The Indian Council for Cultural Relations conducted a bharatanatyam dance recital by Yasholakshmi as a part of 'The Every Friday Cultural Evening Programme' at the State Youth Centre, Nrupathunga Road recently.
![]( "Graceful: Yasholakshmi")
A classical dancer and a student of guru Savitha Arun, Yasholakshmi, skillfully performed five dances. Her elegance and poise held the attention of the audience completely. Dressed in a bright purple colour sari and bejewelled, she had great stage presence.
The first performance was a Thodaya Mangalam for the song Jaya Janaki Ramana, in which she demonstrated the traditional dance performed while taking out the procession of God. Shabdam, the second piece, praised Lord Shiva and introduced abhinaya for the first time very gracefully.
Amidst applause from the audience, she then elegantly moved on to present the most elaborate dance in bharatanatyam, the Varnam. Yasholakshmi showed how the nayaki expresses her feelings and her desire to unite with Lord Shiva to her friend.
She then went on to perform Jaganmohanane Krishna, a Purandaradaasa composition.
In this act, she demonstrated three incidents — Krishna's birth and Vasudeva taking him to Yashoda's house; destruction of the demon Putani by little Krishna and Lord Krishna protecting a distressed Draupadi from the vile of Dushasana. The recital concluded after she marvellously depicted the Soundarya Lahari Ashtarasapradayani.
"We have been conducting events for the youth every Friday to keep our culture and tradition alive and most importantly, to encourage all classical music and dances among budding artistes in these fields," explained P Venugopal, programme officer, Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
"This programme is very popular among college students. A number of applications are coming in everyday. Youngsters, who had applied in 2008-09, are now getting a chance to perform. We will definitely give everyone an opportunity to showcase their talents," he said.
A classical dancer and a student of guru Savitha Arun, Yasholakshmi, skillfully performed five dances. Her elegance and poise held the attention of the audience completely. Dressed in a bright purple colour sari and bejewelled, she had great stage presence.The first performance was a Thodaya Mangalam for the song Jaya Janaki Ramana, in which she demonstrated the traditional dance performed while taking out the procession of God. Shabdam, the second piece, praised Lord Shiva and introduced abhinaya for the first time very gracefully.
Amidst applause from the audience, she then elegantly moved on to present the most elaborate dance in bharatanatyam, the Varnam. Yasholakshmi showed how the nayaki expresses her feelings and her desire to unite with Lord Shiva to her friend.
She then went on to perform Jaganmohanane Krishna, a Purandaradaasa composition.
In this act, she demonstrated three incidents — Krishna's birth and Vasudeva taking him to Yashoda's house; destruction of the demon Putani by little Krishna and Lord Krishna protecting a distressed Draupadi from the vile of Dushasana. The recital concluded after she marvellously depicted the Soundarya Lahari Ashtarasapradayani.
"We have been conducting events for the youth every Friday to keep our culture and tradition alive and most importantly, to encourage all classical music and dances among budding artistes in these fields," explained P Venugopal, programme officer, Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
"This programme is very popular among college students. A number of applications are coming in everyday. Youngsters, who had applied in 2008-09, are now getting a chance to perform. We will definitely give everyone an opportunity to showcase their talents," he said.