When the planets align

The monkeys play, lea ping over each otbe r on stage, and the audience laughs

One monkey is lifted up by the others in his quest to capnire the sun a nd the audience giggles as he ropp les off his friend's shoulders Alas, th e su n is nor to be caught, and an almighty thunderbolt strikes the l'vfonkeyGod A njanaya down.

The monkeys were the j1m.io r dancers of Rasika Dance Academy, and an integral element o f The Sacred Gmhas The show was exploration in dance of the planets am! the ir relatio n ship with each o cher in Hindu mythology

Presented in early Mai7 at U nivers ity of New South Wales' (UNS\'{,') Science Theatre, it was a s how that raised funds for OZINDCAR E, a local charity that provides fo r the needy in India

The performance's success is attribmabl e to the b.igh calibre of R asik a Dance Acadam y's dancers, as we ll as the creative choreography of their guru Manjula Vishwanath. Over the coLLrse of a few ho urs, the audience were take n through the stories char s urround che planets ('grahal) in Hinduism, many of these tales being the origins of frequently praccised Hindu r ituals ln Chandm11 Lord Ganesh was portrayed comically crying co r ide his prote sti ng mouse mhcma (vehicle) 'rbe moon, Cha11dmn was watching and unable to co ma.in hi s mirth, laughed out lo ud. Indeed, the audi ence was laughing w ith him, so d elightful was tl1e portrayal Ganesh was insulted and declared tl1at no-one shall look upon tl1e moon on Ganesh -C haturtb.i day.

There were well-known stories s uch as the one when Vishnu as Vamana asked Mahabali w hether

Sri t Bala ji, Sudars ha Ravi, Vasud ha Narayan, Kranrh.i Kiran Mudigonda, Nagaraj iyer, ir mal Ayya r a nd R am esh H aricharan. Many of th e i te m s cam e o ut wi th packed feelings J t was a delight to watch th e yo ungster s, mos t of w ho are born and broug h t up in A u stralia, perfor m in s ud1 a pleasin g m anner. ?\/Iahan Ayyar prov ided th e power point presen tation chat we nt wi t h th e item

Ir was p artic ularly impressive to n ote tbat youn g Ni rm al Ayyar provid ed m ridanga su ppo r t fo r all tl1e mree item s of tl1e afternoon. K udos to the S1-lC for a crangin g sucb a n event.

Sydney Srinivas he could take three steps; he then proceeded to place a foot on Eartl1, tl1e n heaven and final ly o n Mahabali's head

The much loved tale of Princ ess Dan1ayanci a nd her beloved King Nala was depicted in Sa11i

Then, tl1ere were lesser known tales s uch as w h en M u tlmswami Dikshid,ar taugh t Thambiappan to relieve himself of his st omach pa.in through prayer, po r trayed in C11m

Each planer was d escribed through intricate, innovative choreography b y i\frs V ishwana tl1 an d the matme, captivating performa nc e by her students o f all ages. The youngest in tl1e group sto le t he audience's hearts, while meir seniors displayed an expressiveness and tech11ical finesse that was uniforml y excellent across tl1e group. Special mention must be made of Anja.na Chandran who managed to draw and hold the a udience's attention with her graceful, charming performance. To scand out in a group of such a high standard i s no easy cask, and it really seems as if Anjan a was born to dance.

Interestingl y, each segment of the program was introduced b y a s mall skit, in w h.i d1 a marriage is being arranged and the f-lindu priest is explaining tl1e pla netary arrangem ent to t he young couple. Like the dance performance itself, these skies were a Luiiqu e and well tl1ought-out addition.

Rasika Dance Academy's Th e Sacred Grabas was a wellchoreographed, beautifull y performed dance recital b )7 a group of Bbarathanaryam dancers that are one of the b est in Sydney The fact tl1ar it raised fi.mds for a cause as good as those represented by OZ1NDCAR E added co its appe al, an d made it truly meaningful in every way

Deepa Gopinath