Dance of tribute

IN the rite of passage for a bharathanatyam dancer, there comes the time for the arangetram, the graduation performance that signifies his or her readiness to perform to the public.

The disciple is ready, the guru pronounces. For 13 years, Madangopal Narayanan trained under many gurus in order to reach this stage. The blood, sweat and tears are well worth the diorama that he is about to offer tonight at the Panggung Eksperimen Aswara. This is his arangetram, his offering to the world as a dancer coming of age. The arangetram is no easy feat. The duration of an arangetram is about two hours and he needs to have the stamina, concentration and determination that only come with hours or practice. Madangopal will be performing seven pieces tonight, some of them choreographed by TFA’s head of bharathanatyam Shankar Kandasamy. For this event, Madangopal trained even harder for close to two months. “In order to perform that long, you have to train your body and mind in order to get used to it,” said the 19-year-old who trains about five to six hours daily at the Temple of Fine Arts (TFA) in Brickfields. He recently completed his A-Levels at Methodist College and hopes to study medicine. “Only in the final two weeks was I able to settle down and find myself in that state of readiness. In dancing, the mind and body is the hardest to discipline. “It may be initially taxing, but when you find it — you can truly immerse yourself in the joy of dancing,” said Madangopal who is under the tutelage of Vasuki Sivanesan. While Madangopal is excited about his first solo full-repertoire performance, he could not have done it without the important people in his life — his parents and gurus. “My mother is a dance teacher (Shyamala Narayanan) while my father works at the TFA. So naturally, as a kid I was forced to learn to dance. I didn’t like it at first but then one day it hit me,” recalls Madangopal. “In Hinduism, the word guru entails a lot of love and dedication. “In the beginning, I used to hate dancing because it was so difficult. But when I realised the love and dedication that my gurus has laboured for me, I made it an effort to improve myself. “Eventually, I found the joy of dancing.” Narayanan dedicates his performance to all his gurus including Geetha Shankaran Lam and Shankar. “They are some of the most important people in my life. I realised how privileged I am to have these gurus to guide me,” said Narayanan. “I wouldn’t be here without them.”

Catch Madangopal Narayanan’s arangethram at 7.30pm today at Panggung Eksperimen Aswara, Kuala Lumpur. Free admission.