2016 Jul - Keerthika Ravikumar Bharathanrithyam Arangetram

Keerthika Ravikumar (Keerthi) successfully completed her Bharathanrithyam Arangetram on Jul 23, 2016 at the beautiful Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Let me start with a small episode that took place a few years ago.  Ravi and Usha brought Keerthi to our house for a function.  During dinner as usual I was serving water to everyone.  Keerthi said “Uncle, I should be serving water to you!”.  How thoughtful?  I said “There will be a time you will return the favor”.  Performing her Arangetram Keerthi has gone beyond returning that favor!  Thank you, Keerthi!

Overall, Keerthi’s strength is her bhavam or the display of emotions.  Sangeetha Sridhar, the teacher, turned out another one of her gems.  Keerthi has very strong posture, forms and strength because of her training in Martial Arts.  All the same she can act out a scene with grace.  Sangeetha played it to Keerthi’s strength.  It was like watching a colorful bundle of joy moving through the stage painting a beautiful picture for the audience.  Keerthi had a permanent and genuine smile on her face through the entire program.  Keerthi, with the able guidance of Sangeetha, managed to blend the subtle moves of Bharathanrithyam with high kicks of mixed martial art.  It was a joy for the entire audience.

Let us go to song-by-song:

Thodayamangalam – traditional invocatory song seeking the blessings of the greatest dancer and dance master of all, Lord Shiva.

Pushpanjali in Gambeera Nattai/Adi – Salutations and floral offering to mother earth, guru, god, musicians and the audience.

Sri Ganesha Charanam in Thilang/Adi – worship of Lord Ganesha the remover of obstacles.  The song had a few opportunities for Keerthi to show her skills in abhinaya (acting).  Nicely done

Iruvinai Irul Agatrum in Hamsadhwani/Adi – the song was written by a South Florida resident, Dr. Venkataraman Balu on the Lord Surya.  The song depicted the devotees praying to Sun God for good health, success and prosperity. 

Varnam in Simhendra Madhyamam/Adi – this is the main piece depicting various stories of Goddess Meenakshi.  Varnam in any traditional margham (sequence of dances) is the most difficult piece testing the endurance and all aspects of dance.  Keerthi beautifully enacted the stories of Goddess Meenakshi in the song.  Meenakshi was born to a king in Madurai in South India after a penance.  She comes to life from a sacred fire (homam) as a three-year old child and the king brings her up as a son teaching her the warfare etc.  She kills the evil king who was trying to conquer her kingdom and finally vanquishes the demon Mahishasur.  These are difficult pieces requiring Keerthi to show anger in her face.  Story telling is an important of successfully completing the Varnam.  Keerthi is passing the test in flying colors – literally and figuratively.

Aarupadai Veedamarnda in Ragamalika/Adi – Keerthi takes us on a tour of Tamil Nadu showing the six main temples of Lord Muruga.  Each temple has its own unique characteristics.  Very nicely depicted.

Theruvil Varana in Khamas/Rupakam – in this song the heroine is waiting for her Lord.  You can imagine the scope for abhinaya and bhavam in this song.  Keerthi does full justice to situation – nice work.

Thillana in Nalinakanthi/Adi – fast paced number that suited very well for Keerthi’s personality.  Thillana has several combinations of steps and tastefully placed pauses.  During these pauses the dancer will stop to give a pose.  It is very enjoyable to watch.  Nice choreography which is always an expectation in a dance arranged by Sangeetha.

The performance ended with a Thiruppugazh song in Shanmugapriya/Misra Chapu and Mangalam

Jayanthi aunty joins me in blessing Keerthi for a successful college experience at Mercer and get everything her heart desires.  Lots of love.

2016 Aug - Dikshitha Shankar - Bharathanatyam Arangetram

Congratulations to Dikshitha Shankar on the successful completion of her Bharathanatyam Arangetram on Aug 14, 2016 at the Sunrise Civic Center in Sunrise, FL.

First, enjoy the write-up of Manusri Viswanathan who is also a student of the same art.  The write-up shows Manusri’s depth of understanding of the art and will soon be performing her own Arangetram.  We are truly blessed in South Florida to have such talented teachers and eager students.

“Dikshitha Shankar performed and completed her bharatanatyam arangetram tonight. During this graduation, she showed a variety of nrittha (beat), abhinaya (expressions), and mudras (hand gestures). Dikshitha performed with precise footwork that coordinated well with the mridangam and nattuvangam. Through the varnam and padams, she conveyed various emotions in devotional pieces. She demonstrated Parvati's love for Shiva in her varnam combined with complicated nrittha portions. Dikshitha's dedication and the excellence of her instruction was evident in her crisp footwork and good technique. She was a great debut performer for Nrityalaya School of Dance USA under her guru Shilpa Krishnan - Manusri”

Congratulations to two key individuals are in order.  First to the teacher Shilpa Krishnan, as Manusri said this is the first Arangatram from Shilpa’s school, Nrityalaya.  Second, of course, to Dikshitha Shankar.  The dance style, choreography and the arrangement of song sequences were very different from what South Florida audience was accustomed.  For example, Alarippu had included in it a brief scene enactment and then came right back to the pure nritta aspect of the dance.  Thillana was beautifully punctuated with a lot of sculptured poses.  Varnam was clearly the highlight of the performance with a unique Ragamalika song with the names of Ragams cleverly disguised as part of the lyrics – made us all listen intently.  There were many firsts in this Arangetram and the credit goes to guru-sishya (teacher-student) the dynamic duo.

Dikshitha’s arangetram will be one of the memorable performances from South Florida students. For Dikshitha the dance came out from a place very deep inside her.  The dancer felt it, the musicians felt it, dance teacher felt it and the audience felt it.  We could all see it as well that Dikshitha thoroughly enjoyed the dance.  The other thing with the performance was that it kept getting better as the evening wore on.  One noteworthy feature of the entire performance was Dikshitha’s arai mandi posture or half sitting posture – this made the dance very pleasing to watch.  Having brought up a dancer in our household I know how difficult this is – kudos to both Shilpa and Dikshitha.  When it was time to end the performance Dikshitha could have started all over and give another performance – such was the energy.

Dikshitha, you mentioned that you had to overcome a lot of obstacles to reach this stage.  But whatever they are or whomever they may be – be thankful.  Without them you may not have given such a stunning performance.  You made your parents and your teacher very proud and in fact you made the entire community proud with your achievement.  Jayanthi aunty joins me in showering our blessings.  I am very happy that you have decided to take on dance as a minor in college.  Wish you the very best.

The singer Madhu Chandrasekar gave a superb performance especially in the varnam ably accompanied by Sri Venupuri Srinivas on the mridangam and Sri Guruprasad Kathavate on the flute.  Nattuvangam was of course by the teacher, Shilpa Krishnan

Song sequence, for the record –

Thodaya Mangalam followed by a Kauthuvam on Lord Ganesha

Alarippu – pure dance item showing that the dancer has mastered the fundamentals.

Jathiswaram in Hamsanadam/Rupakam – beautiful choreography

Sabdam in Ragamalika/Misra Chapu – dancer shows lot more abhinaya (acting out) in combination with pure dance

Varnam in Ragamalika/Adi – great piece with a lot of beautiful ragams including Todi, Mohanam, Shankarabharanam etc. 

Appan Avatharitha in Karaharapriya/Adi – story of Ayyappa

Karunai Pozhiyum in Hamsanandhi/Adi – song was written by one of South Florida’s beloved Mrs. Kamu Ayyar.  A song on the sage of Kanchi

Aduvum Solluval a Padam in Sourashtram/Adi – a social scene of trivial gossip

Thillana in Rageshri/Adi – excellent choreography

Finally Kurathi in Ragamalika/Adi – a gypsy dance excerpted from Kuttrala Kuravanji

2016 May - Kuchipudi Dance Performance by Deepika Potarazu

Kuchipudi dance performance by Deepika Potarazu

Vocal and Nattuvangam – DSV Sastri

Vocal – Lakshmi Narasimha

Violin – Melakkaveri K Thyagarajan

Mridangal – Guru Bharadwaj

Let me introduce two young writers Anika Krishnan and Aditi Krishnan who are in sixth grade and eighth grade respectively.  I was captivated by their deep understanding of the intricacies of the art form being dancers themselves.  I enjoyed their writing style and fearless expression of their opinions.  Kudos, Anika and Aditi!  Also, below is an introduction to Kuchipudi by their mother and dance teacher Shilpa Krishnan.

“The style that the dancer performed, Kuchipudi, is rather different from the style of dance I learn which is BharataNatyam. However, I did see a few things in common such as her posture, araimandi (half sitting), and abhinaya or expressions. What I especially liked about her performance was her exquisite abhinaya. These small and delicate gestures are very important. They convey the story that the composer is trying to communicate, and portray the emotions of the characters the dancer is imitating.

I thought Deepika’s costume and attire were very attractive and suited the performance really well. Also, many of her dances were on Krishna which allowed a lot of room for stories.

Overall I think that this program was a great success and gave me a chance to appreciate a different yet equally beautiful form of dance.”

By: Anika Krishnan 6^th Grade

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“I was really excited to watch a dance performance at the temple for the Spring season finally! I wish we had more dancers perform.  I loved that it was Kuchipudi since we typically see a lot more BharataNatyam programs.

I thought Deepika danced really well overall. I noticed immediately the similarities and differences in the dance styles. Kuchipudi has some unique movements and aspects of Nritta that were immediately obvious to me.  Some of the hand gestures she used are also components of BharataNatyam but not used as liberally as in Kuchipudi.  The footwork was also structured differently although the tala structure and sollu (rhythmic recitations) were the same.

I especially enjoyed the ashtapadi for a couple of reasons.  I liked the playful abhinaya she exposed in the item and also the ragamalika aspect of the song.”

By: Aditi Krishnan 8^th Grader

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About Kuchipudi:

Kuchipudi is the classical dance form from the South-East Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.  It derives its name from the village of Kuchelapuram, a small village about 65 kms from Vijaywada.  It is known for its graceful movements and its strong narrative/dramatic character.  Kuchipudi as we know it today acquired its present form in the 20th century.  A number of people were responsible for moving it from the villages to the performance stage.  One of the most notable was Guru Lakshminarayan Shastry.  After him, a number of other luminaries would mould it into its present shape.  Some notable names are Vempati Chinna Satyam, C.R. Acharyalu, and Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna. –

By: Mrs. Shilpa Krishnan – dance teacher from South Florida

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Let me start with the orchestra first.  Right from the invocation song mridangam captivated the audience.  The sound filled the auditorium and was apt for a dance performance.  The voice of Sri DSV Sasthri was deep and confident.  The other vocalist Lakshmi and violinist were subdued but very effective throughout the concert.  It was an effortless performance by the entire team through and through.

Sri Ganapathim in Sourashtram - good start to the program

Sanchara Adhara in Ragamalika – Performance picked up momentum in this song and the dancer never looked back.  Here the dancer, Deepika, had a lot of scope for abhinaya and bhava.  The dancer was completely immersed into the song, switching the show emotions from minute to minute.  Beautifully done.

Varnam – Omkara in Shanmugapriya – violin alapana to begin with was classy.  The song depicted how everything emanated from Omkara including shruthi, layam and ganam.  The song was composed by Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri M. Balamuralikrishna.  Again, beautifully delivered.

Etuvanti Vade Vadu in Kalyani and Mishra Chapu – another dance on Krishna’s childhood episodes.  The mischief of Krishna was acted out beautifully. 

Finally the Thillana in Hamsanandi – lots of energy and great footwork.  Deepika kept the audience in rapt attention through the entire concert.

Thanks to the Potarazu family who used to live in South Florida several years ago for coming back to give this wonderful performance.

2016 May 1 - Gayathri Venkataraghavan Vocal Concert

Vocal - Gayathri Venkataraghavan

Violin- Mysore Srikant 

Mridangam - Neyveli Skanda Subramanian
Tanpura - Sharada Ramakrishnan

MS Subbalakshmi centenary concert held on May 1, 2016

I am thrilled to introduce Anushka Radhakrishnan, an eighth grader to the readers.  She is one of the youngsters who regularly attend Carnatic music concerts.  My thanks to Anushka for her brave effort in writing up her views on today’s concert.  I appeal to all of you to encourage more participation from our youngsters.  Below is Anushka’s write-up about the concert:

“I greatly enjoyed the concert. The singer's voice was beautiful and she sang the ragams and sangathis very well. Her song choice was different and unique. I especially liked the Ragam - Thanam - Palavi that she sang. The Ragamalika in the Palavi was very good. The violin and mridhugam accompaniment nicely complimented her voice. However I felt their individual solos were a little too long. Overall I was very impressed by her performance – Anushka”

Let me first give a broad brush stroke before going to song-by-song.  Overall, I felt like I was in a roller coaster through the concert.  The team took a little bit to come together and then delivered some excellent krithis.  The highlight of the concert was the mesmerizing main piece in Sankarabharanam.  During and after the thani there was a bit of an energy drop and many among the audience left.  But they all missed a phenomenal rendition of MS Amma’s songs towards the end of the concert.  With a little better planning of the song sequence many more could have also enjoyed the popular MS segment.  This concert lasted almost 4-hours.  Last time I remember such a long concert was the one by Sudha Ragunathan in Miami Museum of Science.  

Nama pranavaya – nice meditative start to the concert 

Mathe malayadwaja in Kamas/Adi Daru varnam - Brisk rendition

Sri Maha Ganapathi ravathumam in Gowle/Mishra chapu – Good demonstration of her mastery over the ragam. High energy swaras. Team is taking a bit of time coming together though individually talented

Smarane onde salade in Malayamarutham/Adi – So, you think whistle is only for film songs?  Not so in our community.  There is a special segment of rasikas who would whistle for only Kannada songs in Carnatic music concert!  It put a smile on everyone’s face including the artists.  Alapana was pleasing with the singer nicely gliding through the notes. Singer took some risks which paid off.  Violin alap was excellent.  Long swara passages were pleasing. 

Ninuvina Nama yendu in Navarasa kanada/rupakam – First time in the concert the singer was showing some vocal acrobatics.  It was flawless.  Audience is getting deeper into the concert and there is genuine interaction with the artists. 

Rangapura vihara in Brindavana Saranga/Rupakam – Very beautiful song with MS Amma’s voice still ringing in many of our ears.  It is difficult to sing this song without a touch of MS’s style. Very nicely rendered. 

Main piece Sagaraga Sutha in Sankarabharanam /Adi (2) – This as I said was the highlight of the concert.  Long alapana that kept the audience engaged while she traversed through the ups and downs of the ragam.  Very good support from the violinist. Intricate gamakams were executed without flaw. Violin alap deserves special mention. Mastery over the ragam and instrument was clearly evident.  Both artists took us to musical heights. 

Lots of voice dynamics demonstrated so early in the song. Brigas and gamakams were tastefully inserted. She read the audience well by now.  Neraval on the word "mooladhara " was brilliant. Swaras anchored on the same spot in the song was energetic. She covered the range from low Ga to high Pa. Nicely done. 

Thani – frankly, too long.  But it was a treat for our young aspiring mridangam students who were sitting in rapt attention in the front row. 

RTP in Hemavathy and Khanda jathi jampa thalam – the thalam is 5-beats followed by 3-beats and 5-counts in each beat totaling 40-counts per cycle.  Quite a complicated “kanakku” or method of counting within a cycle.  It was very well  delivered.  But the audience was getting a bit restless.  Ragamalika section enjoyed by Anushka had several beautiful ragams – behag, Kapi, mohanam and sindu Bhairavi.

Unfortunately at this point several in the audience left but they missed a great MS Amma segment.  Ms. Gayathri Venkataraghavan sang the popular krithis made famous by MS like a couple of Meera Bhajans, Bhavayami Gopala Balam, Kurai onrum illai, Vahe Panduranga and more in rapid succession.  Each one was rendered so beautifully the audience kept wanting more and more.