What do you get when you add grace, style, beauty, excellence, explanations, and enjoy ability together? You get Jeyanthi Ghatraju’s Bharatnatiam performance at the Spanda School of Dance on June 7th, 2013!

Her heartwarming performance of “AACHARAN” or “INTERACTIONS” which she later displayed began with Namaste Astu Bhagavan. Before she began, she told the audience what angle she was coming from when she performed this item. As Indians, she said, we normally start our days with a prayer, whether it be simple thoughts in our heads, a slokam, a bhajan, meditation, or an elaborate pooja. But she ponders what we are looking for. First, she says, we get rid of our old possessions and take a bath. But why do we do that? In her mind, it has to do with freshness, cleanliness, and purity. Jeyanthi Aunty explains that it symbolizes getting rid of our bad, old thoughts that are of no value to us and then bringing in something new and fresh. And, in that process, we bring in something pure through chanting or physically with water. Her strong words of sense opened a door of understanding for me, just as I’m positive it did for others. When she started Namaste Astu Bhagavan, every element of her dance was perfect from the music to the execution of the steps. Her aramandi never lifted and her posture was perfect. Her hands stayed straight throughout the dance piece and you could understand her mudhras. As this piece was about the formless Shiva, Jeyanthi showed Shiva catching Ganga in his hair and then setting her free to flow on the Earth. The depiction was accurate and clear and it showed her passion for Bharatnatiam. The performance moved me as I’m sure it did many others.

Her second dance was the first of four interactions she performed. Now, let me ask you a question. Do you like playing with babies? Well, Mrs. Ghatraju’s second piece was about playing with baby Rama. It was also fitting that it was set to a bhajan by Tulsidas. Before she started this item, she told the audience that the four queens of King Dasharath loved baby Rama no matter what. When the music started and she began dancing, the whole room lit up. One could really see the motherly love displayed in the performance. The story unfolded as a day with a baby. As she effortlessly went from murumandi to aramandi, one move that stood out to me the most was when she acted as if she were the baby and the mother was coddling her and they were having fun. I really liked that interaction because it depicted what we all do around babies and the audience was mesmerized by her enactment of a mother and a child’s interactions.

Jeyanthi’s next interaction piece centered on a mother and her ten year son and was set to a folksong.  The young boy wanted to play outside in the hot sun, but his mother didn’t think it to be a good idea.  The dance piece was about the mother-son conversation where each tried to convince the other of their point of view. Jeyanthi took turns playing both roles very convincingly.  One moment, she was the mother who is trying her best to convince her son that playing in the hot sun was not a good idea. Then effortlessly switching to the role of the little boy who equally persistently makes his case for why he should be playing outside.  The conclusion was left to the audience as to what was the right decision which left the audience feeling fully engaged in the mother-son conversation.
As the saying goes, “Third time’s a charm”. Well, the third interaction piece by Jeyanthi was simply amazing! It was set to a conversation between a newly married couple, where the young maiden pleadingly asked her husband what she had done wrong.  The husband, who enjoyed this attention, was encouraging more of this inquiry from his young bride.  The audience was mesmerized by Jeyanthi’s expression of both the young wife and her husband beautifully and gracefully.

Her final interaction piece was one between a mother and her newly married daughter where the mother is preparing her young daughter to live in her in-laws’ home. The daughter who does not to want to leave her parental home persistently attempts to make her case to her mother.  The concluding piece of the evening was Bhoomi Mangalam in which she asked for benediction from Mother Earth as she stomped on her.
Jeyanthi posed for photographs with the young students of the Spandha School of Dance. The evening concluded with the audience still wanting more of her performance.

Please find the Glimpses of the performance below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvm2xx_axww

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