Sister act

Dancing duo delve into a deep passion for bharatanatyam

really worked as a team or performed as a duet in Bharatanatyam over the years. This experience brought us closer as sisters since we had to really work together as a team. We talked about the meanings of the lyrics and what type of emotions we wanted to bring out. We also had so much to learn from each other.”

The varnam for the evening made its grand entry in raga Shanmukhapriya, on Lord Nataraja, the lord of dance. This provided the dancers with ample opportunity to explore the stories from mythology. Nandi playing the maddalam and the Lord’s dance was captured with a stately jathi (rhythmic sequence) recited by guru Manjula Viswanath, which saw the dancers showcasing their flexibility and grace. The evergreen story of the devotee longing for a glimpse of the Lord as Nandi blocked his vision was portrayed with intensity. Powerful abhinaya dominated the presentation of navarasa (nine emotions) in the next line. All the sancharis were beautifully and aptly supported by vocalist Balasubramanya Sharma, flautist Narasimha Murthy, mridangist Janakan Suthanthiraraj and special effects on rhythm pad by Jeiram Jagatheesan, highlighting every emotion expressed by the dancers. The piece de resistance finished with a plea from the nayikas (the dancers) for the grace of the lord to remove all distress.

The second half of the performance showcased solo pieces. In the javali, Aniita chose to delve into the king of all rasas, Shringaram. Portraying the character of a woman pacifying her beloved who has been lured by another woman, Aniita demonstrated with ease the varying shades of love, scorn, pining and relentless enquiry into the twists and turns of fate that grip two people in love. Shreya chose to present the beauty of goddess Devi in the kriti, Kanchadalayadakhsi that rose to a climax with the battle between the goddess and the demon Mahishasura, representing the perennial conflict between good and evil. Dashavataram, the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, gave the dancers an opportunity to rise to the challenge of depicting a multitude of stories and emotions in quick succession, interspersed with brisk nritta in the swara passages. The evening concluded with a thillana in Sumanesa Ranjini followed by a natyarpanam to Sri Ramanujacharya, the guiding light of not just the dancers but also their entire family. “We were so lucky to have the endless support of our family and friends which motivated us to work harder and let us know that our limit is only something we set ourselves,” said the sisters, with gratitude to one and all. which there are no winter crops. Whatever water flows during this time is wasted while during the sowing season, there is hardly any water available because natural glaciers, situated some 5,000 feet above

Young Sagarika Venkat and Sindhu Ganapathy, the comperes, introduced the items and the stories to be presented in detail, setting the mood for the dance to follow. “An arangetram is an opportunity to show not only other people our passion, but a time to challenge ourselves and see how much we could grow,” said Aniita and Shreya. “It was an important event that doesn’t represent the peak of our dancing but rather the beginning of many more years.” With this attitude, it is certain that Aniita and Shreya are on the path to learn and gain from the fountainhead of knowledge and spirituality that is the core of the art form of Bharatanatyam.

Because SERVICE YOU CAN TRUST.