SINDHOOR/NATYAVEDA-Navarasa Dance Theater performance and fundraiser for “Dance for Everyone” was a special event held in at the Boston Center for the Arts. Unlike the cool evening outside the air at the Black Box at the BCA was heavy and warm. Guru Aparna Sindhoor, Guru Anil Natyaveda, and dancers Smitha, Beth, Nanditha, Avani, Revati, Mallika, Sanjana, Sapna, Navaneeth and Anne were hard at work inside – marking the stage, coordinating choreography, programming sound and light – one last time before the show. The Navrasa students traveled from all over USA to support this event.

Founded by renowned dancer/choreographer Dr. Aparna Sindhoor, Navarasa Dance Theater (with Prof. Balasubramanyam and Dr. Srivalli in India and S.M. Raju in USA) is a pioneering South-Asian Contemporary Dance Theater company with a wide repertoire of classical and contemporary works inspired by Bharatanatyam and folk-dance forms, martial arts (Kalarippayattu), diverse theater and music traditions, aerial dance, yoga and storytelling. With Anil Natyaveda, S.M.Raju and Dr. Sindhoor as co-directors each of them bring strong talent and commitment to the Indian performing arts.

The shows at the BCA on May 12^th and 13^th were very special. This was a collage of twenty years of work by the co-directors and performed by Navarasa dancers in support of “Dance for Everyone.” a program created by Sindhoor, Natyaveda and Raju that provides free and subsidized dance and martial arts education for more than 150 students in India and the USA. Dr. Sindhoor and Natyaveda teach classes in Boston, Los Angeles, Albuquerque and online. So, each time the ankle bells met the taala (beat) and the songs met the story, everyone on and off stage, was rooting for “Dance for Everyone”.

The evening featured pieces from Mysore style Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, contemporary dance, dance-theater and Kalarippayattu (Indian martial arts, also known and the “Mother of all Martial Arts”). It began with Jana, a cheerful Kannada song about the sound coins make in our pockets sung by Aparna’s little students Nandan and Indraneil. This was followed by an ode to Lakshmi, sung and danced to welcome Goddess of wealth.

The evening travelled from traditional pieces of the Mysore palace to the temples of Belur and Halebeed. The stories were inspired by the dohas of Kabir and the Goddess of power, Chamundeshwari. The journey continued with Kalari ppayattu martial art, contemporary dance and dance-theater.

Performances by the co-directors were an added bonus. Gravity, a solo piece Guru Anil Natyaveda, exhibited fantastic jumps and floor work like a flowing river, and was a treat for the eyes.

A piece titled SHE inspired the Asta Nayika, performed beautifully by Guru Aparna Sindhoor, explored the eight moods of a woman whose beloved has gone to war. The audience could not help but become a part of her story and wait with her for her loved one to return.

The two-day event concluded with a lively Q&A, an outpour of support and of course, good karma for everyone. All this, for the woman who walks 50 kilometers from her home to practice dance, the children in Mysore and the village of Edapalayam, and the students in Boston and beyond who reap the benefits of the “Dance for everyone” program.

|