I was elated to attend the Bharathanatyam arangetram of Karishma Reddy, student of Smt Thenu Raajan, Apsaras Academy of Arts, where she marked the occasion with delightful Abhinaya and brilliant footwork on July 14th,2012 at Medway High school. I would like to applaud a very important aspect of our culture where we still imbibe and inculcate, the Guru-Sishya parampara, for this generation of kids brought up here in the US. Although we are far from our land, we do all that it takes to be closer to our culture. This is proved time and again by our music and dance school in the Boston area.

Karishma started the program with a Pushpanjali invoking the blessings of God, the Gurus’, Musicians and audience, this item is a composition by Madurai R Muralidaran. Following the Pushpanjali was a Jathiswaram in ragam Thodi set to Misra Chapu. Her footwork in this Jathiswaram was commendable. The next item in the program was "Govardhana Giri", a keerthanam where she neatly portrayed the charming leela's of Lord Krishna through her Abhinaya as it was depicted by the poet, Sri Narayana Theerthar.

A musical interlude, "Brahma Mokate" was then performed by the orchestra. The center piece of the repertoire was a Varnam, "Chalamela" in Ragam NattaKurunji where Karishma illustrated the many glorious facets of Lord Sri Ranganatha through the eyes of devotee, yearning the lord's grace and seeking the attention a child seeks from a parent. She executed this piece with grace and emotion, moving the audience to feel rasa and bhava demanded by this Varnam. The choreography of the sancharis in this piece was very creatively done by her Guru.

Following the intermission were padams, "Bho Shambo" on Lord Nataraja , “Panchasat Peeta Rupini” on Sri Raja Rajeshwari and “Mudhugare Yasodha” on Lord Krishna. With each of these items, Karishma was playing the roles of a Bhaktha(Devotee) , a loveable Krishna and Yashodha, very aptly portrayed the elements of Abhinaya. She was truly reflecting her Guru’s strongest skills of Abhinaya here.

The grand finale of the arangetram was a Thillana in ragam Kapi and the saahithyam was in praise of Lord Vishnu. Karishma's debut performance  came to a beautiful end with a vibrant Bhoomi Mangalam, seeking peace and tranquility in this Universe and seeking the blessings of Sri Sai Bhagawan.

With Ragam(Music) and Thalam(Rhythym) being as important as the Dance itself, The program was wonderfully orchestrated by Guru. Smt.Thenu Raajan on the Nattuvanagam, Sri Raajan Narayanan and Sri Mathur Srinidhi  charmed the audience with their vocal duet, while Sri Narasimhamurthy Ramamishra's on the Flute and Sri Surya Sundararajan on the violin provided spontaneous support with their melody. Karishma's footwork were very well complimented by Sri Srihari Rangaswamy on the Mridangam.

The program was presided by Thenu’s Guru Sri Madurai R Muralidaran. In his speech he mentioned the importance of Music - Raga, Rythym - Thalam and Painting - Varnana. These elements instigates the creative aspects of our brain which aids in choreography for any dancer.

The elaborate and intense training provided by her Guru Smt. Thenu Raajan was very clearly seen in Karishma's performance. This stands as an accolade to her dedication and  hard work. She is blessed to have learned this art form through the able guidance of her Gurus, Sridevi Thirumalai and Thenu Raajan, which was exhibited by her with love and passion for Bharathanatyam. Kudos to Karishma's parents, Lakshmi and Sreeni Reddy for playing an equal and important role in Karishma's successful debut. In addition their attention to detail on every aspect of the arrangement, made the evening even more special.

Congratulation to Karishma on a splendid performance and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

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