Throughout July and August, Apsaras Arts Company celebrated Yuva Mahotsav - Spirit Of Rising Stars, which is the youth edition of the Darshana Intimate Dance Series.
The festival was conducted over four days and showcased young Bharatanatyam artistes: July 24 featured Aathmika Viju-Pany, July 25 featured Maya Sharma, July 26 featured Isabel Joshy, and Aug 14 featured Vidushi Rajesh.
The Darshana series aims to showcase solo traditional dance performances as opposed to group performances.
“I always feel that the solo art form, the intention of the very Indian classical dance form, is kind of vanishing. So that’s the idea: I want to recreate that setting of a solo dancer coming to the audience in very close proximity to share the experience,” said Mr Mohanapriyan Thavarajah, the curator of the festival and associate creative director at Apsaras.
The performances held to their promises of intimacy as they were hosted in Apsaras’ 70-seater, black-box-style theatre, AVAI. “You can see the breathing of the dancer, you can see the eye movement, you can see the eyebrows, how it’s reacting to each different emotion,” said Mr Mohanapriyan, 37.
The performers in the line-up have been working on this craft since they were children, with some like Vidushi Rajesh starting as young as six.
In Vidushi’s – who trained under Ms Uma Kannappan Chetty, Apsaras Dance Group, Virginia, USA – performance, the story of Lord Murugan was the central theme.
“Performing these pieces gave me the opportunity to bring the stories and emotions behind them to life. Though I felt a mix of nerves and excitement before going on stage, once I began dancing, I was completely immersed in the stories I was portraying,” said Vidushi, 17.
For Aathmika Viju-Pany, her performance had a more philosophical theme: exploring the idea of how the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva are manifestations of the same “supreme reality”.
“To me, Bharatanatyam is a way of connecting with my culture and spirituality,” said Ms Aathmika, 19.
As a medical undergraduate student at NTU, she had to balance starting the school year alongside preparing for the showcase. “However, seeing it all come together on stage made every sacrifice worthwhile. Throughout the performance, I felt a deep sense of Bhakti or spiritual connection, which reminded me why I had undertaken this journey in the first place,” she said.
Having youths as dedicated as these keeps Mr Mohanapriyan hopeful for the future of the arts. “Bringing these young kids into the scene is kind of kindling the interest,” he said. “They are the future audiences. We often rely on the same people who are coming for our shows, but we have to give a taste to the young crowd so they can see the bigger picture and spark interest in themselves,” he said.
