Annie Johnson, got lured into the art form by watching Margi Sathi perform at Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan, where she works.
It was the very first show she saw there. Annie Johnson had just joined the Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan, cultural centre under the department of culture, in Thiruvananthapuram, as programme assistant, in 2002. She didn’t know if she was allowed to talk to the artistes who performed there. So Annie stood admiring Margi Sathi as she performed Nangiarkoothu in the koothambalam. It was many months later she asked the veteran dancer if she too could learn the art form.
On Wednesday, as Annie will have a Nangiarkoothu performance at the Museum Hall in Thiruvananthapuram, she recounts the old tale, and life after the passing of her guru Margi Sathi.
“The loss has been huge for me, I feel a whole vacuum,” says Annie. She’s been learning Koodiyattom with Sajeev Chakiar since a-year-and-a- half. The difference, she explains is there are no men and no group shows in Nangiarkoothu. Annie had her first Nangiarkoothu performance on stage four years after beginning with Margi Sathi.
“I was trained in Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam when I met her. I asked her if that’s a problem, she said no. I asked her if my age was a problem, and she said no again.”
So Annie learned even as she went for a six-day job and even as she continued her Bharatanatyam lessons with Mydhili teacher. On Wednesday, after her Museum show, she will rush to the Karikkakom Devi Temple where she will have a Bharatanatyam performance with other students of Mydhili teacher.
The Museum performance is Madhookasapam, a segment from the Mahabharata where the saint Madhookan puts a curse on Kamsan after the latter plucks a flower off his hut which was his food for the day —the famous curse that the eighth son of Devaki whom Kamsan gifts the flower with, will kill Kamsan. Annie will play all the roles, as is typical in Nangiarkoothu.
Despite her packed life full of dance classes and a day job, Annie refuses to leave either behind. She loves her job, dealing with so many artistes and watching their art forms. She loves her dance too.
