Sweet sound of rhythmic steps

A classical dance recital was held in the City recently

Abharatanatyam recital by Shruthi Lakshmi, organised as part of the Sri Pathi Radhakrishna Vittalbai Charitable Trust Endowment Programme, was presented at The Indian Institute of World Culture, recently.

Shruthi is the disciple of Supriya Komandur, the director of Amruthavarshini Academy of Arts.

Shruthi performed the traditional margam, which is a sequence of items in this art form. It includes pushpanjali, slokam, krithi or paadham, varnam, paadham or javali and thillana followed by mangalam.

Wearing a combination of cream, blue and white sari, she started the programme by performing Nrithyanjali in navarasa raag and adi talam. She sought the  blessings of the audience and the gods. This was followed by Kasthuri Thilakam, which as all about describing Lord Krishna. Ghajananayutham was presented next. With Varanam Samaganapriya,  which was the longest item in the margam, Shruthi continuously danced for 40 minutes. 

This dance depicted Lord Shiva striking a perfect balance with rajas, satya and roudra, shanta. 

She chose javali for the next part, which was an abhinaya in Sringara rasa. The last part of the programme was thillana, where she performed to varam raag. She ended the performance with mangalam to the strains of Sharanam Sharanam.

Shruthi’s mother Jayashree Narayan said she was pleased with her daughter’s performance. “She did well this time and has improved her mudras. I would like her to do more programmes and get the experience,” she said. 

“I enjoy my dance classes and also practise at home,” said Shruthi, who is doing her II PUC at Maharani Ammani College. Shruthi was introduced to Bharatanatyam at the tender age of six by her mother Jayashree, who is also a dancer.