- This event is over. However, time travel possible through our Audio & Video! See upcoming events
Parama Padam
Life’s Game of Snakes and Ladders
Performer
Drawing inspiration from the philosophy of the ancient Indian board game, Parama Padam (Snakes & Ladders) is a solo thematic Bharatanatyam production.
The game, which originated in India in the 10th century CE, was later popularised worldwide as “Snakes & Ladders” by the British, during the 18th century CE. In the game board, there are a hundred squares illustrated with snakes and ladders; the ladders represent good virtues and the snakes indicate vices. Ladders take you up, as the good deeds take us to heaven, while the snakes bring you down, as to a cycle of rebirths. The final goal is to reach Vaikuntha, or heaven. Parama Padam was created by the followers of the Vaishnavite faith, with the duo purpose of entertainment and teaching moral values of human life.
The production features internationally acclaimed Bharatanatyam Dance Artiste Mohanapriyan Thavarajah – Principal Dancer and Resident Choreographer at Apsaras Arts Dance Company Singapore. Mohanapriyan’s performance is enhanced with the sculpted chiseled geometry lines of his dance, and his energy is exemplified with an irrepressible force of precision and dynamism. His choreography has been recognized to be vibrant with rhythmic athleticism and sensitively nuanced expressive elements of story telling, both which are compelling. Mohanapriyan’s performances are based on traditional repertoire of the form, while extending the technique to create new structures taking advantage of his extraordinarily rich and intense style of dance.
Creative Team:
• Artistic Direction : Aravinth Kumarasamy (Singapore)
• Choreographed and Performed by : Mohanapriyan Thavarajah (Singapore)
• Artistic Mentor : Priyadarsini Govind (India)
• Dramaturg : Lim How Ngean (Australia)
• Music Composition : Dr Rajkumar Bharathi (India)
• Sound Design : Sai Sharavanam (India)
• Light Design : GyanDev Singh (India)
• Narrator Script : Audrey Perera (Singapore)
Orchestra (India)
• Vocals : G Srikanth
• Mridangam : V Vedakrishnan
• Percussions : Ganapathy Venkatasubramaniam Violin : Embar Kannan Veena : Bhavani Prasad
• Flute : Sruthi Sagar
• Sollukattu : Shreejith Krishna
• Narration Voice Over : Ramesh Paniker (Singapore)
In collaboration with Apsaras Arts
Apsaras Arts is a non-profit organization and registered charity in Singapore, and is the recipient of the Singapore National Arts Council’s annual Major Grant scheme. The company is guided by an advisory board comprising of eminent personalities connected with the arts community in Singapore and the region.
Performer
Mohanapriyan Thavarajah
Mohanapriyan Thavarajah, hailing from Sri Lanka, is recognized as one of the world’s young male dance artiste of Bharatanatyam – the classical dance form of South India. While deeply rooted in tradition, his innovative approach to Bharatanatyam revitalizes physicality, musicality and expressive theatricality of the dance form to create an exceptional style that is distinct to his personality, which has been well received as “refreshing” by audiences across the world.
Holding a Bachelors’s, Master’s and Master of Philosophy degrees in Bhartanatyam, his training was under Guru Ogeswari Shanmuganathan (Alumni, Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai India) at Kalai Kaviri College of Fine Arts. He also has been trained in Kuchipudi under the tutelage of the eminent Guru Kishore Mosalikanti.
Since 2012, He has been with Apsaras Arts, as the resident choreographer and principal dance artiste. Mohanapriyan is an innovative choreographer, some of his works which were presented at leading international dance festivals around the globe and claimed critical appreciations from renowned critics. Mohanapriyan has been awarded many titles in appreciation to his dynamic dance performances around the globe. His passion for dance drives him into do research in the field of dance hence he has been regularly writing articles on dance for publications and currently pursuing his PhD in the field of Dance at the Tanjore Tamil University, India. He is a published author with his maiden book The Temple Dance of Apsaras – A Dancer’s View on Angkor Wat in 2021.
