Sangam

Presented by:

JYOTHSNA SAINATH & NITYA NRITYA FOUNDATION

Bharatanatyam is a classical Indian genre of dance that originates from the South of India. Performed all over the world today, it is universally recognized as a dance form that is at once geometric and graceful, light as well as grounded. The pure technique of Bharatanatyam is defined by the highly evolved classical rhythm traditions of South India. Due to its sophisticated narrative vocabulary, Bharatanatyam is also ideally suited to complex story telling. It is this shared tradition of the Indian dance forms as an unparalleled means of communication that places them at the center of the stage art forms of the world.

Sangam is a year-long project that involves the telling of a string of fables through Bharatanatyam; Indian and Native American to freshly created music at the intersection of Indian classical music, percussion from around the world and Native American flute.

FABLES

Doves and lentils

Source: Jataka Tales

A flock of doves live in a forest. They fly together each day and forage for food. One day they see an area of a forest covered in a pile of lentils. All the doves want to swoop down and help themselves to the food. One of the doves however, a wise one, is suspicious and asks the others to think about how this could be possible. But, the others ignore the advice, laugh at their friend for being scared, fly down, land on the lentils and start eating them only to find that their feet are caught in a hunter’s net that was hidden under the lentils. They try to fly away, but fail. The doves are worried and regret not having paid heed to their wise friend.

What will they do next?

Peacock, Crane and Nightingale

Source: Adapted from Panchatantra and Aesop’s Fables

The peacock of the forest is extremely proud of its beauty. He looks down upon every other bird in the forest.

One day it looks like it may start to rain. The peacock has a special dance that he reserves for such days. He spreads his feathers and starts to strut around. He sees the crane looking on with admiration. The peacock invites the crane to dance with him, knowing fully well that the crane (with its long wiry legs) is an awkward dancer. The crane doesn’t want to dance, but reluctantly agrees to join the peacock.

They start to dance together. The peacock dances proudly, knowing that the crane is struggling to keep up.

Suddenly a hunter appears on the scene. Who gets away?

Four Friends

Source: Adapted from Panchatantra

A crow, a deer, a tortoise and a mole are fast friends, despite their obvious dissimilarities.

A hunter arrives on the scene as they are playing one day. He spots the deer and starts to chase it, the deer gets away. He then turns around to the other 3 shocked friends. The crow and mole also escape, one into the sky and the other into the ground. The tortoise slowly starts to trudge along toward the water.

Hunter captures the tortoise and starts to carry it back home.

The three remaining friends return to the scene and are worried for the tortoise. What should they do now?

First Nation story – Hunter and Alligator

Source: Adapted from a Choctaw story:

https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TheAlligatorandtheHunter-Choctaw.html

A Choctaw hunter is exhausted by the heat of the day and hungry. He has caught nothing so far. He comes by a drying pond and sees an alligator by it. The pond doesn’t have enough water for the alligator to swim in. The alligator is thirsty and tired and needs assistance.

The two regard each other suspiciously from afar. The hunter could kill the alligator for food, but doesn’t know if it is weak enough not to attack him when he approaches.

The alligator then beckons the hunter closer and says that they could each help each other. It says that if the hunter could help it get to a bigger water body, it will help him get food each day. The hunter is curious and approaches.

The hunter says that he saw a bigger lake close by and offers to take the alligator to it. The alligator says that it will help him as soon as it has had a drink of water at the big lake.

The hunter ties the alligator to his back and carries it to the lake and releases it there. Both have stuck to their bargain – neither attacked the other.

At the big lake, the alligator enters the water, takes a swim, quenches its thirst. The hunter waits patiently till it resurfaces at the bank.

The alligator eventually emerges and tells the hunter a secret! This secret will help him always succeed in finding pray.

COLLABORATING ARTISTS

JYOTHSNA SAINATH

Jyothsna Sainath is a Bharatanatyam dance artist based in Salt Lake City, UT.

Known for probing thematic content from a variety of sources via the language of Bharatanatyam, Jyothsna seeks to investigate the interplay between embodiment via a classical technique and unfolding of technique as driven by a theme.

Jyothsna’s primary training in Bharatanatyam was in Bengaluru, India, most recently as a student of Guru Narmada; she also holds a Master’s degree in Performing Arts from Bangalore University.

She is the Artistic Director of Nitya Nritya Dance Company (NNDC), a Bharatanatyam performing and training company and the President of Nitya Nritya Foundation (NNF). Nitya Nritya Foundation is a non- profit whose mission is to bringing the rich abundance of the Indian classical arts to audiences in the Salt Lake valley.

Jyothsna Sainath received an Individual Artist Career Empowerment Grant in 2022 from the Salt Lake City Arts Council to construct a large scale arts project in the region. The performance of Sangam is the result of the work supported by this grant in collaboration with Nitya Nritya Foundation.

www.jyothsnasainath.com

MUSICAL COLLABORATORS

NINO REYOS

Nino Reyos is a member of the Northern Ute and Laguna Pueblo Indian Nations. He was born the youngest of 11 children, among the Ute People in North Eastern Utah near Ft. Duchesne, Utah where he had spent the majority of his adolescent life. Nino holds a Master’s degree in Social Work, and currently a Substance Abuse Therapist. The only member of his family to receive a degree of higher education. He is also a Native American Veteran, having received an Honorable discharge from the United States Marine Corp. Nino is a Northern Traditional Dancer, carrying on the Tradition of the warrior, wearing the eagle bustles of past days.

Nino is also a cultural presenter, educating and entertaining audiences of all ages. He has overcome his battle of alcohol and drug use and been on his road of sobriety since 1985 and has taught Native Culture and Philosophies with seminars on cultural aspects of living, substance abuse/prevention, musical healing. He has used his cultural background as a foundation for his teaching of indigenous craft, dance, stories, and music conducting workshops in the areas of flute playing, and influencing people of both indigenous and non-indigenous cultures.

www.twoshields.com

DEBANJAN BHATTACHARJEE

Debanjan Bhattacharya is a disciple of maestro Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri of Lukhnow Gharana (style). Debanjan started learning Tabla in Kolkata, India, at a very young age with the support and encouragement of his parents. His initial training in Tabla was nurtured by his grandfather Late Sri Damarupani Bhattacharya and his uncle Sri Sudipto Bhattacharya. Later, he also studied with Late Ratan Ghatak who was a senior disciple of Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri.

Debanjan has accompanied artists like Ken Zuckerman, Meenal Datar, Alam Khan, and Arjun Verma, and he has also performed solos. He has given lectures on Tabla and Indian tradition at the University of Connecticut, Utah State University, Brigham Young University, and Utah Valley University among other venues.

While he holds a career as a professor of Statistics, Debanjan remains busy with performing and teaching Tabla and continues to pursue his love for music under the tutelage and blessings of his illustrious Guru Sri Swapan Chaudhuri.

Instruments played (Tabla and Pakhawaj):

Tabla is the main percussion instrument for North Indian Classical music also known as Hindustani music. Although it is a type of drum-set, Tabla has to be essentially tuned according to the desired pitch. The most unique characteristic of this percussion instrument is that the repertoire is based on a very rich and well developed language of sound which are traditionally called bols. Besides being an accompanying instrument, Tabla solos are arranged as major items of any Indian classical music festival. Tabla as a percussion instrument has taken a prominent place in various forms of World music including Jazz.While Tabla happens to be the most widely used drumming instrument in North Indian Classical music, the origin of this instrument is attributed primarily to Pakhawaj. Pakhawaj is one of the most ancient forms of drums that has existed and is the main percussion instrument for accompanying Drupad, perhaps the oldest form of Indian Raga music. Like Tabla, the Pakhawaj needs to be tuned, has a rich repertoire of compositions based on bols, and can also be played as a solo instrument. Most Tabla bols were taken from those of Pakhawaj.

WACHIRA WAIGWA-STONE

Wachira Waigwa-Stone is an accompanist, performer, composer, session player, and teacher. He holds a master’s degree in percussion performance from the University of Utah. He has toured the country and had his music performed internationally. He currently works as an accompanist for Tanner Dance and the School of Dance at the University of Utah.

Instruments played:

Two bass drums that are modeled after the Turkish davul. The davul was a military drum used by the armies of the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 18th century. They were strapped around the chest, and drummers would play them while marching, keeping all the troops in step, as well as sending important signals during battle. As the Ottoman Empire expanded, the davul was introduced to eastern, and eventually western Europe. These two drums are European imitations of the davul. Today in Turkey, the davul has evolved into an instrument that is used for folk music, weddings, and even funerals. It is typically played with a large stick or mallet in one hand, and a smaller stick in the other
Djembe. The djembe is a hand drum which originated with the Mandinke people of Mali in the 12th century CE. The Malian Empire grew to include present day Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, and Ghana, and as such, the playing of the djembe has been an important part of the culture of much of West Africa since the Middle Ages. It has taken on many roles throughout its history. In some cases, it has been used to send messages from village to village (due to the volume it is able to achieve). It has also long been used in ceremonies such as weddings, to accompany griots (storytellers), and to accompany dance. When accompanying dance, it is typically played in an ensemble setting, usually 1-3 djembe players, along with a group of dundun players, which are lower pitched drums played with sticks.
Joropo Maracas. The joropo maracas are a type of shaker from Venezuela used to accompany joropo music and dance. Joropo is a style of music that blends African, Native South American, and Spanish influences. There are three main regional versions of both joropo music and dance (llanero, eastern, and central), and the instrumentation used to accompany the dance varies between these 3 regions. The maracas are used in the llanero regional style. Llanero means plains, and the maracas are made from the totumo gourd, which can only be found growing from the totumo trees that grow on the plains of Venezuela and Columbia. Joropo maracas are played with an up and down, vertical motion, unlike the maracas found throughout the rest of Latin America, which are typically played with a forward and back, horizontal motion.
Marimba. The marimba is a descendant of an instrument that can be found throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, known by many different names, but perhaps the most familiar are balafon, or gyil. The African instrument is a melodic instrument consisting of wooden bars layed out in a row, tuned to different pitches, and struck with mallets. A gourd, which functions as a resonator and amplifier, is placed underneath each bar, and is tuned to the same pitch as the bar it is placed underneath. Its uses are as varied as the people and cultures that have traditionally played it. In some places, people play it in an ensemble of several balafons, for dancing or other celebrations. Sometimes it is a solo instrument, and in parts of West Africa it is the instrument of the griots, who are charged with telling the oral history of the people through song. As a result of the transatlantic slave trade, the tradition of balafon playing was brought to Central America by the slaves that arrived there. Over the course of a few centuries, it evolved, and sometime in the mid 1800s in Guatemala it emerged as the modern instrument we know today. It now has two rows of wooden bars, as opposed to the one, it is played with 4 mallets rather than two, and the resonators, no longer made from gourds, are now longer and tubular in shape. The most common material to make resonators out of these days is aluminum, but this particular instrument has PVC resonators.

SHRINIDHI SUNDAR

Shrinidhi Sundar started learning Carnatic music from her grandmother Smt. Vasantha Venkataraman. Growing up in Pune, a cultural hub in the state of Maharashtra in India, she transitioned Hindustani music. Her gurus are Smt. Shashikala Gadgil and later Smt. Anuradha Kuber.

She has received the Sawai Gandharva scholarship as as well as the SPIC MACAY scholarship which allowed her to study briefly under Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan at ITC SRA, Kolkata. She has participated at the national and state level music competitions in India and has been placed in the top two ranks.

SAMATHMIKA BALAJI

Samathmika Balaji is a carnatic musician, performer and teacher. Her great grandfather was Sri Alathur Subbier (of the illustrious Alathur Brothers) and Samathmika was fortunate to receive early exposure to music, dance and theatre, right at home.

She has learnt and performed carnatic music, Bharathanatyam, and performed with playing the Veena and on the piano, and has been cast by the acclaimed Madras Players in their theatrical productions based on plays by Girish Karnad. This led to an enduring passion for the classical performing arts and she has continued to keep this lifelong interest alive when she moved to the US in 2016, through her association with the Nitya Nritya Foundation.

NITYA NRITYA DANCE COMPANY DANCERS

SHRINIVASAN RAGHURAMAN

Dr. Shrinivasan Raghuraman is a neuroscientist working at the University of Utah. He trained in different Indian Classical art forms including Violin, Tabla, Sitar and Bharatanatyam. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Music from Khairagarh University and trained with Guru Smt. Anita Nair (Bharatanatyam) and Guru Sri Rupendra Sharma (violin).

To continue his passion for Bharatanatyam, he joined Nitya Nritya Foundation and has been training with Guru Dr. Jyothsna Sainath since 2016. He strongly believes that arts fuel creativity in research and passionately works to disseminate arts and science in the Salt Lake Valley.

ABHIRAKSHA PATTABHIRAMAN

Abhiraksha is a seasoned dancer who has dedicated over 15 years to training in the Vazhuvoor style of Bharatanatyam under the expert guidance of Guru Smt. Veena Ramakrishnan in Chennai, India. Currently, she is getting back into dancing under the guidance of Guru Smt. Jyothsna Sainath.

GUEST DANCERS

SAHANA KARGI

Sahana is a senior at the University of Utah graduating in Applied Mathematics and Quantitative Economics. She started Bharatanatyam dancing at the age of 3 and completed her Arangatram at the age of 9 under the guidance of her guru and mother. Since, she has progressed her training from Gurus in India, performed at many community events and assists at her mothers dance school: Kargi Kala Kendra. Sahana has worked with Nitya Nritya in the past and is excited to work with the NNDC dancers and under the guidance of Jyothsna Sainath.

ADDISON GOAN

Addison Goan is from Lexington, KY and began her dance training at Blackbird Dance Theatre. At sixteen, Addison decided she wanted to pursue ballet more seriously and began dancing with The Lexington Ballet School. She graduated from Lexington, KY’s School of Creative and Performing Arts in 2020.

After graduation, Addison took a gap year and danced professionally with the Lexington Ballet Company, taught ballet to students aged 5-18, and continued her dance education with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She is now a ballet major at the University of Utah graduating in spring 2024. This past December, Addison guested in North Star Ballet’s The Nutcracker as the Snow Pas de Deux and Arabian Pas de Deux. Addison has attended summer programs across the country including Ballet West, Next Generation Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and The Ailey School. This is Addison’s first year dancing with the Nitya Nritya Dance Company!

ANOUK HAFFNER

Anouk Haffner is from Oregon. She began training in ballet and gymnastics at the age of three, then focusing more seriously on only ballet at the age of 9. She graduated from The Portland Ballet’s Career Track in 2021, moving on to further pursue her professional ballet career at the University of Utah, where she is now a Sophomore and double majoring in Ballet and Marketing.

Anouk’s most notable ballet performing roles have been performing in Oregon Ballet Theatre’s shows of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Marie and Mirlitons Lead in another Nutcracker, the Mazurka soloist in Les Sylphides, and Little Red Riding Hood in University of Utah’s performances of Sleeping Beauty Act 3. She is also currently a member of the University’s Character Dance Ensemble, who researches, learns, and performs a wide variety of dance styles from around the world. This is Anouk’s first time working with the Nitya Nritya Dance Company, and she is excited to perform with them!

MORGAN PHILLIPS

Morgan Phillips is a movement artist from Arizona. Her foundation in contemporary dance has evolved from her ongoing exploration with other movement forms such as martial and aerial arts. Currently she is working on merging two worlds of dance by weaving contemporary dance into pole dance.

JASMINE STACK

Jasmine is a dance and video artist currently living and creating out of Salt Lake City. She received her MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah, and remains on faculty there as an Adjunct Professor. She has performed both nationally and locally, most recently showing original work at the 801 Salon and 12 Minutes Max.

NITYA NRITYA DANCE COMPANY STUDENTS

(Top Left to Bottom Right) Sreeja Pillai, Rashmi Hungund, Tisya Chakraborthy, Ananya Karthik, Keshav Sainath-Iyengar, & Diya John.

Special thanks to Snigdha Venkatramani for some of her Swaram compositions

SANGAM TEAM

CREATIVE CREDITS:

SWETHA SRINIVAS

Swetha Srinivas has been the backbone of SANGAM. She has worn multiple creative hats through the course of the project, ranging from rehearsal management, to production, stage management and musical arrangement. She is a student of Bharatanatyam by passion and a dentist and dental researcher by profession.

SUDIPTA MAITY

Sudipta Maity is a Credit Solution Advisor at Bank of America. She enjoys videography and video editing as side jobs. She is a film buff, enjoys dancing, acting and meeting new people.

APRATIM MAJUMDER

Apratim Majumder holds a doctorate in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Utah, where he is currently a Research Assistant Professor. Apratim enjoys painting and film making in his free time.

PRE-SHOW TALK BY:

Niraja Sahasrabuddhe

Julie Ray