The term ‘margam’ in bharatanatyam refers to the collection of dance styles that together comprise a traditional performance. The margam is a versatile and infinite sequence of dance items that can include invocations, alarippus, jathiswarams, shabdams, varnams, padams, javalis, thillanas and shlokas. This upcoming production — Iti Margam — by Aruna Bhargavi and Jagadishwar Sukumar is an exploration of the margam in a duet form with two contrasting energies. We speak with Aruna to learn everything about this upcoming performance.
“This is a duet performance which we premiered back in July 2021. From then on, we have toured it across Bengaluru and Chennai. It’s a show that’s an hour and a half. We explore a duet where we are two contrasting energies — masculine and feminine. We try to choreograph it in such a way that it blends and harmonises, but it still doesn’t feel the same when we perform. We stick to our individual paths. It’s not like that we try to imitate each other. We bring in our own styles and our own experience to it. But you will still see that there is harmony in what we do,” begins Aruna.
Talking about her experience working alongside Jagadishwar, Aruna says, “It’s been amazing. It’s been a great learning curve for me as well. I had never performed a duet before and I had not performed with an opposite gender. I have done group shows and I have done solos. So, to be able to dance with another gender in a duet format and to see how we work together, was an amazing learning experience.”
Since 2021, the production has been performed seven to eight times and each time, it is different. The compositions that are chosen are very traditional and they have a very different approach to it. “I have a couple of shows lined up. As a soloist, I have a show lined up in Chitradurga, then one in Jakkur. There are also a couple of duet performances along with Jagadishwar in September and October, which are totally different from Iti Margam,” adds Aruna, signing off.
INR 350. August 30, 7 pm. At Medai – The Stage Bengaluru, Koramangala.
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