Rangapravesam Day: Part-2
July 14th, 2024
Item 1: Pranamamyaham Sri Gowri Sutam
This was the very first item of my Rangapravesam. It was not a difficult item in terms of the stamina it required, as I think it was the perfect mix between jatis and stories. One of my friends told me that, during her Rangapravesam, some sort of adrenaline took over her and she just went on an autopilot while dancing. I thought that anything that was previously bothering me would similarly subside, and I wouldn't feel any leg pain or headache while I was dancing as well. I was wrong about that, and I could feel a bit of soreness in my legs as I got through this item. That did not stop me from breezing through it though, and I was happy to successfully finish the first item of my Rangapravesam with a smile on my face! My favorite part of this item were definitely the stories, they were really fun to do!
Item 2: Kamakshi Stuthi
The second item of my Rangapravesam was Kamakshi Stuthi. Not going to lie, this item was the one I was dreading the most, and it was definitely the most difficult one out of the repertoire for me. Its back to back fast paced jatis, the insane amount of stamina needed to finish it, and its length of 15 minutes, left me breathless during every single practice session. My main goal while performing this item was to enjoy it, rather than thinking about its difficulty and how tired I was while doing it. Also, in one of my practices, I had completely forgotten one entire section of the item and didn't realize it until aunty mentioned it at the end, so I made sure to focus especially on that part of the item while performing. Luckily, everything went well during the item, and although I was super tired, I managed to pull through and perform to the best of my abilities! My favorite part about this item were the slokams as the beginning, because they gave a nice intro into the item.
Right after the Kamakshi item was my first dress change of the day. While the MCs were introducing Anu aunty and the orchestra, I changed into the costume for my Rangapravesam's cornerstone item with the help of the team of aunties backstage. I love all of my costumes that I wore throughout that day, but this beautiful and purple one definitely felt special, and I very much enjoyed wearing it!
Item 3: Bala Goala Tarangam
The third item I danced to that day was Bala Gopala Tarangam. I was really looking forward to this item because it is the main item of the set, and it is focused more on conveying cute stories of baby Krishna, a complete contrast to the intense and fast paced jatis in the previous item. I really enjoyed performing this piece, as I felt that I was finally on the autopilot that my friend talked about earlier. My adrenaline hit a peak, and I was going through the routine confidently and seamlessly. Before I knew it, I got to step off the stage to fetch my brass plate.
In the short time I was backstage, my friends fanned me, gave me Gatorade, and put a towel under my feet to wipe off all the sweat so that I could have a better grip on the plate. In parallel, Anu aunty directed another friend to grab a pin and a couple of bells that had fallen off my gajjelu from the stage so they wouldn't get under my feet. For a fleeting moment while my friend was on stage, I was worried that I wouldn't get back on stage fast enough for my cue, but then I realized that I was dancing to a live orchestra that could adjust the interludes exactly to my timing. All was well, and back to the stage I was, with my plate in hands.
Less than 24hrs ago, I slipped off the plate due to sweat and also because of how I placed my feet on it. That was weighing in my mind as I began doing my plate jatis. The cross-legged jati went smoothly, but out of abundance of caution, I made a game time decison to not do the faster version of it, just to avoid any mishaps. From there on, it all went as planned. I did slip off the plate in one place towards the end, but I was able to anticipate it early enough and reposition myself before beginning the next jati. I kept telling myself- "don't slip, don't slip...", and was focused on finishing it off strong. As I concluded the plate segment, I felt an huge sense of relief and pride, a refreshing contrast to my feelings about this item the day before. The rest of the item was a breeze and I had the biggest smile as I finished it and hauled my plate away to the loud applause from the audience. My favorite part of this item were definitely the alternating jatis and stories. It was fun to act like Krishna's mom and tie him up, as well as jumping straight to the fast paced jatis that came after.
That marked the end of the first half, and my confidence grew immensely for the second half!
During intermission, a lot of people swarmed into the green room but we had to turn them away so I could get changed into my next costume. This next dress also had puffed sleeves like my first red dress, and I really enjoy wearing those! The aunties kept offering me snacks, but the smoothie Uma brought me was the only thing I chose to have during this time. I got changed pretty quickly. Funny thing is that I just sat in the green room thinking that I had all the time in the world, while in reality, Anu aunty and the orchestra were actually waiting for me and I was oblivious to it! The TVs in the green room that were supposed to show the stage live weren't even working! I however had a hunch, and I walked over to the stage to see what was going on, and sure enough, they were all waiting for me! It was all good in the end, and soon I took the stage for my next item.
Item 4: Mangambudhi Hanumanta
This item's the one that I had been avoiding watching on video since the Rangapravesam. It was a fairly simple item and it was not like I made any grave mistakes on stage. It was just the things that were not in my control that I wasn't thrilled about: like my bangles getting stuck in my pearl necklace, like a verse that was sung one extra time than rehearsed and caught me off guard that I had to improvise on stage for, etc. My parents told me later that they did not notice any of that, so I guess all was well with how I performed this item. I just couldn't help but think about the bangle struggles, heading into the next item. My favorite part of this item was yet again, the stories. To be specific, I enjoyed the final story in which hanuman kills mayaravana in a duel.
Item 5: Matrulekha
Matruelekha was a very special item for me to perform. It was not only because my mom wrote this song and I could relate to every word in it, but also because of how beautifully it was composed by Harini and choreographed by Anu aunty. It had a nice and calm feel to it that came as a refreshing change after four relatively high intensity songs. I was satisfied with how I presented this piece on stage and hoped that I did justice to this unique production. I didn't have any specific part that was my favorite (I enjoyed the whole thing), but I liked that the entire song felt like a pattern and there were no sudden fast parts or slow parts.
After this item, while my parents were felicitating the chief guests, I had to change out my blouse and fan to get to my final outfit. This took longer than we expected, only because of how nice and tight the previous ensemble was, and it took the aunties a few extra minutes to cut out all the threads of the jewelry pieces. It ended up being a full dress change, as opposed to a quick swap of a couple of pieces of the set. This is also a special outfit because it matches to the langa Taara would wear for our item together, which was next up.
Item 6: Yeme o chitti
Throughout the practice sessions, Ganesh uncle kept saying that this item would be a crowd pleaser, and he was right!
Taara stood a good 5 feet behind where she was supposed to start, and that made her not reach the center of the stage in the time she had, where I was to meet her. That was the start of the various improvisations I had to come up with during this song: I switched to the other side of where I was supposed to be in the beginning of the song; I discreetly kicked out Taara's anklet that had fallen off; I quickly picked Taara up when she had slipped during the swing step and made sure she didn't land flatly on the ground; I changed the orientation of my hand gestures to adjust to her steps towards the end; and I kept encouraging her to smile and to keep going whenever I was not facing the audience, because I could tell she was pretty upset and was about to start crying at some of those places.
NONE of this mattered at all, because Taara simply stole the hearts of the audiences with her super cute stage presence and expressions. The applause I heard after this item was louder than any of my previous items that afternoon :). I knew that this song would remain very special, not only for me, but for my entire family. We already watched the video of this song like a dozen times so far! My favorite part was at the end where I pretended to shush the singer because my sister was sleeping (I could barely hold my composure) :).
Thillanas are my favorite pieces to dance to! Incidentally, they come towards the very end of a Rangapravesam, and also require a lot of energy. This Raageshri Thillana starts off slow and gets more intense as it progresses. As I was getting ready for this dance, I simply could not believe that I had reached the end of my Rangapravesam! That relief helped me breeze through the initial parts of this item. However, as I held my final posture, I had to brush away the searing pain in my legs, the sweat dripping into my eyes, and the splitting headache I felt brewing, and I focused on soaking in the spotlight and applause! I could have sat there all night if it were not for the Mangalam that came shortly after! My favorite part of the Thillana was in the end where I basically traveled across the stage in circles and then proceeded to jump in three circles in place to end off the item. I was definitely dizzy but I was able to end off the item strong!
Ramachandraya janaka has been my favorite Mangalam song since I was little, and I was truly overflowing with happiness as I completed those last few steps of my Rangapravesam! What a moment for me that was, to fold my hands in gratitude, as I stood on the stage my dreams were made of!
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