'Mridangam' as an accompaniment: for Carnatic & Bharatanatyam recitals

Article written by: Madhuvanthi Sundararajan

Photographs by: Madhuvanthi Sundararajan

Mridangam, the King of Drums, is the main percussion accompaniment for both Carnatic concerts and Bharatanatyam recitals. 

First thing that comes to mind is – Why Mridangam? Why not any other percussion like Tabla? There are various reasons for Mridangam being the soul percussion accompaniment. To begin with, its topography – As we all know, Mridangam initally was made of Earth/Clay from the lands of South India (TamilNadu). And as it was developed, the structure, the sound quality, the resonance, scale range etc was modified accordingly to support south indian classical music. Some of the Mridangists who have majorly contributed in terms of modification of the instrument and its playing styles are Palghat Mani Iyer, Subbudu, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Karaikudi Mani Iyer and so on. In case of dance, the music that accompanies the art is Carnatic and so inevitably, Mridangam became the percussion for Bharatanatyam too. Rhythm plays an important role in both music and dance but their usages are vary. The percussion representative of music and dance is the Mridangam, but its usage varies for both genres. I conducted a series of interviews with Mridangists that would help discover the differences in playing for music and dance. 

A mridangist, makes changes from the seated position to playing patterns, once he/she begins to play for dance. While interviewing and analysing the differences in playing for both concert styles, the following points were highlighted: 

1. Position 

2. Repertoire 

3. Technical terms 

4. Manodharmam 

The seated position of a Mridangist in music concert differs from the seated position in a dance concert. In a music concert the Mridangist will sit on the right or left side depending upon which side the taalam is displayed by the Musician he/she is accompanying. In case of dance concerts, the musicians are seated on the left end(in perspective of audience) of the stage and the mridangists are diagonally in front of the dancer since they need to observe the footwork and play. 

The repertoire for music concerts and dance concerts are mostly different but certain compositions are adapted from and into both these genres of art. Now, when we go through the repertoire of both these types of concerts, we may notice common compositions that are rendered such as Varnams, Padams and Jawalis. 

There are 3 types of Varnams namely- Tana, Pada and Daru. Tana varnams are mostly sung or played in Music concerts, where the Mridangist must accompany the piece starting at a slow pace, adapt to the speed when it increases, and highlight the stresses to bring out the essence of the piece. The mridangist mainly follows the music and rhythm and produces patterns accordingly. The varnams presented in dance are Pada Varnams, mostly. In dance, other than music, the stress in Sahityam and the Abhinaya portrayed accordingly are highly important. There are various emotions displayed throughout the piece, that a Mridangist keeps in mind and plays. Alongwith Abhinaya, Nritta (Pure dance) is performed in the form of Jatis. During the Nritta sections, Mridangists play as energetic as the dancer’s movements and footwork, alongwith following the shollu patterns recited by the Nattuvanar. Whereas, during the Abhinaya sections, he or she mellows down or does not play, in order for the dancer's expressions and the composition's lyrics to be highlighted. This method of playing is applied for all pieces that include Abhinaya, mainly, Padams and Jawalis. A thumb-rule that Mridangists follow while accompanying is that, the music mustn’t be over-taken by their playing. 

Padams and Jawalis, are Abhinaya (expressive) pieces, and thus, need subtle hands on the percussion. Other than supporting the music, the Mridangist may produce various sound effects, such as, knocking, walking (gait), anger etc, to enhance the emotion and action portrayed. Most Mridangists agree that it requires immense practice sessions in order to play for Dance concerts, as they play for music and dance simultaneuosly without hampering the space of both. 

A thillana presented at the end of a music concert, is fast paced and sung/played in high energy, accompanied by the Mridangist in equilibrium. Here, the mridangist only follows the music and shollus of the piece. Thillana rendered in a Bharatanatyam recital is a medium or fast paced pure dance composition, with Korvais(in 5 jaatis) set in the pallavi, followed by anupallavi, sahityam and charanam. This is where the technical terms come into play. The names are same but their structures are different. 

Terms that are common between the language of Mridangam and Dance– Arudhi, Korvai, Thirmanam. A mridangist may know these terms in perspective of music, but, in context of Dance, they are different. Arudhi in dance is a small pattern set post completing a jati or korvai, which may be in the form of a thirmanam or just a random pattern. The pattern may begin at the beginning of the song or post that, and ends where the song begins. In music, Arudhi is prominent in a 2 verse composition called 'Pallavi', from Raagam-Taanam-Pallavi. The Arudhi is observed in, colloquial terms at the 'punch' of the verses being sung. Thirmanam is a pattern repeated thrice indicating the end of a verse, song or pattern. Some mridangists have mentioned that they have often gotten confused with these terms and had to analyse them, before playing for dance. Most experienced mridangists did not have this issue as they, would attend and watch lots of music and dance concerts and spent a lot of time dance artists, because of which, they already knew the differences in playing for music and dance. Also, an added advantage of the dancers and dance teachers being well versed in music, helped them communicate what is required. The current set of dancers and mridangists do agree that they have certain minute communication gaps, in the context of explaining performance goals. Dancers and Mridangists gaining knowledge in each other's arts, would be advantageous, in order to fill the void of communication and convey their thoughts and work as team. Mathematics are important for Mridangists but they must have a good sense of aesthetics also, which is important to dancers. A combination of the two balanced would be apt in a performance. 

Now, one of the most important aspects in music is Manodharmam. Here, the musician creates patterns and variations spontaneously. The mridangist has the largest scope in Manodharmam, when playing for music. In dance, the mridangist, does have scope but the challenge is to render it in restricted portions. In music, the patterns sung/ played by artists may be replicated on the Mridangam, but, for dance there are set patterns, but, it is not necessary that the set patterns have to be played the way they are said. And so, the Mridangist uses his/her imagination in replicating the shollus or footwork in different ways and ensuring that the patterns are aesthetically sound. Manodharmam can be seen, during Nadais (gait) in dance, any patterns repeated in symmetry, during abhinaya and so on. In abhinaya compositions, the Mridangist has more scope of manodharmam. 

From the interviews conducted, most mridangists that have an experience of 45-50 years, have not had any drawbacks in playing for dance since they were exposed to a lot of dancing even before they began playing. The Mridangists with an experience of 10-15 years, did face difficulties in the beginning but further were able to modify their playing by attending various dance concerts, observing dance classes, learning notation system and taking guidance from various experienced Nattuvanars and Dancers. Dancers take guidance from experienced mridangists too, for the Mathematics and exploration on Mridangam shollus. 

Unlike, accompanying for music, for which Mridangists are trained to play, to accompany for dance, the Mridangist gains most of his knowledge from rehearsals, playing for concerts and observing. It isn't learnt as lessons. 

Madhuvanthi's Profile

Madhuvanthi Sundararajan began training in the tradition of bharatnatyam at the age of 6 and has pursued the art upto a Master’s degree under the guidance of her Guru, Shri Parimal Phadke. Her thesis for the Master’s course was based on the comparative study of Mridangam as an accompaniment for Carnatic concerts and Bharatnatyam recitals. She is an accomplished performer,choreographer and photographer. She currently teaches at Parimal Performing Arts and Research Centre. Some of the highlights of her performance are at Bharat Nritya Utsav 2015 organised by Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai and Cuttack Mahotsav 2016, Orissa. She has a keen interest in Choreography and aspires to pursue that further. One of her latest choreographical highlights being, the well-reviewed dance production, “At the Door” performed at Lalit Kala Kendra, SPPU, Pune. Madhuvanthi is also a Dance photographer and her latest album portrays an experiment of exploring dance in open space.

Madhuvanthi's photography: 

http://kalasamvaad.blogspot.in/2017/01/dance-with-poise.html

http://kalasamvaad.blogspot.in/2017/01/greetings-from-chennai-season-december.html

http://kalasamvaad.blogspot.in/2015/07/prerana-day-1.html