents along with variegated abhinaya. Anjana enthralled the audience as the dance progressed into a more complex rhythmic sequence with pieces of interpretive dance that projected the emotions in the song exceptionally well, with perfect synchronisation of ‘bhaava’, ‘raga’, and ‘taala’.

In the second half, Anjana gave a flawless demonstration of her interpretative skills in Padam against the background image of a grand ancient temple. Anjana’s depiction of the theme of love echoed the reality of a soul longing for union with the divine.

This was followed by an expressive Keerthanam, in which Anjana danced to describe the magnificence and multifarious attributes of Lord Shiva in commanding the creation, protection and salvation at his will, and whose power transcends above the layers of all music and knowledge.

Rev Fr Vincent Savarimuthu, the Chief Guest for the evening addressed the gathering with special emphasis on preserving the culture and extolling the ingrained qualities of ‘practise, patience, and perseverance’ in Anjana that helped her to realise her dream.

Anjana entertained the audience with the beautiful peacock dance. The audience was entranced by the shifting colours of the feathers and the ethereal beauty.

The next segment of the dance was a Keerthanam praising the almighty God with veil over her head – the ‘Alpha and Omega’. The unique feature in the setting was the large screen projection of the majestic St Peter’s Basilica to signify the dancer’s Roman Catholic faith. The adaptation of the Christian theme as the background widened the horizon of this art of Bharathanatyam without blurring the purity of its Hindu origin.

Acknowledging the unflinching support of her family and friends, Anjana’s performance reached a crescendo with a Thillana (Kathanakuthukalam). This segment of the dance pointed to Anjana’s ability to perform ‘nritta’ or pure rhythmic dance movements expressing the emotions of profound happiness and ecstasy. A truly memorable evening concluded with the Mangalam as a shower of petals cascaded onto the stage.