On May 20th, 2006, Monisha Rajinikanth, a resident of Wayland, Massachusetts, celebrated her Nritya Nipuna, a solo dance recital. Nritya Nipuna, which literally means 'expert dance', is a contemporary variation of
the more traditional events such as Arangetram (ascending the stage) for Bharatnatyam and Rangapravesh for Kathak. The concept of Nritya Nipuna
has evolved from these traditions to incorporate the race in Manipuri and the vitality of Folk with the aesthetic perfection in Bharatnaytam. Monisha's guru
Smt Jasmine Shah has been instrumental in propogating these dignified yet dazzling and  serious yet eye pleasing events in the greater New England area.
 
For her Nritya Nipuna, Monisha performed to a packed audience at Locke Middle School in Billerica. Her performances for the day ranged from the most classical Bharatnatyam with its elaborate techniques to the delicate and mesmerizing Manipuri to the most vibrant folk dances from the western state of Maharashtra. All of these dancing styles were taught to Monisha by her Guru Smt. Jasmine Shah who is quite well known amongst the local youth due to her unique teaching style and her passion for combining the contemporary with the traditional.

Monisha's nritya nipuna  was a very exciting and audience captivating event. Many people who were watching a Nritya Nipuna event for the first time were quite pleasantly surprised by the variety and enthalling nature of the dance offerings in these programs. Generally speaking Nritya Nipuna offers an entertainment package like no other when it comes to solo dance recitals.  Monisha combined her two unique talents - that of dance and vocal music - to a powerful and highly individualized program.

Monisha started the evening with Ganesh Vandana, the traditional prayer offered to Lord Ganesh. Following that she performed Pushpanjani, dance that entails offering flowers to the Divine Lord of Dance. Monisha continued with the Thali dance (on the rim of a brass plate) in praise of Lord Shiva and Devi Stuti, a dance in praise of Goddess Parvati. Along with her teacher
Jasmine she demonstrated the nine sentiments of the flavors of feelings (Rasa Bhava)first as a lecture demonstration and followed by Nav Ras dance. Monisha completed the first half of the program by performing Thillana, the grand finale of the Bharat Natyam.

Throughout the first half, Monisha demonstrated her dedication, grace and endurance as a Bharat Natyam dancer. During the second half of the program, she switched gears and showed the audience her variety of dancing skills. She started this half with a trio of dances from Manipur (Telena, Gopi Abhisar and Ras Leela) which was charecterized by lyrical grace, lightness of tread and delicacy of hand movements. One of these dances was set to a Marathi song recorded by Monisha in her voice under the guidance of her music teacher Smt. Madhavi Marathi, a vocal artist well known to the New England Maharastrian community. Changing colors and costumes, Monisha performed a Kathak dance. She topped off the evening performance with scintillating folk dances from Maharashtra, one of which was set to her second
Marathi song recording.

All in all, it was a great evening and a big day in the life of Monisha. She began her dance career at the tender age of six, under the loving care of Jasmine Shah. Monisha has performed under the guidance of Jasmine Shah, in such cultural events as Gurjar, IAGB, ISW, IAMV, etc as part of larger groups. But this was a very unique experience. Not only was she the solo
performer but she had to dance to a great variety of dancing styles.

On the whole Monisha's Nritya Nipuna was well received. The event was organized in a very systematic and thorough manner with a lot of attention to minute details. The decorations inside and outside both the Auditorium and in the Cafetaria were extremely professional in nature. It was pointed out that all of this was possible due to colloboration and efforts of several friends of
the Rajinikanth family. There were some innovative ideas that kept the entire evening even after the dance performance was over very interesting and
entertaining. There was the wonderful quilt full of memories for Monisha comprised of all friends and family pictures. After the dinner there was the DJ
dance party for every one to dance and have fun.

Monisha expressed tremendous thanks to her teacher Jasmine for making her the dancer she demonstrated that evening.  She thanked her parents for organizing the event and for all the hard work that went into making this event go smoothly. The outpouring of the support to Monisha during this event was touching.

Monisha is a sophomore student at the Wayland High School. She likes to play guitar and enjoys singing contemporary Hindi and Marathi songs. She lives with her brother Nitin and parents Netra and Rajinikanth.

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