PETals

The Musical side of Krishnaarpanam

Hariraam



Krishnaarpanam. The first musical dance drama I have experienced. A live performance which, in my opinion, caught every one of our hearts. Believe it or not, it was like the music needed the dance to relate the whole story or the meaning of the song, while the dance needed the music to dance to it, to follow the rhythmic beats. At times, the orchestra members would want to get up and join the dancers rather than sitting for 2 whole hours and enduring the numbness, and at times, the dancers would want to relax their legs from all the pounding and sit on the mat and sing and play the songs.

Krishnaarpanam. The practices actually started last year around April. My friends and I only joined the practices during September. At that time, our practices were only once or twice a month. So it was the average come-sit-down-play-and-go-home thing, I think. But practices grew more intense when 2007 started. Of course, things started moving, I mean we were more serious into our practices. Shankar anna would come and explain to us the meaning of the songs, and in turn we would try express the music according to his explanation.

February went by in a blink of an eye. Once again, I say, practices grew more intense, more scoldings. Haha! Then we had practices with the dancers. Now, things were moving really fast for we had to play correctly and at the right speed. And naturally, when the music's fast , you could see smoke emerging from the dancers' feet - I'm saying it metaphorically!!! Shankar anna was there to make sure we didn't bungle. So you could say that he and teacher were sort of the conductors of the production.

The first day of the show, an 'interesting' experience. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. ah but that's all normal. One would still feel nervous even though he or she knew the work at the tip of the fingers. The music was running at 18o miles an hour, the dancers were trying so hard to keep up, their feet steaming, and out of all that, the musicians were not allowed to slow down the speed because Shankar anna said it would cause some confusion for the dancers. Every one of the orchestra had made at least 4 to 6 mistakes. How tragic!!! Oh ya!!! and the final song of the whole show, the Madhava Panchakam was the hit for all of us! Well, if you were there to watch it, then I don't have to say. The last verse of the song had automatically picked up speed from God knows where, and then the whole interlude was 'amazing' - in other words 'unbelievably crazy'!!! (I don't know how else to say it; forgive me). Shankar anna of course, I think, was enjoying it... aiyo!

The second day was the best, I mean literally. Everything was good, from sound to dancing, singing, the music. Maybe it was because all of us finally gave all our heart and soul to this last performance. According to most of them, the music was beautiful, the dance was extraordinary, the narration - Madana Gopala if you are reading this, then, at least let me say something good - was great and awakening to the whole lot of us and the audience. So you can say that everything went on well. One last dose of preparation by Appa and Shankar anna and Kanagamani teacher finally lifted us up into the air say, we're ready!!!

Krishnaarpanam was wonderful and heart lifting for all of us, including the audience. It brought many pictures to life for those who were eager to know about Krishna and his pranks. Krishnaarpanamastu... Narayana Narayana... hehe.

posted by hari @ 1:10 PM