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Masterclass by hereditary Nattuvanars, Guru Thanjavur B. Herambanathan and Guru Thanjavur Hariharan Herambanathan, on the pada varnam “Mōhalāhiri Koṇḍēn Sāmi” (Todi) by Tanjore Quartet Sivanandam (1808-1863). In July 2019, these masters taught the varnam to a group of carefully selected Bharatanatyam artists from India and abroad.
The masterclass is part of the upcoming documentary “Thanjavur, The Source, Support, and Centre of Dance for a Thousand Years” (2021), which features several classic dance compositions for Bharatanatyam, including the Tanjore Quartet varnams “Dāni kē”, “Dāni Sāti Pōti”, and “Mōhalāhiri”, all set to the ragam Todi.
For the varnam recording:
* Producer and director, Guru Lakshmi Viswanathan
* Co-producer and director, Shri Jeetendra Hirschfeld
* Project Coordinator: Shri Shanmuga Sundaram
* Location courtesy, Light & Sound: Kalakshetra Foundation
* Videography: Sri Boopathi, Nandini Video (Mylapore, Chennai)
* Dance choreography and nattuvangam: Guru Thanjavur B. Herambanathan and Guru Thanjavur Hariharan Herambanathan.
* Vocal: Arathi S. A.
*Vocal Support and Dancers: Sivasri Skandaprasad, K.P. Rakesh (faculty Kalakshetra) and Sri Sudarshini Iyer.
* Dancers: Anuradha Ramesh, Anil Iyer, Shruthipriya R., Aryamba Sriram, Lavanthi S. Kumar, Lucrezia Maniscotti, M. Subhashini Santhanam, Arathi Ravichandran, Srimathi Venkat.
Sections of the documentary are included in the Tagore Fellowship (2017) research project by Lakshmi Viswanathan, with assistance from Jeetendra Hirschfeld.
Since 1989, Sathir Dance Art Trust has curated a vast collection of hundreds of Bharatanatyam songs. These include old recordings of the Tanjore Quartet, orchestrated by nattuvanars, and some sung by hereditary dancers. Additionally, the collection includes many old and newer recordings of contemporary composers.