Bharatanatya Arangetram By Sanjana Noojibail at Dubai
UAE: The venue Indian Consulate Auditorium, Dubai and Saturday, 25 November 2017 had great significance for Bharatanatya Students of Harmony Institute for Music & Dance. It was Bharatanatya Arangetram for 14-year-old girl Sanjana Noojibail along with 7 other girls representing their dance institute.
Arangetram means ascending the stage by a dancer on the completion of formal training. It is the debut on-stage performance of a student of Indian classical dance. Arangetram is a traditional event and one of the biggest milestones in the life of a debutant Classical dancer.
The event was inaugurated by lighting of the lamp by the chief guest of the evening Smt. Mari Bini, Associate Professor, Department of Fine Arts at Alvas College, Moodabidri followed by Ghungroo Pooja by Bharatanatya teacher Smt.Roopa Kiran Kumar.
The concert commenced with group performances in the traditional order called the ‘Marga Paddathi’ starting with the welcome dance called Pushpanjali, followed by Alaripu, Jathiswaram, Shabdam and a 20 minute dance Varnam. After a break, the students performed solo and duets.
Sanjana danced her heart out to an emotional Bhaktirasa Kanakadasa composition ‘Baagilanu theredu’ which was sung by her mother Smitha Noojibail, which was an icing on the cake. In this dance Kanakadasaru is begging Lord Krishna in Udupi temple to give a Darshan to him when he was refused to get inside the temple by the temple priests. She also did a captivating duet of Mahishasura Mardini for ‘Devi Sthuthi’ with one of her dance mates where she enacted as Devi.
After other solo Bharatanatya dances the students performed two more mesmerizing dance items as per the ‘Marga Paddathi’ called the Thillana and finally Mangalam with a combination of two songs Harivarasanam and Ramachandraya Janaka.
The background music team for the performance consisted of Smt Roopa Kiran Kumar on Nattuvangam, Sri Saeev Balakrishnan and Smt. Smitha Noojibail on Vocals, Sri. Shankaranarayanan Krishnarajan on Mrudanga, Sri Naveen Shreedharan on Flute and Sri. Shyam Shashi on Violin.
Sanjana Noojibail, born on Oct 2 2003, a grade 9 student of Dubai Scholars Pvt School, is daughter of Smitha Noojibail & Amaranth Noojibail. Sanjana’s mother is a Carnatic Music Vocalist (since age 10) and father is a Telecom Engineer in Dubai since 1998. Sanjana’s ears have been open to listening Carnatic Vocals from her mother ever since she is born and she has been singing since her tender age. Looking at her inclination to dance, she was initially put into Bollywood dance classes at the age 7 and eventually to Bharatanatya at the age of 9 at Harmony Institute for Dance & Music, Dubai.
Smt. Roopa Kiran Kumar has been her Bharatanatya dance Guru .and Smt. Roopa has been the driving force of Sanjana, who is an extremely committed choreographer and teacher. She is an expert in dance forms like Bharatanatya, Kuchupudi.
From day one, Sanjana has been very focused on learning this art form. Without being pushed by anyone, she used to practice every single day, different ‘Mudras’, ‘Adavus’ and used to consult her mother with regards to the story behind the song & dance. She has given many dance performances on various occasions & platforms like a mini arangetram in Shringeri and Horanadu temples about two months back, dance performance in Dhenthadka Temple in her native town, Global Village Dubai.
She has won many dance competitions in her school Dubai Scholars and Dance Institute Harmony as well. Famous dance & actress Padmashri Shobhana Chandrakumar has been her Bharatanatya idol.
Apart from Bharatanatya, Sanjana is very good Carnatic Music Vocalist. She has participated in her mother’s Carnatic music concert held in Dubai about 2 years back. She is also into western music & is a part of her school Dubai Scholars Rock Band & Dance Club (Bollywood, Western and Hip-Hop Style).