Why music is crucial to the success of a Bharatanatyam performance?

Music and dance embellish, enrich and elevate each other. The symbiotic relationship between the two is explored in depth in the Natya Sastra. Bharata states: “Sangeetam nrittam cha ekam bhavati” (music and dance are one and the same). In fact, the term ‘sangeetam’ encompasses vocal and instrumental music and dance. They are considered complementary expressions of the same artistic impulse. 

The legendary T. Balasaraswati has often been quoted as saying: “Bharatanatyam, in its highest moment, is the embodiment of music in its visual form.” 

Dancer Alarmel Valli performing with well-known Carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayashri. | Photo Credit: M. Moorthy

 There is a close relationship between abhinaya and raga. The music becomes the catalyst for mime, as it unravels endless options for the dancer to interpret a theme. 

In an article in the Journal of The Music Academy (1974), Carnatic musician and composer V.V. Sadagopan writes: “Any art experience, music and dance in particular, is the externalization of the inner joy experiencing the Beauty of Being and Becoming. Music and dance are inextricably intertwined twin expressions of inner beauty. It is the dance of the spirit which is externalized as music for the ear, and the music of the spirit as dance for the eye.” This is what he goes on to say is the perfect match of raga-bhava and sahitya-bhava, or “dhatu-matu samanvaya”. 

Senior dancer Alarmel Valli expresses similar sentiments. “When I dance, I sing with my body.” The key to her intuitive understanding of dance is the close relationship between movement and music, and the rasika is able to “see the music and hear the dance”.

Veteran Bharatanatyam dancer and scholar Nandini Ramani, a foremost disciple of Balasaraswati, recalls that such was the musicianship of her guru that she collaborated with the best musicians for her performances. Because, she realised that orchestral support is crucial to the success of any classical dance performance. Her guru Kandappa Pillai and later K. Ganesan ruled the orchestra with their musicianship and did the nattuvangam. Balamma’s mother Jayammal, Kanchipuram Ellappa Pillai, the two musical giants Gnanasundaram (or Gnani) and Narasimhulu, flute maestro T. Viswanathan, clarionet experts Balaraman and Radhakrishna Naidu, and mridangists Kuppuswami Mudaliar (the first SNA awardee for dance mridangam) and T. Ranganathan (Balamma’s brother) were a part of the orchestra at  different times.

Kittappa Pillai’s nattuvangam with Shyamala Venkateswaran’s singing enhanced the appeal of Vyjayantimala’s dance recitals | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives

Famous nattuvanars of those days were expert musicians too.  Their rhythmic compositions and choreography were guided largely by musical principles. Stalwarts such as Thanjavur K.P. Kittappa Pillai, Pandanallur Subbaraya Pillai, K.N. Dandayuthapani Pillai, S.K. Rajarathinam Pillai, Kalyanasundaram Pillai and K.J. Sarasa raised Bharatanatyam concerts to a higher plane with their nattuvangam and singing.  Natyacharyas M.V. Narasimhachari, C.V. Chandrasekhar were trained musicians too.

One can recall Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai conducting the performances of his star disciple Kumari Kamala with S.K. Rajarathnam Pillai and K.R. Radhakrishnan as vocalists in the orchestra. Similarly, Ramaiah Pillai used to conduct the programmes of dancers Anandhi and Radha with M.S. Subbulakshmi singing padams. Kittappa Pillai’s nattuvangam with Shyamala Venkateswaran’s singing added immense value to Vyjayantimala’s dance recitals. Those days, Bharatanatyam dancers had the luxury of having an almost permanent curated orchestra under the baton of their guru. They worked as a team. 

Padma Subrahmanyam worked closely with her sister-in-law Shyamala Balakrishnan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Mridangists have occupied and continue to hold an important place in the orchestra — for they hold the reins of precision in laya. If they were guided by the nattuvanars earlier to play for different pieces of the repertoire, today, they take the lead in composing jatis.

Singing for dance calls for a different skillset — apart from having an excellent vocal range, precise intonation and correct pronunciation, the singers need to match, if not enhance, the bhava and nritta of the dancer. 

Well-known dancer-musician duos include Kamala Narayan and S. Rajeswari, Yamini Krishnamurthy and her sister Jyothishmathi, Padma Subrahmanyam and her sister-in-law Shyamala Balakrishnan, Kalanidhi Narayanan and Vijayalakshmi, Lakshmi Viswanathan and Charumathi Ramachandran, Sudharani Raghupathy with Kittappa Pillai, then S. Rajeswari, Shanta and V.P. Dhananjayan with the likes of Babu Parameswaran, Regi George and Aravindakshan, Chitra Visweswaran with T. Sethuraman and later with her husband R. Visweswaran, and Alarmel Valli and Prema Ramamurthy, Srividya with her mother M.L. Vasanthakumari, singer Kanakadurga for Kuchipudi doyen Vempati Chinna Satyam’s productions, and the Odissi duo of dancer Sanjukta Panigrahi and singer Raghunath Panigrahi. 

Natyacharya V.P. Dhananjayan believes dancers and musicians should together put in long hours of sadhana | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives

Bharatanatyam dancer and scholar Padma Subrahmanyam recalls: “My sister-in-law Shyamala Balakrishnan was in tune with my creativity and I was equally a shadow of her music. There was so much give and take. Though I was the composer, her voice brought out every emotional nuance in my instantaneous satvika abhinaya. People still remember her ‘Achyuta’ in our ‘Krishnaya tubhyam namaha’. As Natyacharya V.P. Dhananjayan points out, “To achieve unison, the dancer and the musician need to put in long hours of sadhana”.

That is not always possible in today’s times, when dance musicians are not attached to one bani, dance school or guru. However, over the years, many young Carnatic musicians  have come forward to provide musical accompaniment for dance. 

Of course, it is important that to reap the benefit of such associations, dancers need to be well-versed in the nuances of music, so they can react and respond to create a ‘wow’ moment on stage. That said, occasionally, individual egos might get in the way, with the dancer or singer perceiving their art form as the most important. But, the truth is that only an equal collaboration leads to a well-synchronised performance. Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, musician, scholar and writer sums it up perfectly when she says that only when sangeetham, sahityam and natyam converge are rasa and ananda created in the minds of the audience.