Show of classical elegance

Commemorating decades of excellence in the field of performing arts, the Shristi Institute organised a national level festival of music and dance at Ravindra Kalakshetra recently.

Komala Varadan, internationally acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer from Delhi inaugurated the event. S Varadan, former secretary to President of India and B R Jayaramaraje Urs, Secretary, Kannada and Culture and Information Department were the chief guests.

The programme kicked off with a Bharatanatyam dance by Iswarya Nityananda in praise of Lord Shiva. Niveditha T G, a differently-abled artiste, also excelling in Bharatanatyam kept the audience rivetted with her performance which was full of emotions.

 Shravya, an 11-year-old from Andhra Pradesh, dressed  in a striking red and green ensemble, performed a Kuchipudi dance for Shivastakam. She used the whole stage effectively and her performance was truly elegant and effortless. Komala Varadan, the septuagenarian Bharatanatyam danseuse, held her own tirelessly in her half an hour duration performance, choosing a piece from Mahabharata which dealt with the Pandavas losing a game of dice to the Kouravas. Her expressive performance brought the audience to its feet in a show of spontaneous appreciation.
A V Satyanarayana performed a piece of creative classic dance called Sat Chit Ananda whirling around on the stage with energy and grace. Vidwan Rudrapatnam K Shankar gave Veena recital accompanied by M Vasudeva Rao and Ramesh Iyyangar on the mridanga and ghatam respectively.

The grand finale had members of the seven-member Naadam team in lichen-green salwar-kameez dancing to a song praising Lord Ganesha. The talented duo of Nandini Mehta and Murali Mohan also entertained the gathering with a Kathak dance performance. The Shristi souvenir was released and nine eminent personalities from different fields were felicitated.