Dancing Dynasty
Shilpa Sridhar, who is a darling of our South
Florida community, gave a fantastic dance recital on Aug 11, 2013 at the River
of Grass Susan B Katz Theater.
Let us set aside the dance part a bit and listen
to the thank you speech again from Shilpa. She
did not just stop at thanking her parents for everything they have given. Shilpa said she hopes to take care of them
someday like she is being taken care. That was a very inspiring statement
for someone who just finished her high school.
It was nice to see mother-daughter team function also as a Guru-Sishya
team. Bringing up a child is tough
enough, in addition bringing out the artistic talent is even more difficult –
great job by Sangeetha Sridhar. Jayanthi
joins me in blessing Shilpa for the dancing dynasty to continue. Congrats to the Sridhar family.
We have known Shilpa from her birth so obviously I
will be a little biased. I tried to set
that aside and look at her dance from an outsider viewpoint to the best of by
ability. Congratulations to Shilpa as
she has truly developed her “dancer personality”. It is one thing to repeat what your guru has taught
but it is a whole another thing to bring out your own personality into it. That’s when a dancer truly begins to blossom
in her art form and chalks a course for herself. It is wonderful that she has captured that essence
and I think those who witnessed will agree.
Speaking for South Florida community I would request Shilpa to give a
solo performance at least once a year. In
addition, in during her undergraduate years at the University of Florida I am
sure she will showcase her talent. We
are very proud that Shilpa is from our community. We wish you the best in your life.
Pushpanjali and Jathiswaram – A striking beginning
to the program. Jathiswaram was in
Ragamalika which made it look like we were witnessing several Jathiswarams back
to back. The ease with which Shilpa
moved about on stage and her graceful fluid movements gave life to the
music. Her sense of rhythm was
evident. This set the tone for the
program to come.
Varnam in Shiva Shakthi and Shivaranjani in Adi –
here three generations were at work in this number. Shilpa’s grandmother Smt. Vasumathy Swamy is
truly a gifted Tamil poet. She has
composed many songs in the past and they have been set to music and choreographed
into dance numbers. This one tops it all
– great job, Maami. This Varnam is on
Ardhanarishvara a celestial union of Shiva and Parvathi as one – symbolizes that
male-female principles are inseparable. This
Varnam was written specifically for this program. It was a 40-45 min piece demonstrating Shilpa’s
mastery over various faculties of Bharatha Nrithyam and endurance. There were a lot of scope for showing the
bhavams especially the power of Shiva and the grace of Parvathi. It culminated in bringing the two together
with Shilpa depicting Shiva on her right half and Parvathi on her left. The raga choice was also fantastic here in
bringing out the true feelings of the song which was powerfully rendered by the
orchestra making it a divine experience.
Illai, Illai in Ragamalika/Adi – Some of you may
have heard the Hindi Bhajan composed by Sur Das called “Mai Nahi Makhan Khayo”
popularized by Anup Jalota in recent times.
Inspired by that, this song takes two popular krithis of Oothukkadu “Thaya
Yashoda” and “Illai Illai” and blends it into one number. Krishna lies through the song to get favors
from Yashoda and finally delivers the punch line that every complaint she heard
was in fact true by adding “Poyye Illai” at the end. Very similar to Sur Das’s clever punch line
of “Mai Ne hi Makhan Khayo” meaning “I was the one who ate the butter”. Now, let your imagination go on how Shilpa
would have danced for this song. Any
song on Krishna is always a favorite of audiences of all ages. Lot of happiness, humor and grace were
presented in this song.
Maa Mayura in Bilahari/Adi – a catchy tune in a
ragam that is favorite for many and well done by the orchestra. Song depicts Lord Muruga riding on his
beautiful peacock to come and bless the dancer.
Nice depiction of festivities and devotion to Muruga and graceful steps
with Kaavadi.
Sundara Kaandam in Ragamalika/Adi – Shilpa depicted
the stories of Hanuman crossing the sea to find Sita in the Ashoka Vanam in
Lanka. Shilpa actually brought out those
characters from within. We all felt like
flying with Hanuman and feeling the sorrow of Sita staying alone in Ravana’s
land. That shows the maturity of the
dancer as she becomes the character she is depicting. Nice.
Drupad in Purvi/Rupakam – well rendered with speed
and agility.
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