Sowmya Chary a senior at Westford Academy gave her Arangetram at Performing Arts Center at Littleton High School on August 20, 2005.  Sowmya has undergone over 10 years of Bharathanatyam training from Guru Smt. Jothi Raghavan. Capacity crowd of over 750 people witnessed Sowmya perform her Arangetram, with enthusiasm and rapt attention, pin drop silence and thunderous applause.

In my opinion, Sowmya worked so hard, constantly putting a hundred and ten percent every time she practiced and open heartedly accepted my criticisms when she practiced. that's why, her arangetram was PERFECT.
 
Arangetrams display the great tradition of passing on the knowledge of dance from the teacher to the student.  Bharatanatyam has melody and rhythm, poetry and drama, expression and sculpture, color and tradition and  a means of spiritual elevation both for the dancer and the audience.
 
Sowmya performed nine dance items displaying her focus, dedication, total involvement, physical endurance, expression, dermination, understanding of culture, mythology  - incorporating the three elements of 'Nritta', 'Nritya' and 'Natya.
 
Several people commented that it's a very matured, wonderful, amazing, impeccable, scintillating visual treat that mesmerized and immersed them in deep spiritual thoughts.  The lengthy standing ovation was testimony of the appreciation by the audience.
 
The program started with a song in praise of Lord Ganesha followed by Pushpanjali which is a dance of invocation with offerings of flowers with slokas in praise of Gods and Goddesses. Sowmya performed Pushpanjali with grace. This is followed by Alaripu which is the flowering or opening of body and limbs and prepares the dancer. Jathiswaram is the next piece, a rigorous dance, where Sowmya combined footwork with graceful body movements set to rhythmic musical notes.
 
Varnam is the heart and central gem of the recital where Sowmya displayed excellent facial expressions, intricate foot movement and hand gestures demonstrating the stories of Kakasura, Vamana and Venkateshwara who is none other than lord Narayana the preacher of the Bhagavat Geeta. The Varnam displayed not only Sowmya's exquisite dancing skills but also maturity and discipline of an accomplished dancer.
 
"It made me emotional, because the stories felt so real," said Praneetha Malipeddu, during the intermission after Sowmya performed the Varnam.
 
A wonderful musical interlude ËœNagumomu” of Thyagaraja was performed by the musicians during the intermission. The post intermission session started with Ksheera Sagara Sayanaâ composed by Thygaraja where he pleads with Rama to come and save him from his bondage just like he saved Droupadhi and Gajendra from their obstacles.
 
This is followed by Narayana Teertha Tarangam Govardhana Giri Dhara. Sowmya's younger sister Sravya (9 year old) also performed this dance as Lord Krishna.  Sri Krishna is seen as the one who lifted the Govardhana mountain to give refuge and to save the people of Gokulam from the wrath of Indra and the torrential rains. Both Sowmya and Sravya performed the dance with ease and grace.
 
The Pambatti siddar's snake charmar's song Nadar Mudi Melirukkum Nagapambe  followed next. Sowmya twisted her body into many of the seemingly impossible and very difficult poses which drew several rounds of applause from the Audience.
 
Thillana, in ragam Dhanasri. marked by intricate footwork in rhythmic patterns of movement.  It is an essay of pure dance with intricate poses and footwork with graceful body moements.  The audience are spell-bound by the performance, which is well supported by scintillating choreography. This was followed by Venkatachala Nilayam's Purandara dasa musical interlude.
 
The final dance item was Andalâ Varanamiyam. Andal is the divine poetess and an incarnation of Bhudevi, dreams of Lord Narayana coming to marry her surrounded by a thousand elephants. The marriage of Andal and Vishnu was depicted as an actual event in accordance with the well-known dream of Andal.  The marriage ceremony of Andal and Vishnu was the finale of this dance item. A slide show on ËœVaranamayiram” was shown to the audience before the dance item. The concept, artistic and music direction for the performance was outstanding. Sowmya dressed like Andal, performed with grace.
 
Sowmya concluded her performance with Sriya Kanthayaa Mangalam. The debut would not have been so successful but for the outstanding live accompaniment. It comprised of Jothi Raghavan on Nattuvangam,  Geeta Murali on Vocal, Narayanaswamy on Mridangam, V.K. Raman on Flute and Smt. Durga Krishnan on Veena.
 
The sounds of Sri Narayanaswamyâ mridangam  reverberated the hall. Sri V.K Ramanâ flute sent shudders of delight to everyone ears.  Smt.Durga Krishnanâ veena sounded melodious.  Smt. Geeta Murali melodious voice and clear diction was a treat to the ears. Smt. Jothi Raghavan nattuvangam is superb and her dedication and determination to produce unsurpassed quality has been the inspiration behind Sowmya  performance.
 
Sowmya wore four costumes of pure silk with gold embroidery, classic Indian jewelry and traditional Indian makeup, which took three hours to apply, the red fingers and toes, to highlight the intricate movements, and extended eyeliner.
 
Audience were of the opinion that Sowmya is confident, had firm grip on tala with remarkable quickly changing facial emotions and she captured the hearts of one and all. She utilized the stage very effectively and communicated superbly with the audience. Many felt that she will blossom into an artiste of great repute.
 
"Sowmya danced so beautifully and flawlessly," commented Sowmya Varada, a member of the audience who also had learned dance with the same teacher for eight years.

Sowmya thanked her Guru Smt. Jothi Raghavan,  the musicians, her parents, grand parents and relatives and people who helped organize the function. Sowmya specially thanked the audience for taking time out of their busy schedules and attending the arangetram and supporting her with applause throughout the performance. Everyone had a Festive dinner after the vote thanks.

|