On a beautiful Autumn evening in the historic town of Lexington MA, a colorful troupe of dancers visiting from a faraway land dazzled the audience with their spectacular performance. Saptvarna, the classical dance troupe led by Padmshree Smt Aruna Mohanty presented an amalgamation of seven different dance styles of India.  They told stories from ancient scriptures to the life of modern-day legend Gandhi through their imaginative choreography and sensible music accompaniment.

The first segment of the program ‘Sooryasnaata’, meaning ‘Bathed in Sun’, opened with an invocation of  the Sun by Bharatanatyam dancer duos Sravanthi Loganathan and Manasi Prakash Karani. These well-trained disciples of Smt Anitha Guha displayed their expertise by balanced footwork and facial expressions.  Next, Mohiniattam artist Smt. Pallavi Krishnan and Kuchipudi artist Shree Avijit Das came on stage, and through their thorough moves, they effortlessly depicted the story of Sun as the creator and sustainer of life. Then Kathak artists Smt. Monisha Nayak, Sushree Shobhana Jha and Shree Siddharth Purohit entered the stage – through their brilliant footwork and rhythmic expressions, these artists illustrated the Sun’s travel from dawn to dusk. Odissi artists Smt Aruna Mohanty and her disciples followed them and sketched a magnificent picture of the chariot and the poetry of the Sun at The Konark Sun Temple, through their brilliant dancing. Last but not least were the contemporary dancers Shree Janardan Raj Urs, Shree Chetan Prasad Raju and Sushree Meghana Balaji, whose ingenious craft artistically depicted the story of the Sun and his wife Samjna. The first segment concluded with all of them dancing together in synchrony.

After a short intermission the audience returned to their designated seats and quietly and eagerly waited for the curtain raiser of the second segment which was even more magnanimous and detailed to its core.  The dance ballet titled ‘Gita-Mahaatmyam’, was based on the ancient scripture ‘Shreemadbhagvatgita’, Shree Krishana’s discourse to his disciple the great archer Arjuna. Shree Krishna said to Arjuna who was quite perplexed at the battlefield of Kurukshetra, “As a person puts on new clothes giving up the old ones, the soul accepts new bodies giving up the old ones. The soul is indestructible and eternal by all means.”  

Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi artists together analyzed the verse “Vaasaamsi Jeernaani Yatha Vihaaya”, meaning “as one gives up worn out clothes”. The Bharatnatyam dancers were dancing on Tillana, the Kathak artists on Tarana, and the Odissi virtuoso on Pallavi: each had distinct techniques, but were completely in synchrony at soul. They were followed by the contemporary dancers who came on stage and interpreted the verse “Karmanye Va Adhikaraste Maa Phaleshu Kadachana”, meaning “you have the right to work but not to the results thereof”, through a very robust choreography.  Odissi artists illustrated the message of verses “ Sangaat Sanjaayate Kaamah Kaamat Krodho Abhijaayate”, meaning “desire comes through association and anger results from desire” and  “Dharmasansthaapnaaya Sambhavaami Yuge Yuge” meaning “I incarnate in time to restore order on the earth”.   For the grand finale, all eighteen dancers came together, keeping their individual identity, yet amalgamating to reflect the one message of “Viswarupa Darshana” meaning “seeing the Universal ONE” , The ONE where everything merge into one, color,  shape, and form to become one eternal truth AUM”. 

The sound of AUM was the grand finale, where the grandeur of all became one. The knowledgeable audience, comprising dance gurus, classical musicians, artists and entrepreneurs gave a standing ovation to Smt. Aruna Mohanty and her talented crew. 

The local nonprofit organization India Discovery Center, with support from many helping hands of local art connoisseurs and philanthropists, was the key organizer and sponsor of this mega dance drama. The media partner of the event was Lokvani, an online newspaper run by Ranjani and Anil Saigal.  Kudos to the India Discovery Center for keeping the art and culture of India alive in the United States.

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