Just as summer was coming to an end in the New England area , we knew most of the dance shows and arangetrams would start to dwindle down as well. August 27, 2017 was one lucky day for us when we got to witness the Natya Nivedanam - a margam presentation by Sri Gopukiran Sadasivan along with local dancers. These beautiful dancers were a part of two dance schools. The Lasya school of dance under the guidance of Guru Smt Sapna Krishnan and Tarangini Creations School of dance under the guidance of Guru Smt. Veena Teli. The competent students from these two prestigious dance schools collaborated with each other and presented a visual treat to the audiences at the St. John high school auditorium , Shrewsbury.

There was a very novel purpose behind the cause for this show. These young and skilled students were instrumental in raising funds for CRY America – a nonprofit NGO who serves underprivileged children. It was very pleasing to see the students, family and friends participate and donate generously to the cause. Sri K G Narayana was the chief guest for the event and graced the occasion with his heartfelt wishes and motivation for donating to this noble cause.
 
The auditorium was packed and the audience were eagerly awaiting for the show to begin . Dr.Saritha Venkatesh of Sharon did a wonderful job hosting the show and shared heartfelt anecdotes with the audience.

The first piece of dance was Gajamukha Nayaka in raagam Hindolam and thalam Adi. The girls beautifully portrayed Lord Ganesha with their swift movements. The second performance was a Mallaari in raagam Gambeera Nattai followed by Nataraja Anjali in raagam nattai. Both these tough pieces were performed very gracefully by the students. Another stupendous performance by the senior girls was Devargale in raagam Kedaragowlai in thalam Adi. The girls kept the audience rapt and spell bound with their performance.

A very grand performance was done by Sri Gopukiran himself. He danced on a varnam based on Lord Shiva in raagam Dharmavathi. His flawless performance received great appreciation and accolades. He beautifully articulated the stories on Nandhanaar and Kanappan Nayannar. Sri Gopukiran touched the hearts of the audience while emoting this mythological story via his dance moves. His performance which lasted for about thirty minutes was a true visual treat to all who witnessed his complex dance presentation.

We had an intermission shortly and volunteers generously served food and drinks. The interval was followed by Adinaye Kanna in ragam Mohana Kalyani. This song depicted the playful nature of Krishna teamed with colorful costumes by the girls. Shankara Sri Giri on Lord Shiva based on ragam Hamsanandhi was gracefully delivered by the junior and senior students. The younger students also proved their talent immensely. The intricate dance movements were swiftly performed by the girls with perfect step coordination. The coordination and formations by these young students on stage was commendable.

One of my personal favorite was Shiva Shakthi song in ragam Shiva Shakthi. This dance piece was rendered very creatively by the senior girls in utmost perfection.

Then came the turn of Sri Gopukiran again where he performed an awe struck dance on Hanuman Keerthanam in Raagamalika. He emoted and enacted various stories of Hanuman from Mahabharath and Ramayana. The playful and mischievous nature of Hanuman was well emoted by Sri Gopukiran and conveyed the story well to the viewers. We were truly blessed to have witnessed such a presentation by the great disciple of Padmabhushan Dhananjayan.

The next performance was En Palli Kondeeraiya in ragam Mohanam. This was a soulful song and performed with much grace and swiftness. The girls aesthetically depicted the Lord Ranganathar. This fantastic krithi encompasses both Ramayana and Maha bharatha as to how Lord Vishnu protected his devotees.

The last dance piece was the Thillana Nritta Angaharam in ragam Brindavani. It was a breathtaking performance and we were thrilled to see Sri Gopukiran also perform along with the girls. This fast paced dance was performed marvelously by the students. The event ended with Mangalam where all the dancers gathered on the stage. It was a stunning sight to see all the gorgeous dancers along with their admirable teachers on stage at once posing for an alluring picture.

Kudos to the Artistic Director and Guru Smt Sapna Krishnan for pulling off such a splendid show with these local talents. These pupils were extremely well trained by Sri Gopukiran and rendered a wonderful show! We could tell a lot of efforts and hard work had gone into the practice sessions for delivering such a fabulous production. We were truly blessed to have the opportunity to witness the magnificent performance of Sri Gopukiran along with these skillful dancers and we hope to see more in the near future!

Dancers from Lasya School of Dance: Nilanjana Nambiar, Madhumita Nambiar, Deeptha Ganesh, Anusha Patil, Anjali Anilkumar, Joshika Selvaraj , Ananya Narayan, Mullai Jeyakumar, Ananya vel, Nikitha Athipathy , Shreya Suresh, ZaharaNicole Verma, Rebha Raviraj, Nivedhya Cheruvari, Menaja Raja, Rinija Raja, Shreya Sriram, Ahana
Nimmagadda, Aishwarrya Nambi.

Dancers from Tarangini Creations School of Dance: Nandita Lajeesh, Sruthelaya Mohan, Tulasi Vithiananthan, Arthi Vithiananthan, Varshini Arumugam

Credits:
Videography : Sri Manoj Panicker
Photography : Sri Jeyakumar Sathyamoorthy

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