The students of Nandhi Bharatha Natya Kalasala put together a wonderful bharatanatyam recital as part of the 'Every Friday Cultural Evening Programme' at Yavanika recently.
The event organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) lasted close to two hours and saw the dancers pay homage to various deities like Shiva, Krishna and Ganesha.
The show started with a pushpanjali, set to raga hamsadhwani, followed by the gambeera nadanam and the varnam in raga hathangi.
The varnam was a unique graceful dramatic dance that lasted 30 minutes and saw some excellent footwork even though the overall coordination was not great.
It showed Lord Shiva as panchagajam and portrayed each of the five natural elements beautifully. Instances like flickering lights as an effect to show Shiva's anger made it enticing to watch the recital with sustained interest.
"This is the second time that I am performing on this stage and it felt really good," says Kavya Shanmugam, who played the role of Shiva in varnam.
Twenty-three-year-old Kavya has been learning bharatanatyam for 15 years and refused to discontinue it even while pursuing a masters in engineering at a City college.
"I'm not sure where the stamina comes from but it all feels very natural and there is no difficulty doing it," she says with a smile.
The evening also saw Krishna Leelai, a sweet and vibrant depiction of Krishna as well as a Devi Keerthana, Devarnama and of course, the much-awaited thillana at the end.
The Devi Keerthana was an exceptional re-telling of the story of Meenakshi, who was nurtured and trained in music, dance and warfare and how she met
Shiva in one such battle, which blossomed into love.
"I think the performance was very good. What I liked the most was the expressions rather than the dance on the whole," says Hemlata, who was at the event because her daughter is learning dance.
The one point that seemed to lack in most the dances was coordination, taking away from the overall experience for the audience member.
"Sometimes, there was no synchronisation between the dancers on stage. But the concepts behind the dance were very nice," says Satyanarayan, who is a regular at the 'Every Friday Cultural Programme'.
The event organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) lasted close to two hours and saw the dancers pay homage to various deities like Shiva, Krishna and Ganesha.
The show started with a pushpanjali, set to raga hamsadhwani, followed by the gambeera nadanam and the varnam in raga hathangi.
The varnam was a unique graceful dramatic dance that lasted 30 minutes and saw some excellent footwork even though the overall coordination was not great.
It showed Lord Shiva as panchagajam and portrayed each of the five natural elements beautifully. Instances like flickering lights as an effect to show Shiva's anger made it enticing to watch the recital with sustained interest.
"This is the second time that I am performing on this stage and it felt really good," says Kavya Shanmugam, who played the role of Shiva in varnam.
Twenty-three-year-old Kavya has been learning bharatanatyam for 15 years and refused to discontinue it even while pursuing a masters in engineering at a City college.
"I'm not sure where the stamina comes from but it all feels very natural and there is no difficulty doing it," she says with a smile.
The evening also saw Krishna Leelai, a sweet and vibrant depiction of Krishna as well as a Devi Keerthana, Devarnama and of course, the much-awaited thillana at the end.
The Devi Keerthana was an exceptional re-telling of the story of Meenakshi, who was nurtured and trained in music, dance and warfare and how she met
Shiva in one such battle, which blossomed into love.
"I think the performance was very good. What I liked the most was the expressions rather than the dance on the whole," says Hemlata, who was at the event because her daughter is learning dance.
The one point that seemed to lack in most the dances was coordination, taking away from the overall experience for the audience member.
"Sometimes, there was no synchronisation between the dancers on stage. But the concepts behind the dance were very nice," says Satyanarayan, who is a regular at the 'Every Friday Cultural Programme'.