Festive Splendour - Ten Day Dassera Dance Festival At Ramalayam Enthralled Audiences

The Sitaramaswamy Temple at Jubilee Hills conducted a ten-day dance festival for Dassera. The event was held on a Kerala style stage on the premises. The opening day saw a scintillating Bharatanatyam recital by Srividya Anish, student of Guru Roja Kannan.

She started with an ode of praise to Lord Ganapathi-"Sri Vignarajam Bhaje", continued with "Akhilandeswari" where she used her considerable knowledge of abhinaya to depict the Shakti roopa of the Goddess who creates, embodies and emancipates. She concluded with Kadanakuthoohalam thillana. Kuchipudi recital by Aapeksha which included her own fine choreography of " Nee Daya Rada"; and other students of Dr.Yashoda Thakore included items on Shiva and Bhavani as also a beautiful swarapallavi in hamsadhwani.

Anita Muktaashourya presented a navarasa depiction of Ramayana episodes in Mohiniattam which highlighted the hasya, bhayanaka, raudra, karuna, shringara rasas etc to great effect.The Bharatanatyam students of DrRama Devi ably went through the items of pushpanjali, kauthvam and others in traditional format.

Jyothi Reddy's Kuchipudi disciples executed a tarangam with vigour and good grasp the Narayana Theertha authored composition on Krishna.Again, in Kuchipudi, the meticulously trained students of Anusha Srinivas were elegant in "Gajavadana Beduve", jathiswaram etc. A Ramadasu keerthana showcased devotion soulfully and Hindolam thillana was sprightly.

Sahitya Ramkumar was proficient in her solo performance and Akhilandeshwari perfectly evoked the festive Navaratri aura. Meenakshi Thalattu was a joy to experience in her graceful abhinaya based choreography.

Nihanthri Reddy with her students evoked appreciation as she depicted "Swagatam Krishna" in a wonderful manner.The choreographic style was both vigorous and precise.

The rare and recreated Devadasi nrityam was brought to the stage by Aalekhya Prabha and other students. She has learned from senior Guru Annabhattula Mangatayaru and her interpretation of the "Mandooka" and "Dasavatara shabdams" showed the differences in sahityam and style appertaining to this ancient art form. Ashritha's students performed alongwith other Bharatanatyam repertoire a stirring "Thodaye Mangalam".

Samridhi, Mohiniattam student of Guru Anita Muktaashourya, is a young talented dancer who brought out an intricately evocative rendering of "Saraswati slokam" and "Devi cholkettu".The excellent students of Guru Bala Tripura Sundari maintained the high standard of the Vempati school in their creatively choreographed hour-long program. including items on Devi.

Srividya Sripathi and Poojitha Namburi gave solo Bharatanatyam recitals.They are senior disciples of Padma Shri Dr.Ananda Shankar Jayant. With ease they presented impeccably daru varnam "Mate Malayadhwaja Pandya" a long piece requiring considerable stamina and also other compositions with perfect nritta and abhinaya.

Live orchestra accompanied the group performances of Shankarananda Kalakshetra.The young students under the guidance of Dr.Ananda Shankar were trained by her senior student Khaja Neeraja. Aharya was dazzling and the pieces skilfully danced.They were like a series of brilliant gems set in an ornamental offering for the Divine Mother.Jatiswaram, keertana,bhajan, sabdam and thillana were a connoisseur's treat with synchronized symmetry.Lakshmi Prasanna and her team presented a brief but beautiful Nritya Geeta Seva of Durga shloka and "Bhagyada Lakshmi".

Bharatanatyam Guru Praveena depicted some items on Devi and her students were well trained.Mohana kalyani thillana was superbly rendered by Nandini.The last day of the festival featured Dr.Smitha Madhav and her students in Bharatanatyam. Smitha was outstanding in the finesse of her original choreography in alarippu with Deities Vahanas as the subject. Kamakshi swarajathi had ornately embellished movements. Aditi among her other talented students stood out in the solo item " Ksheerabdhi " with the delicate subtlety of her abhinaya.