Shreya steals the show

Bharatanatyam is safe! No need to worry about the direction or misdirection, this art form may be taking when young and passionate dancers take to the stage. This is what crossed my mind whilst watching Shreya Sridhar perform. Shreya is a student of the great Hemamalini Arni, the inspirational guru of some of the finest dancers in the country such as Kiranmayee Madupu.

Shreya Sridhar showed her ability and promise in a good performance at the Kalasagaram Annual Youth Festival of Dance on March 18. The musicians performing on stage merit special appreciation for their excellent musicianship and outstanding performance that made watching a good Bharatanatyam performance an even greater experience.

The musicians were: Nattuvangam - Renuka Prasad. Singer- Sweta Prasad. Mridangam- Sridhara Chary. Violin - Sai Kolanka. And assisting the guru, Hemamalini Arni, on stage with the musicians - Kiranmayee Madupu. Shreya performed four pieces, opening with the prayer extolling Ganesha, the Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles: “Vaataapi Ganapatim bhaje ham” in Ragam Hamsadhwani in Talam Adi and composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar.

The next Varnam, the centrepiece of the performance expressed the feelings of an ardent devotee of Krishna. Varnam: Pachai mamalai Ragam Ragamalika. Talam Adi. Composed by Tondaradipodi Azvar. Shreya depicted the words of this piece in dance so that we in the audience could understand what the composer described: “Lord Krishna as a green mountain, with coral red lips. He says he would rather not go to the most beautiful Indralokam even if he were sent there, but worship at the feet of the Lord. He is his only refuge. He wishes to have a glimpse of Lord Ranganatha in Srirangapatnam and attain moksha at his lotus feet”.

The third item was a Padam: Natanam Aadinaar, where Shreya competently illustrated in dance the sheer beauty of the dance of ecstasy and abandon of Lord Nataraja, where the composer Gopala Krishna Bharathi describes the sheer beauty of the dance of Lord Nataraja, where The eight sides of the world shook as he danced, the Ganga overflowed her banks and Adishesha, the great snake on his body trembled with fear. The composition was in Ragam Vasantha, Talam Ata.

The last item of the programme was a Thillana, a pure dance composition by Vazhuvoor Somu Pillai in Ragam Surati in Adi Talam. Shreya performed this Tillana with nimble footwork and held poses like classic temple sculpture. The dancer’s faultless sense of timing and rhythm and her consciousness of form and line spoke well of her understanding of her meticulous training in dance.

Yes, young Shreya Sridhar, currently a science student in Class XI, gives hope that Bharatanatyam is indeed safe. We owe a debt of gratitude to the dancer, her guru and accompanying musicians for not just preserving Indian Classical Dance, but in lighting a path for the future.

By Anna Rao