A Fabled History : O.C. Troupe Turns to Traditional Indian Lore for Inspiration

Did Aesop make up his fables? Not according to Ramaa Bharadvaj, whose Angahara Ensemble presents “Panchatantra--Animal Fables of India” on Sunday at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

She believes Greece’s most famous yarn spinner adapted his tales from the same classic Indian stories that inspired her dance interpretation.

“These were Sanskrit fables compiled 2,500 years ago,” said Bharadvaj, adding that as long ago as 600 to 700 BC, they rode the trade winds to Babylon and Greece. Aesop, a slave, was a dark-skinned man whose birthplace was unknown. “Was he really from Greece? A dark-skinned man in a country where people had fair skin? At least one scholar believes he was from India.

“There is also a Persian translation of Aesop, ‘Kalilah and Dimnah.’ Those are the names of the two jackals in the ‘Panchatantra.’ Our opening scene features those two jackals.”

The Panchatantra was compiled by Vishnusharma, an ancient Brahmin scholar given the task of educating three illiterate princes. According to Bharadvaj, he taught them philosophy, psychology, politics and personal relations, all in the form of clever animal fables. The work is believed by many to be the most widely read piece of literature in history after the Bible.

Bharadvaj’s show offers a synthesis of traditional Indian, folk and freestyle choreography based on the gaits of animals and birds as recommended in the 3,000-year-old theater manual, Natyasastra.

Bharadvaj also visited zoos and watched National Geographic videos to help her translate animal movements into Indian dance vocabulary. Characters include crows, bulls, monkeys, crocodiles, an Indian lion king and a cobra.

And, of course, she read the Panchatantra.

“It is a book of wisdom--pages and pages of wisdom of life . . . . [But] it is not a spiritual book,” Bharadvaj said. “It presupposes one has already considered and rejected the possibility of living as a saint. It gives guidance in how to get the most joy out of everyday life. It’s a book of survival.”

Bharadvaj came to the United States from India in 1978. She’s been a member of the Orange Coast College faculty since 1992.

The 10-member Yorba Linda-based Angahara Ensemble includes Bharadvaj’s two children.

Bharadvaj and 14-year-old daughter Swetha, dance the major roles. Swetha also sings, and her taped recordings of two Tamil folk songs are used during the opening scene. (Bharadvaj and Swetha have toured India four times; the ensemble joined them on the most recent tour, in 1994, and portions of Panchatantra were broadcast live on national television in India.)

Six-year-old Siva plays the role of the boy listening to his mother tell the stories--which is exactly how the production came about in the first place.

“Siva, was about 3 at the time,” Bharadvaj recalled. “I wanted my son to love and understand Indian dance, but he was totally uninterested. ‘This is for girls,’ he’d say.

“Then I started reading him the Panchatantra fables, and I’d be jumping up and down in front of him doing these characters, and he’d be transfixed, saying, ‘More, Mommy, more, Mommy!’ All kids love animals, all kids love stories. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting to adapt the Panchatantra to dance?’ ”

The Panchatantra’s 86 stories are divided into five tantras. Bharadvaj commissioned poets to write lyrics for four of the dances, each in a different language--Telugu, Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi--corresponding to various regions of India, and wrote the fifth in her own native Tamil.

Indian composer Rajkumar Bharathi wrote the music using Carnatik, Hindustani and folk melodies.

Dialogue and narration are in English. The family show focuses on tales with an environmental focus. Although it runs 2 1/2 hours, Bharadvaj says, length has not been a problem for young children.

“Don’t underestimate kids,” she said. “To keep their attention takes a lot of talent, but when I made this project, it wasn’t for adults. This is a project of love from me to my son.”

* What: “Panchatantra--Animal Fables of India.”

* When: Sunday at 5 p.m.

* Where: Robert B. Moore Theatre, Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

* Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to the Fairview Road exit. Head south to the college.

* Wherewithal: $8-$12.

* Where to call: (714) 432-5880.