Smt. Sujatha Srinivasan from Cleveland, Ohio presented a graceful Bharatanatyam recital at Cohen Auditorium at Tufts University on Saturday, September 20, 2003. She presented a mix of traditional and new compositions that brought a fresh perspective to Bharatanatyam.

The recital began with the traditional Ananada Nartana Ganapathi in Ragam Nattai. The song celebrates the glorious dance of Lord Ganesha. This was followed by Sri Jagdeeshwari, a composition of the Maestro Lalgudi. G. Jayaraman in Ragam Ahir Bhairav. The portrayal of duel between Mahishasura and Devi and her victory over that demon was beautiful. The next piece was an innovative Varnam. A Meera Bhajan “Aao Morey Mana Mohana” was set in the pattern of varnam with Jathis and swarams added to it. Since Shringara was the theme of this Bhajan, it fit very well as a Varnam. Sujatha used complex jathis and executed them perfectly. I was a little dissappointed with the poor pronounciation of Hindi for the piece was not easy understandable by Hindi speaking people for whom it was intended.

The second half began with Shankara Shri Giri, a composition of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal in Ragam Hamsanandi. Sujatha’s depiction of Lord Shiva as the divine dancer of the “Chitra Sabhai” was powerful. The javali, Smarasundarangu in Ragam Paras followed. Nowadays Javalis are often forgotten because of their slow pace. But they are beautiful compositions that allow the dancer's creativity to be displayed. A lullaby , JoJo dedicated to Lord Rama in the Ragam Ranjani allowed Sujatha to go into the realm of the Vatsalyam aspect of Abhinaya. The recital ended with the everpopular Kadanakudukalam Tillana composed by Dr. Balamurali Krishna.

I was so impressed to see how despite living in the United States, Sujatha has worked hard to continue to grow as a dancer and maintain a professional standard. This is not an easy task and hence she is certainly an inspiration to her fellow dancers. The orchestra consisted of the vocalist P. Ramaa, mridangist Janardana Rao, flutist V. K. Raman. The Nattuvangam was done by a Srinivasa Rao, a student of Biomedical engineering who is also a Kuchipudi dancer.

The recital was sponsored by IDRF(India Development and Relief Fund) and ISAT (Indian Students Association at Tufts) to raise funds for Ved Mandir in Jammu and Kasmir for constructing orphanage center to house victims of terrorism, Vanvasi Ashram Trust in Kerala and for the Bhatke Vimukta Vikas Pratishthana in Maharashtra for imparting vocational training and self-employment skills to children and adult s of nomadic tribes. The guest of honors for the event were Mr. Narendra Popat, co-founder and chairman of board Netscout Systems and Dr. Jamshed Bharucha, Provost and Senior VP of Tufts University. Local dance teachers were honored for doing excellent service to the community by promoting the classical Indian dance in greater boston area. The event also featured a fancy dress competition for youngsters. Shishir, Arya and Saumya were the winners of this competition.

To learn more about IDRF , check out their web site at http://www.idrf.org

To learn more about ISAT, check out their website at http://ase.tufts.edu/isat/

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