Shriya's Bharatanatyam set to Hindi compositions

NEW JERSEY: Shriya Kaneriya, a 12th grade student presented a scintillating Bharatanatyam debut performance at Middlesex County College Performing Arts Center in Woodbridge, NJ on July 25.

Commencing the program with Pushpanjali set to Nattai raagam, she did the traditional invocatory piece as a floral tribute to Lord Nataraja. Shriya did a Ganapati Stuti on the composition of Muthuswamy Dikshithar seeking the blessings of Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. Her intricate footwork came out in full bloom in the Alaripu item and her eyes, neck, limbs and movements synchronizing with her changing facial expressions.

In Jathiswaram, her versatility in elaborate footwork and graceful movement of the body that are set to swaras or musical notes. In the varnam piece, Shriya depicted emotions and expressions through artful interpretations besides performing challenging pure dance sequences.

In the Shiva Stuti raga malika item composed by Thanjavur Shankara Iyer, the dancer glorified the cosmic and majestic dance of Lord Shiva.

The unique Bharatanatyam debut was different from other similar performances in the US and even in India that permits only Tamil compositions, as the dance form had originated in Tamil Nadu. The debut, meticulously planned by guru Sudha Devulapalli, had surprisingly a large number of Hindi compositions to the sheer delight of the audience who could relate to the dance items and songs.

For instance, Shriya performed to Meera Bhajan in raagam Hindolam; she hypnotized the audience with her excellent eye movements and facial expressions. The dancer continued her performance with Ram Bhajan - Thumak Chalat Ramachandra of Tulasidas.

Shriya continued with Thillana of Swati Tirunal- a vibrant finale in which the dancer uses her body movements and postures in rhythm with a climatic tempo.

The Nattuvangam support was provided by guru Devulapalli and vocal support by Neela Ramanuja, a student of RK Srikandan and Nagavalli Nagaraj. She runs a music school called Madhura in Bangaluru. A versatile percussionist of Chennai, B.P. Haribabu accompanied the orchestra on mridangam; Vivek Venugopalakrishna was on the flute and N.S. Manjunath was on Kanjira.

Shriya is the daughter of Haresh Kaneriya, Corporate Account Director, Johnson and Johnson in New Jersey.

India Post News Service