Two-day dance festival begins

Two-day dance festival begins

A two-day ‘Madurai Naatiya Vizha 2023’ was held under the auspices of Sri Sathguru Sangeetha Samajam at Lakshmi Sundaram Hall on July 1 and 2.

Bharatanatyam artiste Poornasri Srivatsan, a disciple of Uma Anand (daughter of K N Dhandayuthapani Pillai) started off with the invocation on Lord Ganesa in Gambera nattai by Oothukkadu Venkatakavi which was followed by ‘Mamava Meenakshi; in Varali by Muthusamy Dikshithar on the presiding deity of Madurai. 

The unusual feature about the Lord’s idol at Meenakshi temple, where Lord Shiva danced with his raised right foot while balancing on the left foot, through Kaal maari aadiya, brought out Poornasri’s proficiency in the art.

Excellent abhinaya, Jatis and adavus were witnessed in the ‘Varnam’ Simhavahini in ranjani, which drew good response from the rasikas.

Ambujam krishna’s “kanna vaa” and Om namo Narayana were performed in the way the composer liked it to be performed.

Poornasri Srivatsan concluded her performance with popular compositions of Dhandayuthapani Pillai, which were applauded by the audience.  “Angahara”, the collective movements comprising several Karnas, which when Lord Shiva perform links together to form a garland of dance poses and movements. 

Sujatha Mohan (senior disciple of Padma Subrahmanyam) and her students performed “Bhakti Angahara,” a thematic bharatanatyam dance on the opening day.