Manitha Neyam Trust continued its tradition of hosting a cultural fundraiser each year, by hosting the Bharatanatyam presentation titled “Naatya Nandhanam” in Andover, MA on May 22nd, 2004. The dance production was a presentation by Sumitra Nitin and Sunanda Narayanan, and some students of Sunanda’s “Thillai Fine Arts Academy”. Sumitra and Sunanda are acclaimed dancers who have performed extensively in India and abroad. They are students of the renowned Guru Rhadha of Jaya Jaya Devi fame from India. Sumitra is a recipient of the ‘Yuva Kala Bharathi’ award and Sunanda was awarded the meritorious scholarship of the Government of India for advanced training in dance under her teacher.

The performance consisted of two parts; the first containing traditional pieces from the Bharatanatyam repertoire such as “Thodaya Mangalam”, “Alarippu”, “Jatiswaram”, “Varnam”, “Nadhar Mudi”, and “Kavadi Chindu”, and the second a presentation of ‘Kutraala Kuravanaji’, a Tamil dance drama. The audience of more than 300 was spell bound for the 3-hour duration of the dance recital. The audience was able to understand and appreciate the various items since Sunanda gave detailed explanations before the commencing of each piece.

Manitha Neyam Trust has been hosting the annual cultural event not only to benefit the various social projects in Sri Lanka that they have undertaken, but also to give the local audiences an evening of quality classical entertainment.

The sponsors of the program solicit continued patronage and financial support for the projects outlined in their web page http.www.manithaneyam.org.

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