Vaibhava Dance School’s Artistic Director, Deepa Srinath and her students, presented for the first time a Bharatanatyam dance feature in Cambridge, MA last Saturday.  The show started with a welcome song “Sri Saraswathi “ sung by Smt Bhuvana Ganesh. Next, a traditional Pushpanjali was performed by the dance school students. This fast-paced song set an excellent tone for the rest of the evening. For the Keerthanam, Deepa presented “Gajananayutham” in raga Chakravakam. The choreography highlighted the birth of Lord Ganapathi. The Tishra gathi Adi talam jathi interposed in the choreography was very refreshing.

The students then presented adavus in an incremental manner. Deepa had choreographed this piece in such a way that it portrayed the learning curve not only for dance but also for Carnatic music.

The dance feature – “The Journey of Bharatanatyam” had a unique theme. It depicted the history of Bharatanatyam in a story-telling fashion.  From its mythological origins to its current style of performing, the dance-drama traced the 2000-year evolution of Bharatanatyam. For the birth of the dance, Deepa presented “Shankara Sri Giri Natha Prabho”. Her neat footwork was well accompanied by Ullas Rao’s creative Mridangam skills. For the era of temple dancing, the choreography effectively depicted the sculptures coming to life. To portray trying times when the art form suffered, Deepa played a patron-less Devadasi and her abhinaya aroused the emotion of empathy among the audience. The transition from being a taboo to acceptance in mainstream society served as the conclusion for the dance feature.

Throughout the dance-drama, narration often accompanied by Abhinaya helped to connect with not only art connoisseurs, but also lay audience. Apt Ragas were chosen to portray different shades of emotion in every scene. The dance was supported by live music the entire evening. The members of the music ensemble were Bhuvana Ganesh (Vocal), Shoba Narayanan (Nattuvangam), Ullas Rao (Mridangam) and Prayuth Naduthota (Flute).

Seniors dancers like Shwetha Nirmal, Revati Masilamani and others did an excellent job as well. The evening ended with an invited performance by the well-known Odissi dancer, Shamoyita Mukherjee.

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