Soundarya Natyalaya presented 3rd Annual Dance Recital (Bharata Natyam) on Saturday Sep 6th, at the Hindu Temple of Atlanta Auditorium.Gayatri Subramanian, the Art Director of Soundarya Natyalaya performed and conducted the recital. 

Gayatri has over 200 stage performances to her credit, having performed all over India, Malaysia and USA. She has undergone extensive and rigorous training in Bharata Natyam under her Guru Smt. Padmini Radhakrishnan of Mumbai. Gayatri has also been trained in Nattuvangam (verbal incantations of the rhythmical patterns of footwork). She has been teaching dance in Marietta since 2003. 

The Annual program commenced with the Sloka recitation by the young students Shreya, Samiksha, Neha, Divya, Dhanashree and Mehak. Young children chanting slokas with such perfection was indeed the highlight of the program.After this, Gayatri enthralled the audience with her invocatory dance, “Pranavakaram Siddhivinayakam”, in praise of Lord Ganesha, describing the Lord’s Aananda Thandavam. Her ability to showcase both Nritta and Abhinaya was truly amazing. Needlessly to say, the choreography by her reflected her authority and mastery.

The next in number was “Thodaya mangalam”, performed by Kavita and Beth. This was yet another invocatory dance where the dancers paid obeisance to the presiding deity and extolled his divinity. The dancers made the movements effortlessly and expressively conveyed the meaning of the song. 

The third item was “Jatiswaram” that was based on live music by Gayatri Subramanian, accompanied on the violin by her husband CV Subramanian and on the Mridangam by Jai Radhakrishnan. The dancers Ashka, Suganya and Shubha were very agile with commendable control over rhythm and footwork. This dance being a pure Nritta item showcased the technical aspect of the Bharata Natyam and was equally performed with ease.The young children Shreya, Samiksha, Neha, Divya showed nine different types of head movements. Dhanashree & Mehak showed six types of leg movements followed by a Geetham. They surely deserved a special appreciation considering their age, the youngest being only 4 yrs.

Another notable dance was “Om Shakti”, depicting the different forms of Goddess Shakti as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati and how they merge to be one. The scene of Mahishasuramardhini killing the demon was very impressive with Shubha as Durga and Beth & Aditi as the demon. Everyone vividly depicted their roles and the song sung live gave an electrifying effect to the dance. The last pose of the three Goddesses emerging as one left the audience in awe and wonderment.The next item “Govindan Kuzhal Osai” took us back to Gokul, the fun and frolic days of little Krishna where he plays pranks with Gopis mesmerizing them with his enchanting flute. The highlight of this dance was the episode of ‘Kaalinga Narthana’ performed by Gayatri with Suganya as the evil serpent kaalinga. The stunning body movements and facial expressions by these dancers and innovative choreography brought to life the actual emotion of “kaalinga narthana”. 

After the traditional numbers, the program took a break and featured solo violin concert by CV Subramanian ably accompanied by Jai Radhakrishnnan on the Mridangam. CV Subramanian enthralled the audience with his melodious music on violin that brought out the genius in him. The tempo of the song kept building up and it was a real feast to the ears.The concluding and grand finale of the program was a Dance Drama, “Bhakta Prahalad” based on the story of young Prahalad and his devotion on Lord Vishnu and how the Lord comes in the form of Narasimha to redeem him from the clutches of his evil father Hiranyakashipu. Gayatri as Hiranyakashipu, Suganya as Prahalad, Kavita as Narasimha and Ashka as Guru remarkably depicted the story that was well received by the audience. We hope to see more of such team work by Gayatri Subramanian and her students in the future. Gayatri offers Bharata Natyam lessons for all age groups in Marietta.