Modification of gItams/swarajatI's etc for dance

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 27 Apr 2006, 01:20

Mohan,
Have you tried to add swarams and jatI's to gItam's (like lambOdara, varavINA, or sAmbasivAyanavE to name a few) to make them more suited to dancing? If so, can you share?

Also, what is the difference between the swarajatI of vocalists and jatiswaram of the dancer? Now, in a concert, the only swarajatI that I have heard is the elaborate bhairavI swarajatI of SS. But the jatiswaram is a mainstay of the traditional mArgam (a/c to bAlasaraswatI, it is when the dancer traverses the ardhamantapam). Can the simple swarajati be adapted to become a jatiswaram?
Ravi

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 27 Apr 2006, 09:16

Ravi - I haven't tried to add anything to geetams yet.

Swarajathi-s of today do not have jathis built into the composition. Apart from the bhariavi swarajati, Shyama Shastri's yadukula kambhoji and thodi swarajathis are also sung in concerts.

Jatiswaram-s are used in the dance repertoire and contain entirely composed swarams. There is no sahityam. The dancer will weave complex jathis into the dance as the swaras are sung but these jathis are not composed.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 27 Apr 2006, 19:16

Mohan,
The reason I ask is that I recently heard an attempt at just that: lambOdara was the piece in question. It was OK but lacked the kind of polish you have with the shivapanchAksharam...hence the question to you!
Ravi

rasikapriya21 · Post by **rasikapriya21** » 24 May 2006, 22:12

Ravi wrote:
Also, what is the difference between the swarajatI of vocalists and jatiswaram of the dancer? Now, in a concert, the only swarajatI that I have heard is the elaborate bhairavI swarajatI of SS. But the jatiswaram is a mainstay of the traditional mArgam (a/c to bAlasaraswatI, it is when the dancer traverses the ardhamantapam). Can the simple swarajati be adapted to become a jatiswaram?

Ravi: I happened to see a performance where the kamas swarajathi was re-adapted to become a jathiswaram. The swarajathi was presented as a
nritta item, thus all the sahitya portions where omitted.

regards,
rasikapriya21

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 24 May 2006, 22:41

Thanks rasikapriya.

Umesh · Post by **Umesh** » 04 Jun 2006, 14:48

Shyama Shastri's "Kamakshi" in Bhairavi that you are referring to is also popular among dancers... Hema Malini even performed it in her "Noopur" television series. Swarajathis need not be adapted to become jathiswarams because they can be performed (danced to, that is) with the sahitya intact, but it of course is done.

srinandini · Post by **srinandini** » 18 Apr 2007, 00:10

umesh is right when he says"Swarajathis need not be adapted to become jathiswarams because they can be performed (danced to, that is) with the sahitya intact, but it of course is done"

guru sri adyar K lakshman has to his credit the swarajathi sambasivayanave.... set to dance in the swarajathi format... keeping the swaras and sahityams intact......i.e. sticking to the original composition.. adding just some jathis....its an interesting piece to perform.