Neha Govindaraj Arangetram

Once More!

Neha Govindaraj gave a riveting performance on Aug 13, 2011 at the Miramar Arts and Cultural Center. Yes, let us call it a performance rather than an Arangetram.

Couple of years ago, when I was watching a group performance of Sangeetha Sridhar’s students, it was very clear that Neha was separating from the group and moving faster and farther in this art form. Naturally I had great expectations for her Arangetram performance. Neha blew through my expectation and took the evening to a level of a professional dance performance. “Once More” is a cliché that receives the attention but let me ask you Neha – Many More!

Sangeetha Sridhar, the Guru, is well known in the community as a creative choreographer. We all come with great expectations. Her repertoire seems to be so extensive that she can do a hundred programs and not repeat a single item. Congratulations in bringing out contemporary themes as the tough economic times, manmade/natural disasters and wars around the world into the performance and at the same time reminding us share the wealth, friendship across religious and cultural borders as solutions to such problems. All with a song written by Kanchi Maha Periyaval in 1966 – great work. I am sure all of us would like to see more such inclusions in future performances as the contemporary themes always strike a chord with the audience and help to keep the art form alive.

Jayanthi auntie is tickled pink that Neha decided to join Northwestern University, the alma mater for our daughter (Deepa) and the current school for our son, Prem. We wish you the very best and bless you to achieve everything your heart desires. Let us revisit the evening.

As we entered the hall the decorations were a feast for the eyes. As if that is not enough the Govindaraj family has provided a real feast as well with sumptuous appetizers and a grand sit down dinner at the end of the program. The flow of the program was excellent. The MC’s, Prerana and Pinky, did a superb job keeping the audience engaged. I really liked their pronunciations of the difficult dance terms in a variety of Indian languages such as Sanskrit, Tamil and Kannada. The backdrop of Lord Nataraja inside a Temple that is depicted in Earth tones added to the beauty of the performance. Jayanthi joins me in congratulating Padmaja and Govindaraj – you should be extremely proud of your accomplishments as parents of such beautiful children, Pinky and Neha. God bless.

Bhavani did it again. Below are her comments about the performance. Enjoy.

Mrs. Bhavani Nirmal wrote:

Yesterday’s arangetram of Neha Govindraj at Miramar Civic Cultural Center is yet another rose in the bouquet of achievements of Smti. Sangeetha Sridhar, our renowned dancer/teacher in South Florida. As expected, the songs selected for the performance were carefully selected to bring out the best in the debutante. As Sangeetha herself mentioned, she gave Neha the opportunity to learn not merely the nuances of the art form, Bharatanrityam but understand the meaning of the songs and learn the cultural and religious significance of the songs. At a time when we elders are worried about the future of our religion and culture, I must say that last night I could sleep peacefully.

As usual, the highlight of the performance was the Varnam which kept the audience in an euphoric state. Neha, I must say became Andal herself and I was expecting Lord Ranganatha to appear on the stage from Srirangam to bless his ardent devotee. Neha’s facial expressions of the longing for her Lord and the pangs of suffering from the separation from her beloved were very elegantly portrayed. As a devotee who is partial to Sri Krishna, I enjoyed the abhinaya of Neha for both Chikavane Ivanu and Baro Krishnayya But Idadu padam Thooki was another highlight of the evening’s performance and Smti.Padma Subrahmanyam’s style of typical movement of the legs and the hips was beautifully executed by Neha. As the anniversary of 9/11 tragedy is coming soon, I was moved by the message of peace so artistically presented by Neha to H.H.. Shri Chandrasekhara Saraswathi’s Maithreem Bhajatha. When the compere’s were describing the item, I was wondering how Neha was going to portray the Twin Tower terror air strike. I liked the way Neha depicted it so swiftly which reinforced my faith that terrorism can never succeed in our soil or destabilize our democracy. Sangeetha’s choreography was as usual splendid but I was told that Neha also had her input in it. This is what makes a performance memorable when the learning objective is achieved through a synchronization of the mind of the teacher and the taught. The music by Mr Sudev Warier and the Mridangam by Shri Sudhaman and the flute bt Shri Krishna Prasad was divine and added to our enjoyment. Priyanka and Prerana were great as Masters of Ceremony and tried their best to pronounce the names of the Ragam and composers correctly and their introduction and description of the items helped all of us understand the expositions on the stage better.

Neha: It was a memorable arangetram and I only have a satisfied feeling about the whole event. That does not mean that you cannot continue to practice and achieve greater heights. Please enjoy the art form and enrich your experience by experimenting with innovations and additions from not merely Bharathiya culture but from World culture. The language of art is universal and for any art form to survive, its appeal must be universal. At the same time I do not expect you to convert it to a tap dance or Boogie Woogie! May Lord Nataraja bless you in all your future endeavors.

Padmaja and Govindraj you both outdid your selves in making the entire arangetram an enjoyable experience for all of us and it was not merely a feast for the eyes but our palate too. You are really my vision of ideal parents and I must specially commend both of you for providing a growth and nurturing environment to your two charming daughters to succeed in life. Hopefully, your humility, despite all your achievements in life should set an example for Neha and Priyanka to follow. Now it is up to them to take up the challenge and live up to the expectations of not merely you but all of us in the community.

Bhavani Nirmal