On September 6th 2010, Lasya Priya Thilagar, a student of Ms. Neha Parikh, performed her dance arangetram at Nashua High School North.  Lasya is a senior at Hollis-Brookline High School and has been learning Bharatanatyam for eight years, first with Smt.Preetha Arun and since 2005 with Ms.Neha Parikh. Ms. Parikh, a graduate of Nalanda University in Mumbai, herself a student of Padmashri Kanak Rele and Shri Vaibhav Arekar, is the director of Chidambaram Nritya Kala Academy in Nashua, New Hampshire which she founded in 2005.  This was Neha’s 4th student to complete an arangetram in a span of 5 years and each program was uniquely choreographed and highly acclaimed. This speaks to her great creativity and dedication to maintaining the purity of the art form.

The items
Lasya’s first item was a Pushpanjali on Devi from the ballet Jaya Jaya Devi composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman followed by a Mallari in Ragam Gambheer Nattai. The Shabdam ‘Thillai Ambalam’ depicted a devotee, who is awed and enamored by the dance of Lord Shiva and describes the myriad feelings and dreams that she experiences in the hopes of uniting with him. The fast paced Varnam ‘Balagopalan’ in Ragam Panthuvarali described the brilliant beauty of the naughty little Krishna, the cowherd boy.  The second half of the program began with a composition in Kannada by Purandara Dasa ‘Chandra Chooda’ in which he narrates the legends of Shiva. The choreography for this dance was appreciated by all. Next was a lilting Kavadi Chindu where Lasya danced with a decorated Kavadi, describing the handsome Muruga who was the younger son of Shiva and Parvathi.  Following this was ‘Devi Neeye Thunai’, a tribute to Devi Meenakshi of Madurai which retold the story of her birth and marriage to Lord Sundaresha. After a brief musical interlude, the concluding piece was a Thillana in Ragam Maduvanthi composed by the maestro Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman.
    
The artistes on stage
The Nattuvangam was beautifully done by the teacher Ms. Neha Parikh herself.  The members of the orchestra were seasoned musicians and prominent artistes from India. The vocalist was Sudev Warrier, a disciple of the maestro Sri Balamurali Krishna; mridangam by K. Sudhaman, a graded performer in All India Radio and Doordarshan, and flute by C. K. Pathanjali – a resident scholar of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. The trio was no strangers to the New England Area having performed in many previous arangetrams and dance productions. Their scholarship and talent was evident all through the performance and especially during the musical interlude.

Lasya’s thoughts about her arangetram in her own words:
I wasn’t actually serious about doing my arangetram a couple of months before the event. Basically, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. In fact, it was not until this summer, after all the preparations were made and there was no turning back, that I began to realize the seriousness of what I was undertaking.  Instead of practicing the dance just so I could remember it and move on, I started imagining myself on stage, where every movement I made would be observed, and evaluated by the audience.  

I spent hours debating to myself - on the one hand, I didn’t think I could do a single item without seriously messing up.  On the other hand, if so many other people did it, why couldn’t I?  Then, an interesting thing started to happen.  My living room, where I usually practiced, started to shrink.  I started bumping into the couches tables, and even the TV.  It was hard to keep track of all the furniture while I was imagining myself on stage.  So I moved to the basement, which had a larger area, but a hard, concrete floor instead of the thick carpet upstairs.  Despite the initial pain, I started to enjoy dancing and I started wishing for an audience to applaud or critique me. 

I started to enjoy my dance practices and became very disciplined especially after     my grandfather (Thatha) came from India with the special brochures. Thatha came to all my practice sessions which now had become about 3 to 4 hours long daily. I was thankful to have had rehearsals with a great live orchestra and in about three rehearsals, they learned all ten items I had taken years to perfect. I worked with my teacher Neha Didi who spent endless hours patiently correcting me and redoing the choreography to fit my style and the music.

On the day of the arangetram, after the puja to Lord Nataraja and taking the blessings of the teacher and family – I felt I was ready. It took me some time to warm up during the Pushpanjali, but then time flew. By the time I finished the Varnam I could feel the gratifying warmth and appreciation from the audience. I had finished the toughest part of the challenge. I know all my friends loved my dancing with a Kavadi in the second half of the program, and when I came to my final and favorite piece, the Thillana, I felt like I could go on forever. The highlight of the event was my Thatha’s speech in Tamil and the poem he wrote for the occasion.

Although I did not realize it at the time, this was an important, life-changing decision.  I worked harder for this arangetram than I have ever worked for anything in my life, and the feeling of accomplishment at the end was definitely worth the effort.  I hope that I can continue to learn dance for many more years, and also inspire other people to work hard towards their goals, no matter how ludicrous they may seem. “

About the program
One of the audience members, Abirami Balasubraminyan had this to say about Lasya’s performance: “I thoroughly enjoyed Lasya's arangetram.  She became Sri Krishna in the rendering of the dance on Him and was able to elevate me to a higher level and bring out tears of joy in me.  The entire presentation from the choice of songs, the supporting artists' performance and her dance performance was enchanting.  I wish Lasya all the best and hope she will continue her journey to attain greater fame in this rich ancient heritage.”

Lasya realized early on how fortunate she was to be able to afford and to learn this unique art form. Having volunteered in soup kitchens in the Nashua area, she had seen that need can strike anyone at any point in life, for no apparent reason. Knowing that this was an occasion when most of her friends and well wishers would be gathered, she decided to request donations of money towards the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter in lieu of gifts. She and her family wish to also thank everyone who donated to this cause.

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