On October 10^th, 2021, a friendly and festive reception welcomed guests to the Bharatanatyam Arangetram (solo dance debut) of Tarika Sridhar, daughter of Hema & Sridhar Iyengar, and Aashna Diddee, daughter of Vandana and Sumeet Diddee, at Grafton High School.

Both families have been in the MetroWest area for many years and are rooted in Indian classical dance and music, and the performing arts. Tarika and Aashna started their dance journey under the tutelage of Smt. Hema Iyengar, Founder-Director of Nritya-Anjali school of Dance and the Center for Arts and Wellness. Tarika has also been taught by Smt. Shilpa Aravind.

Tarika, a junior at Algonquin High and Aashna, a junior at Westborough High are close friends who have been learning and performing together since the age of five.  Their Gurus Smt. Hema Iyengar and Smt. Shilpa Aravind have been preparing them for their Arangetram for many months and it all came to a beautiful culmination on a lovely Sunday evening in New England.

The audience was treated to spellbinding performances, a perfect confluence of grace and talent, and a beautiful display of this traditional dance form. The event commenced with a welcome address by their parents followed by their first duo dance, a Pushpanjali. Pushpanjali is a traditional opening dance, in which the dancer offers flowers to seek the blessings of Lord Nataraja – the deity of dance, their Guru, the accompanying artists, as well as the audience, for a successful performance. This excellent opening set the anticipation for a beautiful, immersive experience over the next three hours.

Aashna started her solo performance with a confident rendition of Jatiswaram, which is an abstract rhythmic dance replete with intricate footwork. She showed her versatility in elaborate and graceful movements, bringing out the three aspects of dance, the unity of music with tempo and elegance.

This was followed by Tarika kicking off her solo recital with Ganesha Keerthanam, a prayer in praise of Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles from the successful completion of a good deed. Aashna then presented Amma Kauthuvam. Her heartfelt performance, full of emotive expressions honoring the love and sacrifice of a mother was a delight to experience.

This was followed by messages of support and encouragement by the grandparents. Next, Tarika took us through the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu who descends to Earth from time to time in order to uphold the righteous and protect the Earth from suffering and evil.  The audience was in awe seeing Tarika’s beautiful storytelling skills interspersed with her precise footwork and expressive portrayal of the ten avatars.

After a brief intermission, the audience was treated to another duo dance by the girls. The second half began with Tarika and Aashna showcasing their beautiful friendship with a folk dance, Vishamakara Kannan, based on the playful side of Lord Krishna teasing the Gopikas, with Tarika playing Lord Krishna and Aashna, a Gopika. The chemistry between the two dancers was visibly at play and was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. This was followed by Aashna performing the popular Tulsidas bhajan, Sri Rama Chandra, in praise of Lord Rama. This devotional piece played to the strength of Aashna’s beautifully expressive abhinaya. Soon after Tarika presented another bhajan composed by Kalaimamani Guru Shri Madurai R. Muralidharan praising Goddess Saraswathi – the goddess of art, music, and wisdom. With grace and poise, the dancers sought blessings of the benevolent God and Goddess to bless them with strength and power.

This next dance performed by Aashna was a Padam, a dance that was another expressive piece, allowing the dancer to portray a wide range of emotions, feelings, and moods of all shades. This piece depicted love and devotion for Goddess Raja Rajeshwari. This was followed by yet another gem composition from Oothukadu Venkata Subbiar – Kalinga Narthana, where the composer envisions the dance of Krishna as a little boy jumping and dancing playfully on the hoods of the multi-headed serpent, Kalinga. He describes the rhythmic jingling of his anklets and bangles as he dances on the hood of Kalinga, which was aptly depicted with energy and abhinaya by Tarika.

The concluding solos started with Aashna showcasing her energy with striking poses, fast footwork, and graceful sequences in praise of Lord Shiva, a beautiful composition by Guru Madurai R. Muralidharan. This dance, the Ananda Tandavam, is said to be the source of the universal cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution. This was followed by Thillana, a highly energetic finale performance by Tarika, depicting graceful movements, footwork and sculpturesque poses. 

After the scintillating solos by both Aashna and Tarika, the dancers came together again for their final thank yous in the Mangalam, seeking blessings from their gurus and elders and thanking the audience for a successful completion of their Arangetram.

It was a spectacular evening of Bharatanatyam performances by Aashna and Tarika, and excellent choreography and training by Guru Smt. Hema Iyengar and Smt. Shilpa Aravind with mentoring by Kalaimamani Shri Madurai Muralidharan, Kum Kavya Muralidharan, Guru Smt. Divya Ram and Smt. Gayatri Sriram.

It was a well-attended and appreciated event by an audience of over 330 people. The lovely stage arrangements and décor in the hallways was done with the help of Smt. Yasodhara Aravinthan and with support from friends and family. Delicious food from Woodland Vegetarian restaurant made it even more enjoyable. Photography by Mr. Anil Kumar Nair, videography by Kris Velmurugan, lights by Mark Buchanan and makeup by Smt. Shilpa Aravind and Manasa Jayanthi made this a professional event par excellence. Balaji Krishnamoorthy and Sandhya Rao did an awesome job as Emcees for the evening.

Hearty congratulations to Aashna and Tarika on this accomplishment and wishing them much success and continued learning in this ancient art form.

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