help with song selection!please help!

gitanjali · Post by **gitanjali** » 19 Mar 2007, 19:24

my daughter won a dance competition in US .She is going on to the national level.There will be children from US and canada .18 participants in all.duration of the somg should be less than 10 min.Though she got first price soleley based on her impressive performance, I felt her song was a padam and so a little less technical than the other children where more scope for abinaya was there(which is her strength).Also little shorter ,6 min.other children were jumping all over the stage whereas hers had limited movement.I don't want her losing the national level 'cos of the song.Can anyone suggest a 10 min song for a 9 year old.I would appreciate it a lot.What are pada varnams.Are they less than 10 min.are they technically better than padams.Are there varnams less than 10 min.Please help

Umesh · Post by **Umesh** » 20 Mar 2007, 03:39

First, I would consult the guru. He/she may be more familiar with the particular competition and with what they are looking for.

Pada varnams are the name for varnams in dance (in a Bharata Natyam program, it is simply known as "varnam.") Most varnams are 20+ minutes long, so they'd be out of the question for the competition, BUT there are shortened versions of some varnams available (or you could record/cut your own if you have the means). In addition, you may choose to do either only the first half or only the second half of a varnam, which, depending on the particular arrangement of the varnam, would be roughly 10 mins.

The only concern I have is that your daughter is 9 years old, so you have to ensure that the varnam is not too advanced and will not be too physically tiring. You could always do a lengthy padam with swarams here and there to showcase both nrtta and abhinaya.

Some examples of shortened varnams (these are streaming, I don't know how to download them or where to purchase them, sorry).

http://www.malayalavedhi.com/Music/Musi ... _NATYAM.ra

http://www.malayalavedhi.com/Music/Musi ... THANGAL.ra
&
http://www.malayalavedhi.com/Music/Musi ... THANGAL.ra
(all one song)

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/XAO ... As1NMvHdW/

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/X5O ... As1NMvHdW/

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 20 Mar 2007, 07:42

A tillAnA in hindOLam , mOhanam, darbAri kannaDA, and kalyANi by K N Dandayudapani Pillai should fit the bill if you have it. MLV has sung it in a CD produced by EMI (CDNF147790). It can be done under 10 minutes.

srinandini · Post by **srinandini** » 03 Apr 2007, 05:09

i have been learning bharatanatyam for the past 7 years. i would now like to try and set my own korvais. is there a particular set of rules to follow while setting dance korvais for thillanas??