Lasya School of Dance presented Divya Sathya and Naga Vikram’s duet arangetram at the Sutton high school auditorium on August 6th, 2022.  The ambience at the auditorium, with its elegantly designed stage, seating, lighting and décor provided the perfect set up for what was going to be a momentous occasion in the lives of these two young dancers. Both Naga and Divya have been learning Bharatanatyam from Guru Sapna Krishnan from a tender age of 6 and are rising juniors in Metrowest schools. In addition to beautifully sharing the stage on their big day, it was interesting to note that they also shared a variety of common interests such as love for visual arts and playing various musical instruments. Ms.Vandana Rao, a Hindustani music teacher, was the master of ceremony for this arangetram. Vandana’s stage presence, crisp and articulate explanations about the dance items and well-timed commentary about each of the performances was delightful and kept the audience in rapt attention. 

Pushpanjali in Ragam Vijayavasantha, composed by Guru Madurai R Muralidharan gave an energetic start to the recital. Divya and Naga took blessings from Lord Nataraja, their guru and the audience before proceeding with a Ganesha Stuthi in Hamsadhwani to pay obeisance to Lord Ganesha, who is the destroyer of all obstacles. The next piece of the recital was a Narasimha Kauthuvam, which commenced with Divya showcasing the ‘Dashavathara Hastas’ of Lord Vishnu and dramatically portraying the story of Lord Vishnu’s ardent devotee, Prahlada being saved from the clutches of evil king, ‘Hiranyakashyapu’. Quickly switching between Lord Narasimha’s emotions of rage towards Hiranyashyapu and love towards Prahlada, Divya’s portrayal of Narasimha Kavuthuvam, very ably choreographed by her Guru Sapna Krishnan, was brilliant. When it was Naga’s turn to present her solo piece, she danced to the ever enjoyable Kriti, ‘Adivo Alladivo’, which Annamaiah is said to have sung in devotional ecstasy upon seeing Tirumala hills. The rendition of this song by Sri Sudev Warrier and Naga’s dance, soaked in profound Bhakthi Bhava took the spectators to a distinctly different state.

After a fantastic music interlude by the musical ensemble, the dancers began with a traditional pada varnam in Nattakurinji, ‘Swami undan Adimai, composed by Papanasam Sivan. Naga’s immaculate footwork and sense of rhythm shone through the several brisk and fast paced jathis of this challenging varnam. Divya’s abhinaya through the stories of sancharis were beautiful. If you are a dance enthusiast in the New England area, you know that you can always count on Guru Sapna Krishnan’s innovative choreography. Swami undan adimai was no exception – with interesting combinations and variations of adavu patterns, the stories portrayed in the sancharis, enunciation of solkattus, precision of nattuvangam and mridangam through the daunting speed of this varnam’s jathis, Swami undhan adimai was an audience favourite and quite a treat for both eyes and ears!

The second half of the recital commenced with a vibrant ‘Shakthi koothu’ – a composition of the legendary Tamil poet, Subramanya Bharathiyar. With a spirited rendition of ‘thaga thaga’ by Sudev Sir, Divya and Naga’s dance beautifully lived up to the tempo and lyrical prowess of Bharathi’s verses praising the divine mother. It was followed by a Madhurashtakam, a set of 8 verses, where Naga beautifully described the charm of Lord Krishna, his beautiful form, pastimes and pranks with Gopikas. It was also an apt number for Naga to demonstrate her strength in Nritta through the jathis that followed each of the verses. Divya’s abhinaya skills came to the fore with rendition of Periasamy Thooran's 'Kaliyuga Varadan' in Brindavana Saranga. Divya depicting the fight between Lord Muruga and Soorapadman and finally using trident to kill Soorapadman was powerfully intense. The recital concluded with the evergreen Swati thirunal thillana in Ragam Dhanashree and Mangalam. 

The evening was made immensely enjoyable by the rich, deep voice of Sri Sudev Warrier accompanied by an equally soulful playing of violin and flute by Sri Ananda Nadayogi and Sri Sivakumar. Sri Nagarajan, with his nimble fingers glided through the mridangam/rhythmpad and was in perfect harmony at all times with the cymbals yielded by the nattuvanar, Guru Sapna Krishnan. 

A Bharatanatyam arangetram duet, when compared to a solo performance, requires an incredible amount of coordination, synchronisation and by no means is an easy task. While watching this duo’s performance, I could see the amount of hard work put in by the girls and the Guru’s choreographic brilliance that had gone in to complement Divya and Naga’s skills, strengths and weaknesses to make this a fantastic performance. The audience, including Divya and Naga’s family who had flown in all the way from India, seemed to concur and spoke about the girls’ immense passion towards this prolific art form. I hope Naga and Divya continue to foster their love for Bharatanatyam and wish them many more such stunning performances! After all, an arangetram is just a starting point in a dancer’s journey. 

|