Tapasya episode 54 - Patience pays - Sridevi Nrithyalaya - Bharathanatyam Dance

Tapasya episode 54 - Patience pays

In the last 34 years of my teaching experience, I have witnessed how, many students give up half way and only a few students sustain, no matter at what pace they progress. I'm very happy to notice the growth and confidence of some students who have been learning the basics for almost 6 to 8 years at SDN, now presenting a challenging piece from our thematic presentation PARAM recently on stage.

- Sheela Unnikrishnan

0:00 Introduction
1:36 Pillai Tamizh Swarajathi
12:38 Conclusion

Pillai Tamizh Swarajathi from SDN's thematic presentation "PARAM - the Ultimate"

Swarajathi is a component in Carnatic music, which is usually performed in the beginning of a concert. The themes of Swarajathis revolve around bhakthi, love or courage.

This particular Swarajathi in SDN's PARAM, a thematic presentation in Bharathanatyam, describes the birth and growth of Mother Goddess in Madurai, a famous city in Tamil Nadu, where the language Tamizh is believed to be patronized by the Gods.

The unique feature of this Swarajathi, is the lyrics, which are composed adapting the pattern of Pillai Tamizh from Tamil literature. Pillai Tamizh describes the various stages of a child from infancy to the age of 10 viz., Kaapu, Sengeerai, Thaala, Sappaani, Muththam, Varugai, Ambuli, Ammaanai, Neeraadal and Oosal. These have been intricately woven into soothing lyrics, caressing Mother Goddess who became the Princess of Pandiya clan.

Mother Goddess is born as Meenakshi in Madurai. Let us pray to the almighty to protect the just born, who is as tender as a sapling. Let us sing lullabies for our beloved baby and fondle our little flower to make her clap her hands. We shall nuzzle her for a kiss and snuggle her to make her come to us. Oh! We shall indeed command the moon to play with the child, and we shall take the pride of describing the charm of her playing around. Let us get drenched in the happiness of bathing her and let our hearts swell by her delightful swinging.

Pillai Tamizh Swarajathi set in ragam Suruti and Adi talam, music composed by Sri Kuldeep M. Pai and lyrics penned by Sri Padmadevan.

Credits:
Choreography - Dr. Sheela Unnikrishnan
Vocal - Dr. Kuldeep M Pai
Mridangam - Dr. Guru Bharadwaaj
Violin - Sri Embar Kannan
Flute - Sri Vishnu Vijay
Veena - Sri Bhavani Prasad

Dancers:
Baby Meenakshi - Aaradhya Nandhagopal
Second Meenakshi - Thendral
Third Meenakshi - Ketana
Sharada
Sumedha V.
R. M. Ineya
Sivapriya
Harini Balasubramaniam
Tanvi Adige
Ananya M. J.
Emma Nicholson


Tapasya - the training sessions, is a series of videos that will be published on a monthly basis (as episodes) on the last day of every month.

The students featuring in Tapasya series have about 6-8 classes every month. Each episode of Tapasya is a cumulative overview of what is taught to them during the course of the month.

Along with the training sessions of the children, Tapasya also holds inputs on teaching techniques from Smt. Sheela Unnikrishnan and useful tips from the regular performers of Sridevi Nrithyalaya.

Contact - [email protected]

Other related videos:

Tapasya - the practice series (Episodes 1 to 54)
   • TAPASYA - SDN training sessions  

Praarambham - Learn Melattur style basics ONLINE
   • Praarambham - Learning Melattur style...  


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