Students of Preeta Arun presented an evening of Bharatanatyam at Annie Sargent School, North Andover, on Sunday December 14th, 2003. Preetha Arun is a Bharatanatyam dance teacher. Preeta was initiated into the Kalakshetra style of Bharathanatyam under the tutelage of Kalaimamani Adyar K. Lakshmanan. After her Arangetram (dance debut) in 1986, she moved to the Vazhuvoor style under the tutelage of Guru Smt. Radha. Preetha has performed in prestigious organizations such as: Music Academy Kartik Fine Arts Kapali Fine Arts Nungambakkam Cultural Academy Mylapore Fine Arts Club Narada Gana Sabha and R.R.Sabha. in Chennai India. She has also performed at Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh for the 75th Birthday celebrations of Bhagwan Shri Sathya Sai Baba . She won a prize for her choreography of "Divyadhara", She is the recipient of a grant from the Massachussetts Cultural council.

The program commenced with an invocation song in the praise of the presiding deities in Vazhuvoor. Pushpanjali in Gambheera Nattai followed. Esha Reddy, Shreya Sheth, Shuruthe Ananthakrishnan, Kushboo Grayand and Kushali Gray performed the first half while the second half of Pushpanjali, a shloka on Lord Ganesha and Alarippu in Thisram was presented by Priyanha Nadanasabesan, Meghna Chandra, Pooja Singh and Diya Heble.

The famous Papanasam Shivan Keertanam,"Devi Neeye Thunai" in Ragam Keeravani dedicated to Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai was presented by Sriraga Tadi, Neha Pillai and Ajetha Nadanasabesan. The traditional Vasantha Jathiswaram was performed by Priyanha Nadanasabesan, Samitha Mohan and Sathvika Reddy. Ambika Menon, Mahima Balraj, Abhinaya Shine, and Lasya Thilagar performed Ganesh Koutuvam.

Oothukadu Venkata Subbayer’s "Ananda Nardhana Ganapathim Bhavaye" in praise of Lord Ganesha was presented gracefully by Sathvika Reddy, Meghna Chandra and Samitha Mohan. This was followed by "Muralidhara Gopala" in ragam Mandu dedicated to Lord Krishna presented by Sriraga Tadi, Ambika Menon and Mahima Balraj.

Seven year old Abhinaya Shine impressed the audience with her neat movements and cute expressions in the piece "Idadhu Padam Thooki" in the Ragam Kamas dedicated to Lord Shiva. The recital ended with a semi-classical number performed by Sathvika Reddy and Meghna Chandra. Preeta had choreographed the item using Tillana Jathis and the piece received an enthusiastic response from the audience. The program concluded with a Mangalam dedicated to Lord Kirshna.

Preeta Arun says teaching dance has been a learning experience. “Children in America question everything. I constantly try to upgrade my repertoire so I can teach new and interesting pieces to the students”. Preeta has classes in Andover and Nashua, New Hampshire.

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