JOIN USThe Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) recently presented Natyaaradhane, a bharatanatyam dance recital by Aditi S Arakali for the ‘Every Friday Cultural Evening Programme’ at Yavanika. Over the hour-and-a-half-long performance, Arakali successfully charmed those in the audience.
“I have trained in bharatanatyam for seven years and I loved watching her dance, especially in the varnam. The way she moved to the music for 20 whole minutes made her look possessed, but extremely passionate about the dance,” says Pryathna Sankaranarayanan, a member of the audience.
Trained for two decades under guru vidwan Sri Nagabhushan, who is admired for his Kalakshetra style of dance, Aditi’s movements maintain the purity of traditional dance. The performance started with the pushpanjali and included beautifully delivered devarnamas in raga hamsadhwani as well. The swagatam to Krishna kriti was another highlight of the evening.
“Her dance goes beyond the body and takes us to a spiritual level,” says Soumya, a faculty member of Aradhana School of Dance, Bangalore under which Aditi has received her dance education.
“Usually, the dance performances at Yavanika are by our students. We are proud to have Aditi as our student. I feel that her strongest point is her nritta,” she adds.
Aditi danced in a manner that definitely left a mark in the minds of those who saw it. The performance ended with the thillana, where one couldn’t help but admire with way her feet moved to the beats.
“I’m very thankful to the ICCR and Yavanika for giving me a stage to display what my guru has taught me. It was a very good experience for me, especially since I twisted my ankle on stage during the performance and still managed to complete the performance,” says Aditi, after the show.
Aditi believes that even after modernisation has found its way in our lives, there are still enough people who are looking for cultural evenings. “There is a lot of scope for it and the fact that I have been teaching regularly for four years has me convinced that there will always be students of bharatanatyam. While there have been Western dancers and folk dancers taking the fore of late, there are just as many people who are trying to train in Indian classical dances,” she adds.
She will be taking up her masters in dance this September, following which she intends to teach the Kalakshetra dance to those who wish to learn but cannot afford to pay the guru.