Bharata Natyam Arangetram of Reeya Wadhwani
We celebrated the Bharata Natya Arangetram of Reeya Wadhwani, daughter of Neal Wadhwani and Janhavi Urmilla Wadhwani, on September 23rd at Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts. Reeya has been learning with me since she was a tiny 5 year old, and watching her trajectory has been so incredible.
Reeya's program began with an invocation song performed by our adept orchestra members and sung by our own HTR star Krithika Rajkumar. Reeya's dance presentation began with Ganapati Kavuthwam, traditionally performed as taught by the Gurus of Sri Rajarajeshwari Bharata Natya Kalamandir. This was followed by the 5-beat Kandam Alarippu, and then Bhairavi Jathiswaram. The devi kriti 'Shankari Shamkuru' was preceded by a short discussion of the divine feminine energy in Hinduism, Shakti. This was led by Reeya's mother Janhavi Wadhwani who is a yoga and meditation instructor and a facilitator of spiritual practice for many youth in the Indian community of Newton-Wellesley, Massachusetts. The Varnam 'Balagopalam' closed out the first half with depictions of stories of Krishna's pastimes, which Reeya beautifully showcased. Her innocence as Baby Krishna crawling in the courtyard and eating mud, her humility as Krishna's childhood friend Sudama and her infatuation with the sound of Krishna's flute as the gopis of the village were all beautiful to watch.
In the second half Reeya presented the bhajan 'Achyutam Keshavam', followed by the Shiva bhajan 'Bholanath' in which she expanded upon the story of how Shiva came to be known as Neelakantha. This was followed by the popular Thillana in Dhanashree 'Geeta Duniku', followed by a non-traditional mangalam of the Arati.
Her presentation included some very special items including Bhairavi Jathiswaram (which was my own Arangetram Jathiswaram), Balagopalam Varnam in Panthuvarali which was composed by our own Guru T.K. Mahalingam Pillai of Sri Rajarajeshwari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir and allowed Reeya to showcase her beautiful abhinaya and storytelling ability, Bholanath Umapathi Shambho Shankara - a bhajan by our family's spiritual leader Guruji Haridas Giri (who happened to be the one that named me) and the grand finale - a dance interpretation of the 'Jai Jagadish Hare' Arati. It was heartwarming to see the audience hold up their iPhone flashlights and move them in a circle during the Arati ... I asked Reeya if she felt like Taylor Swift in that moment looking out in the crowd and seeing all the lights.
Reeya's performance was a very emotional one as it was the first time I had to do this without my mother by my side -- she and my sister were both down with Covid unfortunately and my sister had been in the ER with complications relating to her cancer treatment the entire day of the Arangetram unbeknownst to me at the time.
Thankfully they are both doing much better now, and I had the incredible support of a super talented and wonderful orchestra team ... Krithika Rajkumar on vocals, Mali Santhanakrishnan Sir on mridangam, Akshaya Rajkumar on violin and Sachit Kurup on flute. These beautifully trained musicians carried me through the show, all credit to their Gurus and families who have supported their art. Reeya made us all proud with her graceful and gentle depictions of Ganesha, Krishna, Goddess Shankari, Shiva and all the surrounding characters in their leelas, and I am so happy to see her confident return to dance post-Arangetram.
Reeya was able to do some in-depth abhinaya work with my eldest sister Vidya Akka which really helped make the stories come to life, and she was blessed to have worked with Sudha Aunty during her visits to Boston over the years.
There are many, many more players that made this event a success and there is absolutely no way for me to mention them all - but the parents, makeup and hair artists, lighting professionals (Mark Buchanan), sound engineers, hall staff, printers, photographers, videographers, decorators, caterers, family and friends - our humble and heartfelt namaskaarams to you all.
When it comes to dance, my heart feels a million things all at once. I cannot imagine life without it, and I would not be the person I am without my mother's training and the love and training of her Gurus too. If these kids walk forth in life with even 1/4 of the love I feel for this dance form, then I feel I have done something worthwhile. Thank you to the parents for their faith in me. And so our little dance family grows ...
Credits:
Hair & Makeup: Anu & Namratha Metra
Photography & Videography: Deepa Jacob and Jaison K. Jose (Cocoon Media)
Sound: Archit Agarwal
Lighting/Staging: Mark Buchanan
Orchestra:
Nattuvangam & Vocal Support: Anandini Chandra Sekhar
Vocals & Nattuvangam Support: Krithika Rajkumar
Mridangam: Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan
Violin: Akshaya Rajkumar
Flute: Sachit Kurup
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