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UTPALA …a thousand petals…a thousand lives
A contemporary dance-theatre performance by
ANITA RATNAM & ARANGHAM DANCE THEATRE , India
(2003)
UTPALA …a thousand petals…a thousand lives
A contemporary dance-theatre performance by
ANITA RATNAM & ARANGHAM DANCE THEATRE , India
(2003)
Duration: 60 MINUTES
Style: TAI’CHI, KALARI, BHARATANATYAM & CONTEMPORARY
Music: TAPED (ON CD)
No: of Performers: 5
Technical Manager: 1
Stage Assistant: 1
Total No: 7
Lighting Plan: AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
UTPALA …a thousand petals…a thousand lives
A contemporary dance-theatre performance by
ANITA RATNAM & ARANGHAM DANCE THEATRE , India
(2003)
PROGRAMME NOTE:
Bringing together an exhilirating combination of music, dance and contemporary
movement ideas, Anita Ratnam and Arangham Dance Theatre premiered UTPALA at
SUTRARASA, festival of contemporary dance, hosted by Ramli Ibrahim’s Sutra
Dance Theatre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 30, 31 & June 1, 2003.
An eternal Pan Asian symbol, replete with images of purity, fertility and
auspiciousness, the LOTUS exhudes unparalleled mystique in Indian literature,
sculptures and paintings as well as in countless rituals and ceremonies the world
over.
A thousand-petalled motif of awareness, abundance, playfulness, creativity and
purity, UTPALA mirrors the myriad patterns that weave their way into life's many
moments, teasing, rousing, calming, inspiring…
UTPALA …a thousand petals…a thousand lives
A contemporary dance-theatre performance by
ANITA RATNAM & ARANGHAM DANCE THEATRE , India
(2003)
CREDITS
Concept & Choreography: ANITA RATNAM
Dancers: ANITA RATNAM, L. NARENDRA KUMAR, M PALANI, AARTI BODANI,
GAYATHRI, PALANI MURUGAN, VASANTH, P. AKILA
Music: O. S. ARUN
Percussion: S. JAGADEESAN
Costumes: CA JOY
Anita's costumes: REHANE
Stage Assistant: L SUBASHREE
Technical Director: MITHRAN DEVANESSAN
UTPALA …a thousand petals…a thousand lives
A contemporary dance-theatre performance by
ANITA RATNAM & ARANGHAM DANCE THEATRE , India
(2003)
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
The
dancers
created
a
temporary
vocabulary that explored the many facets
that one can link with this flower –
strange,
mysterious,
beautiful,
worshipped and yet arising out of waters
that can hide brutal and unspoken things
beneath its surface. At the core of the
work are two solo performances by Anita
who,
using
narrative,
yoga
and
contemporary movement, unleashed the
power of the kundalini.
Mithran Devanesen, CITYEXPRESS,
Chennai, Thursday, July 10, 2003
“Utpala” sought to explore the uncertainty
and, perhaps, the unpredictability of life.
There is perhaps no better symbol of this
than the lotus…it represents reflection,
peace and wisdom. But nobody knows
what lies beneath the still waters. Thus
“Utpala”
comprised various scenes in
which the dynamics changed rapidly. The
choreography was physically demanding,
“Utpala” used symbols (through the
lighting) to depict different dimensions,
the music also enhanced the mood of the
performance.
Rubin Khoo, STAR MAG, Kuala Lumpur,
Sunday, 8 June, 2003
“Utpala” was a brilliant
metaphorical representation of love, sensual longing,
mischief and mayhem. Though presented in a variety of styles, it conveyed a
message of utter stillness and duality…It was an ‘awakening’ of the senses to the
social issues of the day.
D. Maheshwari, NEW STRAITS TIMES, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, 30 June,
2003, (email:[email protected])
UTPALA …a thousand petals…a thousand lives
A contemporary dance-theatre performance by
ANITA RATNAM & ARANGHAM DANCE THEATRE , India
(2003)
Anita Ratnam - Dance as sacred ritual
Antares, Malaysia (e-mail: [email protected] )
Antares is awed by the consummate beauty, skill and wisdom that crafted
UTPALA: THE AWAKENING
June 10, 2003
I very nearly missed catching the fabulous Anita Ratnam (and her Arangham Dance
Theatre) in the world premiere of Utpala: The Awakening. The hot clammy weather
had depleted my joie de vivre and I did not relish the thought of driving 110 miles
merely to assuage my curiosity about this legendary dancer-choreographer, former
TV producer, cross-cultural ambassador, and professor of aesthetics in the
Universality of Dance. In the end I decided to toss a coin three times – and thrice the
answer was, “Go... Go... Go...”
The moment I set foot in Sutra House – the magic garden theatre of dance that
Ramli Ibrahim built – my spirits began to lift. What a splendid setting for the
epiphanies that were soon to follow.
A crucial element was the enticingly eclectic music: a rapturous mix of prerecorded
tracks culled from various sources - and live performance with Jaya Sekhar on veena
and vocal, and L Subhasri on nattuvangam. There was an evocative dash of Sheila
Chandran, plus some truly exciting sections featuring freestyle jazz piano and tabla.
The editing could have been a little more polished – the fadeouts sometimes
terminated abruptly, a jarring auditory experience – but the selection itself revealed
the choreographer’s conceptual clarity and focused intent.
Art’s success must be measured by its power to reconcile, heal and ennoble.
Technical discipline, flair and skill may define professional standards but the core of
the performance is where Mystery dwells: it reveals the soul essence of the artist for
better or worse. The complementary aspects of lighting and costume design are
important in dance and, in the case of Utpala, were more than satisfactorily fulfilled.
What truly shone through was the sublime inspiration behind the narrative concept
and choreography, which delineated and unified the divine, demonic, and human
dimensions.
In reconciling eastern and western dance vocabularies, the sacred and the secular,
the classical and contemporary approach, the celestial and the terrestrial, Utpala:
The Awakening seduced and gracefully guided us through the birth pangs of
incarnate being, adolescence and maturity, sorrow and joy, tenderness and brutality,
and led us unerringly to the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel where our
mortal existence is elucidated, validated and consecrated. Utpala’s synergetic blend
of classical Indian elements with a contemporary, cosmopolitan perspective was
confident and uncontrived, reflecting the work of a mature artist comfortable with
her Indian roots - yet adventurously seeking a universal aesthetic.
UTPALA …a thousand petals…a thousand lives
A contemporary dance-theatre performance by
ANITA RATNAM & ARANGHAM DANCE THEATRE , India
(2003)
Using the lotus as the central motif of the work (“Utpala literally means the slender
stem that connects the sacred flower to the muddy marsh from which it grows”),
Anita masterfully synthesized Hindu cosmology with Jungian and gestalt psychology
and grounded her thesis in the rich, dark soil of being human. Vishnu, Brahma and
Shiva were invoked – then Shakti (the feminine principle) took over, in her Parvati,
Mahalakshmi, Saraswati, and Kali aspects. And what a Goddess figure Anita cut with
her charismatic stage presence - with a single mudra she was able to express a
gamut of experience, her stillness was potent, her movements charged with ethereal
grace.
It was clear that Anita Ratnam was an object of devotion and an inspiration to her
talented young dancers – to whom she gave generous space to display their
admirable terpsichorean gifts. The two exquisite female dancers, Aarti Bodani and R
Gayathri, were perfectly matched with their dynamic male counterparts, L Narendra
Kumar and M. Palani. As representatives of humanity, the four enacted the phases of
evolution, the dramatic (and traumatic) transition from tribal to individual
consciousness, the inner and outer polarization resulting in the battle of the sexes,
and realignment with and ultimate return to Source through spiritual awakening.
In ritual dance, symbolic objects carry immense significance. The large basin of
water at a corner of the open-air stage suggested cleansing, renewal and rebirth; the
glittering discs of mirrored glass harvested from the dancers’ feet by the Goddess at
the finale (and lovingly returned to the water) might have represented the divine
spark contained within each soul, the holographic fragment bearing the blueprint of
the Cosmic Whole, the luminous, self-reflecting consciousness of a sovereign entity.
Even as I surrendered to the sensory and mental stimulation of Utpala: The
Awakening, a part of me was acutely aware that Anita Ratnam had taken dance
beyond mere art or entertainment, to the rarefied precincts of sacred ritual, whereby
the boundary between performer and audience is temporarily transcended, and
mutual blessing experienced.
But just who is this Anita Ratnam? We learn from the programme notes that her
classical training was in Bharata Natyam, supplemented by the Kerala traditions of
Kathakali and Mohiniattam. (Indeed, she met Ramli Ibrahim while both were
students of dance guru Adyar K Lakshman, and was thus happy to premiere Utpala
at Ramli’s 6th Sutra Festival of Contemporary Dance Theatre and Music in Kuala
Lumpur.) Anita subsequently obtained a Master’s degree in Theatre and Television
from the University of New Orleans, and embarked on a 10-year career as a New
York TV producer and weekly talk show host. She produced the highly acclaimed
Festival of India television series among others, earning two Emmy nominations, and
then returned to Chennai (Madras) where she established the Arangham Trust – a
foundation promoting dance and its interaction with visual and performing arts.
In 2002 she collaborated choreographically on two international productions: DUST
(which premiered in the U.S.) inspired by the life of Tibetan explorer Alexandra
David-Neel; and Hyphenated (which premiered in Canada), a work addressing issues
of race, identity, and the trans-cultural experience. Apart from dance, Anita
Ratnam’s work “intersects at the crossroads of art, ethics, philosophy and culture”
and she engages with young audiences through “physical theatre” workshops. She
also co-founded and co-directs The Other Festival – India’s “only contemporary arts
UTPALA …a thousand petals…a thousand lives
A contemporary dance-theatre performance by
ANITA RATNAM & ARANGHAM DANCE THEATRE , India
(2003)
festival” held annually in Chennai since 1998. And to top it all, Anita recently
initiated www.narthaki.com – an award-winning web portal on Indian classical dance
bringing together practitioners of Bharata Natyam, Odissi, and other Indian dance
traditions – wherever they may be on the planet.
This creative dynamo is also mother to two teenaged children who are proud of her
celebrity status, but occasionally lament her absence from home when she’s touring
or busy organizing arts events and workshops.
At the close of Utpala: The Awakening, Ramli Ibrahim invited questions from the
audience. The calm, clear manner in which Anita responded was equally impressive.
The Indian High Commissioner, H.E. Veena Sikri, happened to be in the audience,
and was asked to say a few words. Her gracious praise for the performance was
unstinting and augured extremely well for more vibrant intercultural exchanges
between India and Malaysia. As Ramli rightly reminded us, the cultural, spiritual and
commercial links between Mother India and her former vassal states in the Malay
Archipelago go back thousands of years. We have every reason to cherish this
precious heritage and continue working on behalf of its future evolution.
© Antares (Kit Leee) 2003
Antares Magick, River 44000, Kuala Kubu Baru, Malaysia
ARANGHAM DANCE THEATRE
Executive Office: 10 Cenotaph II Lane, Chennai 600018, India
Ph-Off: (044)-28524917/24352123, Fax: 28522224
e-mail: [email protected]
web site: www.arangham.com