Youtube videos of Dundubhi Natyam, Lec Dem Dec 2010 ( by Dr. Deepti Balla ). The video is washed out a lot so I do not know how watchable it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0n8SDM1EF8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj7fpL4NAxM
Dundubhi Natyam, Lec Dem Dec 2010
-
rshankar
- Posts: 13754
- Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26
Re: Dundubhi Natyam, Lec Dem Dec 2010
Very washed out. Is dundubhi nATyam part of the dance of the enchantress? Dr. Omachery Bhalla is a reputed mOhiniATTam dancer/researcher/choreographer, and her costume looks like that of a mOhiniATTam dancer.
-
vasanthakokilam
- Posts: 10958
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01
Re: Dundubhi Natyam, Lec Dem Dec 2010
I attended the lec dem. I have some notes. I will put that up here.
-
vasanthakokilam
- Posts: 10958
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01
Re: Dundubhi Natyam, Lec Dem Dec 2010
Fortunately, I found this review: http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/12/31/stor ... 590300.htm
This describes in detail what Dr. Bhalla spoke and demonstrated.
From what I understood, dundubhi natyam is about dancing to old compositions set in rare thalas of kerala and theme of the compositions are always in praise of Lord Siva. That seems to be the main distinguishing aspect. The description of that basic framework was the starting point of the lec-dem which then led to various aspects of the rhythmic forms of Kerala and how that is different from what we see in CM. The link and relationship with mohiniyAttam was not described in great detail, though there was enough in what she said to come away with the interpretation that it is one genre within the umbrella of mohiniyAttam, with the theme and emphasis being the eulogizing of lord Siva rather than SringArA.
The talk and demonstration was more along the lines of the rhythm aspects and compositions, especially the rarity of them. It was quite educational. Dr. Bhalla is quite a good speaker and she spoke, sang and danced, a point which Sri. Trichy Sankaran highlighted at the end of the program as something very hard to do. A few points that remained with me are..
- In old Kerala dance compositions, even if they are set to the same thala, the chandas and vaithAris ( sol kattus ) can be quite different providing entirely different feel to the compositions. This is especially true in folk and ritualistic compositions. The vaithAris of folk and ritualistic compositions have some uniqueness which sets itself apart from the compositions that are used for classical dances like kathakaLi.
- There is a difference in the manner of counting the thala beats. There is no finger counting. Only two types of kriyas, one that makes sound and a wave which does not make a sound.. ( like the drutham in CM but applied to all the angas ).
- The ati vilamba kAlapramANam and sometimes ati ati vilamba kAlapramANam are used commonly. She demonstrated that with a song in Surutii which was quite beautiful. At the end, Trichy Sankaran appreciated that aspect very much and regretted the fact that the modern trends seem to be fast and faster on every thing.
- Lastly, this one was quite interesting to me, the speed up of the songs is gradual and not two, or three or four times etc. that is common in CM. She said that her guru used to compare that to the growth of a child. If you are with a child, the child grows continously and not in well measured multiples as it may be the case for some one who sees the child after 5 or 10 years. So, the speed is increased in fractional increments thus providing for gradual speed up.
Most of what she said is adequately captured in the above Hindu review. It looks like the reviewer got hold of the paper she presented. Good for him and for us. She spoke fast given the strict time limitations and the amount of material she wanted to present through speech, song and dance. Even if he recorded it, it would have been hard to transcribe it that correctly. And I am glad the review/write-up is that thorough.
After the program was over, I had a chance to talk to her to ask some questions about rhythm. Mainly, how the emphasis and stress points map to the thala angas in traditional Kerala rhythmic practices. Her answer is two fold. In Folk and ritualistic music, as she mentioned during her presentation, the stress patterns align with the chandas of the words and overlaid with the underlying vaithAris ( sol kattu ). Since different vaitharis and chandas can be laid over the thala, the thala anga and stress patterns need not match. The second part of her answer is, the way the thalas are rendered with sound and soundless kriyas, the major stresses tend to fall on the sounded kriyas and less so on the soundless kriyas. I was quite satisfied with that explanation.
She was very delighted and eager to entertain such questions from a random person like me even after quite a tiresome one hour if speaking, singing and dancing. She said that it is a great topic to discuss and I should have brought that up during the program itself since she wanted the answer to be heard by others also.. I am not shy about making a fool of myself in the midst of all the scholars and musicians present, I would have ventured on that but there was no time for many questions from the audience.
This describes in detail what Dr. Bhalla spoke and demonstrated.
From what I understood, dundubhi natyam is about dancing to old compositions set in rare thalas of kerala and theme of the compositions are always in praise of Lord Siva. That seems to be the main distinguishing aspect. The description of that basic framework was the starting point of the lec-dem which then led to various aspects of the rhythmic forms of Kerala and how that is different from what we see in CM. The link and relationship with mohiniyAttam was not described in great detail, though there was enough in what she said to come away with the interpretation that it is one genre within the umbrella of mohiniyAttam, with the theme and emphasis being the eulogizing of lord Siva rather than SringArA.
The talk and demonstration was more along the lines of the rhythm aspects and compositions, especially the rarity of them. It was quite educational. Dr. Bhalla is quite a good speaker and she spoke, sang and danced, a point which Sri. Trichy Sankaran highlighted at the end of the program as something very hard to do. A few points that remained with me are..
- In old Kerala dance compositions, even if they are set to the same thala, the chandas and vaithAris ( sol kattus ) can be quite different providing entirely different feel to the compositions. This is especially true in folk and ritualistic compositions. The vaithAris of folk and ritualistic compositions have some uniqueness which sets itself apart from the compositions that are used for classical dances like kathakaLi.
- There is a difference in the manner of counting the thala beats. There is no finger counting. Only two types of kriyas, one that makes sound and a wave which does not make a sound.. ( like the drutham in CM but applied to all the angas ).
- The ati vilamba kAlapramANam and sometimes ati ati vilamba kAlapramANam are used commonly. She demonstrated that with a song in Surutii which was quite beautiful. At the end, Trichy Sankaran appreciated that aspect very much and regretted the fact that the modern trends seem to be fast and faster on every thing.
- Lastly, this one was quite interesting to me, the speed up of the songs is gradual and not two, or three or four times etc. that is common in CM. She said that her guru used to compare that to the growth of a child. If you are with a child, the child grows continously and not in well measured multiples as it may be the case for some one who sees the child after 5 or 10 years. So, the speed is increased in fractional increments thus providing for gradual speed up.
Most of what she said is adequately captured in the above Hindu review. It looks like the reviewer got hold of the paper she presented. Good for him and for us. She spoke fast given the strict time limitations and the amount of material she wanted to present through speech, song and dance. Even if he recorded it, it would have been hard to transcribe it that correctly. And I am glad the review/write-up is that thorough.
After the program was over, I had a chance to talk to her to ask some questions about rhythm. Mainly, how the emphasis and stress points map to the thala angas in traditional Kerala rhythmic practices. Her answer is two fold. In Folk and ritualistic music, as she mentioned during her presentation, the stress patterns align with the chandas of the words and overlaid with the underlying vaithAris ( sol kattu ). Since different vaitharis and chandas can be laid over the thala, the thala anga and stress patterns need not match. The second part of her answer is, the way the thalas are rendered with sound and soundless kriyas, the major stresses tend to fall on the sounded kriyas and less so on the soundless kriyas. I was quite satisfied with that explanation.
She was very delighted and eager to entertain such questions from a random person like me even after quite a tiresome one hour if speaking, singing and dancing. She said that it is a great topic to discuss and I should have brought that up during the program itself since she wanted the answer to be heard by others also.. I am not shy about making a fool of myself in the midst of all the scholars and musicians present, I would have ventured on that but there was no time for many questions from the audience.
-
rshankar
- Posts: 13754
- Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26
Re: Dundubhi Natyam, Lec Dem Dec 2010
VK - thank you for that detailed reporting!!
The way I understand it, it should be true of bharatanATyam too. Take a varNam in Adi tALam - the jatis can be simple (and probably boring to many) in caTuSram, or it can combine tiSram, catuSram, miSram, sankIrNam in different combinations, so that the different jatis in the same varNam can look, sound and feel so very different....Isn't that what she's saying?vasanthakokilam wrote:- In old Kerala dance compositions, even if they are set to the same thala, the chandas and vaithAris ( sol kattus ) can be quite different providing entirely different feel to the compositions. This is especially true in folk and ritualistic compositions. The vaithAris of folk and ritualistic compositions have some uniqueness which sets itself apart from the compositions that are used for classical dances like kathakaLi.
-
vasanthakokilam
- Posts: 10958
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01
Re: Dundubhi Natyam, Lec Dem Dec 2010
Ravi: I think so. I am a bit hesitant to confidently say that, for fear of misrepresenting her thesis. She made it a point to stress a couple of times that the old folk and ritualistic dance forms of Kerala ( which dundubhi genre is part of and aligns itself with ) differ from the classical dances in terms of the chandas and vaitharis. That is, they have their own unique vaitharis compared to the classical dance vaitharis for the same thala. This is not in contradiction to how you understood it, just a different color and dimension.
And the more folkish dundubhi compositions eulogizing Lord Shiva use a rhythmic form that closely aligns itself to the chandas of the lyrics ( as in thiruppugazh..that is how I understood what she was saying, she did not bring up the thiruppugazh analogy ).
She packed a lot of information in that one hour, and several profound things were said in passing. I only got like 10% of all that.
And the more folkish dundubhi compositions eulogizing Lord Shiva use a rhythmic form that closely aligns itself to the chandas of the lyrics ( as in thiruppugazh..that is how I understood what she was saying, she did not bring up the thiruppugazh analogy ).
She packed a lot of information in that one hour, and several profound things were said in passing. I only got like 10% of all that.