New England is always blessed with three months of blissful summer. The summer warmth and happiness that we enjoy is always enhanced by the arangetrams presented by Lasya School of Dance, under the guidance of Guru Smt. Sapna Krishnan.

The arangetram of Deeptha Ganesh and Yashvi Gupta headed the arangetram marathon for 2019 by the dance school. The pooja for the bells and offering to Lord Nataraja had a heavenly vibe with their families chanting hymns from Medha Suktam, Taithreeya Upanishad and Sri Rudram. I truly felt the presence of God when I saw the seat in the middle of the front row with a white robe and the padukas of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

The program commenced with a welcome speech by Ramya & Ganesh and Neetu & Pankaj. Deeptha’s Hindustani vocal guru, Sri Manoj Govindraj, sang “Sur Niragas Ho” as an invocation piece.

Smt. Srividya Ramachandran did an amazing job being the emcee of the entire show with her melodious voice.

The dance segment for the evening started with a Shivanjali. Yashvi and Deeptha performed admirably in this item depicting Ardhanareeshwarar. The characters portrayed by the two girls, Deeptha as Shiva and Yashvi as Parvathi, were very well synchronized. The poses of the dancers stole the hearts of the audience and were very well applauded. Yashvi continued the joyful dancing in her next item on Lord Ganesha: “Ananda Narthana Ganapathim”. Her steps fully covered the stage and posed all the happy forms of Lord Ganesha. The Arangetram further gained momentum with Deeptha performing Shanmuga Kavuthuam. She excelled in walking like a peacock as she made her entry onto the stage. She switched her expressions every second and did a role play of three different Gods. The ending of the song showed the different names of Lord Muruga with divine bhavas and poses. Deeptha nailed the item and did total justice to the choreography by her Guru Smt. Sapna Krishnan. The musical interlude by our versatile musicians playing Thelisi Rama was a treat to the audience. Sudhaman ji’s mridangam kept the audience spellbound and the way he performed the Jugalbandhi with flutist Ramani Sir and Veeramani sir on the violin with single and double handedness was mind-blowing. Sri Sudev Warrier’s soulful “Krishna Madhava” resonated in the auditorium beautifully.
 
The Varnam on Lord Krishna added a jewel to the crown and Yashvi and Deeptha well complemented each other with poses, neat footwork, and perfect aradis. Both the girls responded well to Nilanjana Nambiar’s narrative as they came up to the stage to demonstrate the piece. The Kamsan sanchari, Kalinga Narthanam depiction, and story from the Bhagavat Geeta were the highlights of the Varnam.

Yashvi and Deeptha continued the arangetram with a famous song on Goddess Sakthi by poet Sri Subramanya Bharathi. Sri Rama Chandra Kripalu Bhajaman, a song written by Saint Tulasidas, was performed by Yashvi in a truly soulful manner. Her expressions, including shringaram and the other Navarasas, were very well exhibited. Next, Deeptha performed an Abhang, a form of devotional poetry in the Marathi language, sung in praise of the Hindu god Vitthala. In this song of Vrindhavani Venu composed by Saint Bhanudasa, Deeptha ably portrayed the way the melodies of Krishna’s flute enchanted Brindavan in an energetic fashion.

In the dance Kavadichindhu, the girls danced with high impact enthusiasm and made the audience feel as if they were really on a pilgrimage to the Palani temple in Tamil Nadu!

The arangetram was blessed due to the boundless talents of the musicians. The girls honoured their guru, Smt. Sapna Krishan, for her innovative choreography and explicit footwork, Sri Sudev Warrier for his silver-toned voice, Sri Sudhaman sir for his rhythmic mridangam, Ramani Sir for his melodious flute, and Veeramani sir for his vibrant violin. The program ended with Maharaja Swathi Thirunal’s Dhanashree Thillana, in which the dancers synchronized the jathis and poses and sustained the vibrant energy until the Mangalam on Panchaboothas. Guru Sapna Krishnan congratulated Yashvi and Deeptha on their phenomenal performance and awarded them with certificates for completing their arangetram. While thanking the audience, the brothers of the two dancers spoke about their sisters and there was a roar of applause from the audience. Deeptha’s grandmother, while expressing her joy to the audience, even sang MGR’s old song which added more blessings to the dancers. “Ma perum sabaigalil nee nadandaal” was sung by the grandmother with happy tears flowing down her beautiful face and was yet another blessing for the dancers.

A huge kudos to the decoration team that brought the divine vibe to the whole auditorium.

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