Artistes work throughout the year for bringing out special dance productions and thematic and innovative concerts during the 'December season'. This section will feature brief curtain-raisers to these new productions!

Rajeswari Sainath presented a varnam titled “Nandeesa Sandesam” on 29 December for Kartik Fine Arts at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Often the description in various poetical forms in Hindu mythology is the way the Nayaki yearns for the Nayaka, but Rajeswari Sainath presented a varnam where the Nayaka ( Lord Siva) yearns for the Nayaki (Parvathi).

Parvathi, curious to know the measure of passion that Lord Siva has for her and not convinced with the answer leaves him in anger. Lord Siva sends Nandi as the mediator to bring his beloved. It depicts the viraham that Lord Siva suffers from the pranks of separation undergoing without Shakti.

This concept was conceived and rhythm patterns provided by guru Kaaraikkudi ManiLyrics by Kavi Kannan, music by flutist V V Balasai, choreography by Rajeswari Sainath. Ragam : Lathangi. Talam : Adi.

Actor-dancer Hema Malini attended the show (seen in photo with the dancer)

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Nandanar or Tirunaalaippovaar, spent a life steeped in devotion to Lord Shiva and his moving saga is immortalized by Gopalakrishna Bharthi in his operatic social commentary, “Nandanar Charithram”.

Born in 1810 at Narimanam near Nagapattinam, Bharati was genetically oriented towards music and literature. He was a contemporary of the Trinity. With a vaggyekara of Gopala Krishna Bharthi’s stature at the helm, it is no wonder Nandanar Charithram remains one of the most musically rich, lyrically deep and spiritually moving operas of our times.

Gopalakrishna Bharathi’s mastery over literary and musical forms is captured in the Nandanar Charithram with its variety of styles like darus, irusollalankaram, themmangu, sindhu, dhandakam, ananda kalippu and kummi
This is being presented in a very unique Geetha Nrityam format this season. This team comprises of Bala Devi Chandrashekar – Nrityam, the Geetham is led by S Sowmya and Kunnakudi Balamuralikrisha, Karaikudi Sivakumar- Nattuvangam, Neyveli Narayanan – Mrudangam, Seetharama Sarma – Violin, R Thyagarajan – Flute, T R Sambasivan – veena.

This opera is certainly a “must see” for connoisseurs of music and dance this season. The first show is on Jan.3 at Narada Gana Sabha - the first of 4 shows.

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Ma3ka is a new production of Anita Ratnam which is to have two shows for the ‘season’. On Dec.30, 7.30 p.m. at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha and on Dec.31, 6 p.m. at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for Kartik Fine Arts.

This is a dance theatre solo by Anita with Revathy Sankkaran. Anita says she dedicates this production “to all Earth mothers past, present and future. With immense gratitude and love, I welcome and channel three, who hold a precious place in my heart, my wise grandmother Saraswati; my generous mother Leela and my fierce daughter Aryambika.”

Anita says the genesis of the idea for Ma3ka came from within. She was seriously interrogating the matrix of India’s primary goddess triad - Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Initially it was to be a contemporary / traditional musical, choreographic exploration of the divine feminine, loosely tying into her previous works on Goddess mythology.

However following her own, recent life experiences she felt driven to morph MA3KA into a parallel non-linear storyboard of shifts in personal dynamics those experiences have wrought personally with, within and without her being.

Hence, Ma3ka will be a fluid, experimental, non-linear, abstract, modern, multi-media dance theatre solo-work, layered on a rich tapestry of warm, nostalgic/ familiar traditional text and lyric based contemporary Carnatic music compositions.

The work incorporates transcultural collaborations with dancers, choreographers, painters, writers, directors, poets, musicians and designers, giving it a global aesthetic.

Contact: Vidya - 98840 36140

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Day Three at the Natya Kala Conference at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha may have left a few people either confused, irritated or plain bored. After a bright start.

The session that dancer Sujata Mahapatra handled on guru Kelucharan Mahapatra was spot on. The audience asked for the DVD on ger guru that she played to be replayed though there were technical hiccups. And they liked it.

Lakshmi Vishwanathan focussed on what she does best - abhinaya. And chose to demonstrate four items

Then the day got diffused.

The session of Media and Dance just did not go far. It was chaired by art writer and critic Sadanand Menon, also a longtime friend of late Chandralekha, with panellists Anuradha Ananth of NDTV-Hindu, Anjana Rajan of The Hindu, V. Ramnarayan of Sruti magazine and Chitra Mahesh.

Menon started off stressing the importance of having a public space for a democratic discourse and that media was only one part of it and that most media houses veer towards entertainment than the arts. He also referred to the pathetic standard of writing / communication with critics/ writers using worn out cliches for every other concert they reviewed / featured.

The four guests got a few minutes to talk and none brought out anything valuable to the table. A few poor jokes triggered off a negative murmur among the audience.It was a session that didn’t work.

The next - on Past Forward, presented works by the groups of Anita Ratnam, Madhu Nataraj, Tiruchelvam and Samudra Dance Company . . .

Anita’s dancers didn’t impress, the Nataraj team, using multimedia snapshots had a vibrant session and the Tiruchelvam foursome performed to a rhythmic fusion of a traditional song.

Clearly, these examples demonstrate they are tailored for corporate shows where as Anita put it the hosts know what they don’t want (“not overtly classical, not downright filmy”). What kind of debate can Past Forward raise at a conference like this one ?

<< Mail comments to editor@kutcheribuzz.com. Please be civil though
<< Lots of photos of music and dance programmes are posted the web site - www.kutcheribuzz.com >>

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The finale of the annual three day Natya Darshan conference hosted by Kartik Fine Arts was held on Dec.28 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

The final set of lec-dems featured Methil Devika, a Mohiniattam dancer (Imagery through Thouryatrika) and Gayatri kannan who along with Mahati Kannan spoke on 'Experiencing Krishna bhakti".

The valedictiry was attended by Darshana Jhaveri, Padma Subrahmanyam, Sudharani Raghupathy and Sabaretnam.

Dancer Shobana was the convenor of this conference and the theme was on Krishna.

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Jayant Kastuar may have made a dull presentation on Day One but his performance later that evening was a great show, said convenor Ananda Shankar Jayant. Some recompense . . .

Day One hadn’t seen many male dancers. Day Two did and that was because 12 of them were part of Dhananjayan’s demo team and their well wishers had tagged along. The team - Shijith Nambiar, Balagurunathan, Renjith Babu, Ajeesh, Gopu Kumar, Venkatakrishnan, Pradeesh, Umesh, Suresh, Barua (sorry, we missed the names of two others). Perhaps a rare occasion to witness this large a group of men on stage. They received a huge round of applause and convenor Ananda, reacting to the excited audience got up on stage and said, “Ladies you will need to wipe out the smiles now!”

Praise for Ananda’s management come in from all sides. The book for the conference, featuring all the speakers and short notes on their papers is a smart, well designed one and is on sale. The stoles of raw silk and Kalamkari work are eye catching. And the stage management has kept the sessions rolling. (A suggestion to Prabhu, SKGS secretary - lets fix an auto projector and screen in the main hall)

Where are all the dance students, asked dancer and guru Shyamala from Kochi, who runs ‘Dharini’ and is a Dhananjayan sishya. It is a pertinent issue. So much of effort has gone into a conference and in a city teeming with dance schools, the hall should have full (attendance has been generally good though) - as it does during the namasankeertanam sessions here in the morn ( some times the CCTV has to be put on for these sessions).

Sri Krishna Gana Sabha is Wi-Fi enabled and this facility has enabled volunteers to work up the tech resources well. One team was in charge of blogging . Another contracted team posted videos. Nandini Ramani’s video went up on the Natya Kala Conference web site 45 mins after she concluded. Soon after, did the Dhananjayan’s session. You will need to dig deep at www.natyakalaconference.com web site. Patience but the reward is welcome.

This isn’t exactly a fashion parade on the side. But many dancers are goodlokers at the sabha, attired as they are in gorgeous saris. The NYC tabloid took notice of this. Prof. Chandrasekar’s kurta caught everybody’s eyes. Gayatri Balagurunathan and Priya Murle’s saris stood out on Day Two. All this added to the colour and warmth of the space

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Day Two at the Natya Kala Dance ConferenceIt certainly got better on Sunday at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, T. Nagar. The focus was on 'Legacies.' The conference got off to a bright start with dance guru, writer and critic Nandini Ramani presenting the legacy of Balasaraswati.

Ramani's presentation was read out; she was stiff but the demos she presented, with her daughter Sushama were apt and illustrative. Despite her hiccups, Ramani went through the demos gracefully. The hall filled up for what went on to be a pulsating session.

V. P. Dhananjayan was focussed on what he wanted to demonstrate. The Kalakshetra Legacy and Man as a Dancer.

The Deepanjali opened the session with 12 young 'man' dancers, alumni of Kalakshetra and Bharatakalanjali.

Dhananjayan said that though Rukmini admitted men and she integrated them into her productions there was no space for solo acts for them. She invited Kathakali masters to be the gurus on campus in the belief that this form would be best for 'men' when it came to training. It wasn't that Rukmini didn't have much for 'men'; even when it came to postures she was keen that they were very manly.

Dhanajayan said that at one point in his time at Kalakshetra he was not too happy with the role for men dancers on campus but many elders told him to stick to Kalakshetra and not leave it.

"That's when I decided I would come out and show the world that there was space for independent men dancers".

Shanta Dhananjayan conducted the demos with a full bench of musicians. The video of this session will truly be a useful record for the archives.

The next session ( the hall emptied once the Dhananjayan show was over - just another proof of the trend in our halls of fans and well wishers quitting a venue once their guru/star is done with a show) focussed on Kuchipudi guru Vempati Chinna Satyam.

Presenter Dr. Anuradha J. used dance clips to illustrate her session but packed too much. The hall filled up to listen to a delightful narrative from Ashish Khokar on his father - dancer, guru, arts expert and archivist Mohan Khokar.

The Mohan Khokar Archives contains thousands of newspaper clippings, books, magazines, photographs and assorted things on Indian dance.

In a way, this collection that Ashish is now updating from his base in Bangalore, is a record of 50 years of dance.

The short, tight video of clips, photos and chat sessions with gurus was a grand frill to the presentation.

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As a gentle reminder to tourists (since we have not heard much from the TN Tourism Department).

The annual Mammallapuram Dance Fest has opened last weekend at this heritage town, 50 kms south of the city. It is held every weekend against the backdrop of a wonderful stone sculpture popularly referred to as Arjuna's Penance.

All forms of classical and folk dances are staged.

Ticketed show.

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Watching life at any good sabha is an interesting activity. Sri Krishna Gana Sabha at 8.44 a.m.

Pondy Bazaar is still messy; civic workers have just dug up a trench. Yet rasikas negotiate it with a murmur.

At the top of the Maharaja-puram Santhanam Road two pushcarts hawk hot breakfast, standing in a pool of rainwater. Down the road, a hundred or more people empty out of the sabha. The morning Harinamasankeertanam session by the popular Vittaldas Jayakrishna has ended minutes ago.

Inside, the dining hall is packed. But it isnt difficult to get your order of pongal-vada and coffee.

A different community gathers at the sabha's doors.Dancers, gurus, dance students.

This is the opening morning of the Natya Kala Conference which is a platform for 6 days to present issues on dance and debate them.

This year, dancer Ananda Sankar Jayant is the convenor. 'Dance Matters' is the theme. Union minister Purandeswari, scheduled to inaugurate cries off. We are told the 'Telengana issue' is keeping her dancing on her toes.Sangeet Natak Akademi secretary Jayant Kastuar takes the mike.

Jayant admits he hasn't prepared his speech and that he has been busy dancing (Kathak). This is a shame since he is listed to speak at a key conference. At the podium he rambles on and on tracing the histories of dance forms and dwells at length on Odissi and Manipuri.

Sounds like a dreary academic lecture - he ends when some one sends a signal that his time is up. You expect something engaging from veteran writer, historian and academic Dr Sunil Kothari who is scheduled next - after a tea break to break the Kastuar boredom.

A slide show is in the offing - so you get the feel that this could be a good talk.Sunil-bhai (as everybody calls the scholar), the chartered accountant who became a dancer / dance academic and who lectures around the world and who has been at the sabha for over three decades seems impatient to talk. His vintage photos and video clips roll on.

But Sunil-bhai begins to get boring as he talks of 'my this' and of 'my that' and of 'our this' and to many in the hall it sounds as if the veteran is talking more about his work and of the past than on the topic - 'Where do we Go from Here?"

Another signal from the flanks goes out and Sunil-bhai winds up with a song-dance sequence clip from the recent 'Devdas' Hindi film. An illustration to Sunil's observation that classical dancers need to debate on how they will move on in a world of grand film songs, vibrant dance shows and catchy dance reality shows on TV. 'We stop here. We don't need to see Madhuri Dixit's dance here'. Another disappointing talk.

But the third session is good.

The theme - Changing Kinetics. Young dancers Hari Krishnan and Srividya Natarajan really wow the by-now-large audience with their demos of what they had learnt from their 'vadyar'. The session is tight, lively and well presented.Thereafter, dancer Priyadarshini Govind takes the stage. Her focus - though she is a traditionalist she has incorporated all the new forms of training that she has had over the years from a variety of sources.

A bright end to the first day after a boring start. The conference goes on till Dec.31. 9.15 to 12 noon.

Dec.27 / Sessions

Big gurus will make presentations on Sunday morning) -Theme - On Legacy -

The Balasaraswati legacy by Nandini RamaniThe male dancer - Kalakshetra legacy by V P Dhananjayan Kuchipudi - The Vempati Chinna Satyam legacy
by Dr Anuradha Documenting Dance - The Mohan Khokar legacy by Ashish Mohan Khokar

Videos on the website

Ananda Sankar is tapping all the technology tools to get the buzz of the conference far and wide. All the info is on - www.natyakalaconference.com.

Some sessions are being blogged.
Some key sessions are also being posted as audio-videos on the Conference site -
so you get a ringside view of them.
The first lot of videos go up on Dec.27 evening.

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On the eve of the Natya Kala Conference that begins on Dec.26 at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, T. Nagar, dancer Ananda writes this column.

My passion for dance began early in life - a chance meeting at the Subramanyam temple in Secunderabad, when I was 4 years old - a comment that 'This child's eyes are large - you must teach her dance', saw my mother Subhashini Shankar (herself a musician and violinist) enroll me with Smt Sharada Keshava Rao. My initial years also saw me training with Sri K N Pakkiriswamy Pillai (brother of Sri K N Dandayuthapani Pillai) who then taught in Hyderabad.

Invited on a scholarship to Kalakshetra, after winning the all India gold medal for dance in the junior section, I joined Kalakshetra, Chennai.

The year was 1973, the time around 10 in the morning, during the hot summer of Madras in May. A mother and her very young daughter wended their way nervously into the courtyard of a building in Tiruvanmiyur. They waited outside the office, after having sent in a message, eagerly waiting to be called in. But they were not summoned inside. Instead, the very person they wanted to see came out to greet them.

The lady was none other than Rukmini Devi Arundale, the Director of Kalakshetra. The young girl was me, and with me was my mother. After the traditional namaskaram, I remember asking her to bless me to be like her someday. 'No, no, I bless you to be greater than me,' said the beautiful lady, swathed in a maroon silk saree, with her freshly washed hair falling down on her shoulders.

She had made the decision for my parents and me. She scoffed at the worry of my parents about putting me into a hostel. She promised them that I would be safe and well looked after.

I was admitted into Kalakshetra in June 1973, to take up dancing full time. Such was the force of Rukmini Devi's personality that it affected all who came within her radiating aura.

I joined Kalakshetra, exchanging pinafores and school bags, maths and science classes for pavadai - davani and dance classes. It was a sea change! Life in a hostel for most students in the first few months can be traumatic - and for me the different life styles that I was encountering in a matter of a few days was enormous. Yet, Kalakshetra, and Athai, enveloped me in their bosom, with lots of love and affection; that the transition from convent school to traditional Kalakshetra was ultra smooth. I was enrolled as full time dance student, and chose to also complete my education

Trained by brilliant gurus, in the true guru-sishya parampara, at Kalakshetra. I learnt Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music, Veena, Choreography, Nattuvangam, Philosophy et al, in my six years at Kalakshetra. I also learnt, the grace of a firm executed movement, the need to perfect the bodily stances, and thereby forget the body and rise above it, to think, to create, to go beyond and to ascend to realms of a higher consciousness.

My training in Kalakshetra, went way beyond the curriculum! I was inquisitive and curious, and shored up all what I observed!

I saw Athai confer with myriad artists while she created and choreographed, I saw the work that went into each of those creations. I stashed away, the way she encouraged all of us young dancers, gave me the freedom to also pursue my academics, and allowed me to perform solo while still being a student at Kalakshetra.

I burnt into my memory the way her intellect and creativity met seamlessly in a vision of aesthetics. I also learnt from her the merits of a well balanced programme and try to copy her attention to every minor detail

I perform as a soloist in two very renowned classical dance styles, and am often told that I dance with an inner joy. I believe, that, dance cannot be mere geometry of the body or number crunching of rhythms. It has to touch an inner core, in me the dancer and you the viewer. Grammar is only a stepping-stone to poetry and spirit.

My language called dance, thus paints before you a canvas of life and beyond... of the despair of Arjuna on the battlefield, of the remorse of Vali on his deathbed; of the first flushes of love of Radha, or the angst of a woman ignored for another, of the pranks of Krishna and the exasperation of a tired mother; of our fallible self groping in the darkness for that light ... of eternity...

Today, as Convenor of the prestigious Natya Kala Conference, for two consecutive years, I look back with deep gratitude, at all that I have received from my parents, who went the extra mile, to train me in this wonderful art; pay obeisance to all my gurus, who have taught and trained me from the deepest well spring of their knowledge, and thank my family and friends for their overwhelming support and guidance.

I dedicate the 29th Natya Kala Conference 2009, with the theme Dance Matters, to someone who had that vision for a different future of dance and the prescience and insight, to take that forward, so that we all, could tread this beautiful path.

I dedicate this conference to my guru Smt Rukmini Devi Arundale

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Paris-based dancer Dominique Delorome will miss the 'season' though he was to perform at three venues.

He was involved in an accident, his left foot was seriously injured and had to be plastered. "Doctors say I cannot dance for at least 3 months. I am very sad to announce that I have to cancel my performances," the dancer said in an email to 'Manna' Srinivasan, freelance writer and arts organiser.

"I was so impatient to come and perform again in India . . I will definitely come and perform next year," Dominique writes.

A sishya of Padma Subrahmanyam besides other gurus, Dominique made a name for himself with his 'Nandanar' production.

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Classical dance recitals used to be the poor cousin of the December season. They were chosen to come up in the chill of Margazhi's second half.

Which meant that rasikas, especially from outside Madras did not get to see the best before flying out on the last day of the year.

This has changed.

Sabhas now feature the recitals of the best in the opening week of their fests. Look at the feast for a dance rasika in the next few days.

Kalakshetra came alive with the Ramayana series at the koothambalam centre earlier this week. If you are there, do not forget to take a look at the top class DVDs of the productions that are to be released and sold.

Urmila Satyanarayanan featured at 7.30 pm at Narada Gana Sabha's main hall. And she has two more by the end of the month.

Madurai Muralidharan is bringing back 'Silappadikaram' to the 'season' - at Sivagami Petachi hall, Alwarpet on Dec.22 evening. He produced and staged this naatya a month ago at part of his dance academy's pearl jubilee. Recorded music, special lights and a few senior dancers performing alongside his students. The stage here though may not be sufficient to accommodate the production.

The same evening, Vani Ganapathy is dancing at BVB's main hall. (7.30 pm) for Kartik. Vani has not been seen on stage for sometime - she is considered to be a good dancer. Was seen at the opening evening of the sabha's fest.

The same evening, Shobana performs at KGS.

At the same venue, on Dec.23, you can catch Priyadarshini Govind - at 7.30 p.m.

Clearly then, dance rasikas have lots on their diary early in the season.

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If you are keen to watch a dance recital of the Dhananjayans, here is a check list. They are performing first this season at Bharat Kalachar, T. Nagar this evening.

Dec. 20 KRISHNA GANA SABHA 7.30 p.m

Dec 22: At the CHENNAYIL THIRUVAIYAR fest at KAMARAJAR ARANGAM, Teynampet. At 10.30 a.m. Presented along with 'Nritya Tarangini'.

Dec 24: At THYAGABRAHMA GAANA SABHA, Vani Mahal. At 6.00 p.m (Check time). Along with their group.

Dec. 26 evening: For PADMA SARANGAPANI CULTURAL ACADEMY at Virugambakkam. Two other interesting events that involve them are -

On Dec. 27 at the NAATYAKALA Conference lec-dem at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, T Nagar. The lec-dem is on the Kalakshetra Legacy and is titled 'DANCE LIKE MAN'. 10am. For an hour. On January 18 evening is to be a special event. The dancers will perform in the company of pianist ANIL SRINIVASAN and vocalist SIKKIL GURUCHARAN. Venue - Mutha Venkata Subbarao Hall, Chetpet. This is a fund raiser for RASA ( for challenged children).

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Neo Bharatam dance production by Anita Ratnam

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Dance production by Roja Kannan, Priya Murle, N. Srikanth and Priya Dixit

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Dance production by Roja Kannan, Priya Murle and N. Srikanth

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Celebration of guru Adyar K. Lakshmanan on his 75th Birth day.

Dance presentation by Jayanthi Subramaniam, Roja Kannan and Braga Bessel.

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Bharatanatyam - Dhananjayan, Shanta Dhananjayan

Vocal : Sikkil Gurucharan

Piano : Anil Srinivasan

This special performance is celebrates Devi and tries to explore the self in everyone.

The compositions will include Meenakshi Pillaithamizh and Gopalakrishna Bharati.

The artistes say that the performance will be a spiritually uplifting experience for the audience too.

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Zakir Hussain says he has delved deep into Sri Vaishnavism and is a staunch believer in this philosophy. ( Zakir presented 'Narayanam' a year ago).

This solo thematic performance titled, 'Yethiraja Vaibhavam', is a thematic dance on Sri Ramanujacharya.

Zakir focuses on Ramanujacharya who brought the 'Divyaprabhandam' into temple rituals, threw open the doors of temples to the lower castes and dared to say that 'Samashrayanam' (the embossing of the marks of Vaishnavas, the 'sanku' and Ôchakram' on the upper arms - a sign of initiation as a Sri Vaishnava) could be done not only by Sri Vaishnavas but other communities like Chettiars and Mudaliars.

It is this titan that Zakir pays tribute to in his performance.

Zakir Hussain is a sishya of Chitra Visweswaran and a solo dancer who has performed in India and abroad.

He produces solo thematic recitals. He is one of the few male dancers in Chennai who has continued performing on stage.

He also conducts Bharatanatyam classes here and abroad, for advanced learners. Contact 98840 97473.

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Inspired by Dr. Pappu Venugopala RaoÕs book ÔFlowers at his feet - an insight to AnnamacharyaÕs compositionsÕ, this dance production blends a few incidents from the life of the saint composer Annamacharya.

Guided by the original renderings by eminent musicians like M. S. Subbulakshmi, Balamuralikrishna, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, Balakrishna Prasad , the add on music is by P. R. Venkatasubramanian. Hariprasad, Vasudha Ravi and Randhini have re-rendered the pieces.

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'Siva Swaroopa Thandava Lahiri - a celebration of Siva' is a journey that explores the philosophy, form and multiple dimensions of Shiva's thandava.

Interweaving several well known Sanskrit and Tamil verses from texts like Tirumandiram, Tiruvachakam, Sivanandalahari, Shivapanchakshara Stotram, Shiva thandava stotram and Charana Sringarahita Nataraja Stotram, this production presents the multiple facets of Siva, the Cosmic dancer. Music - Rajhesh Vaidhya.

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The presentation in four acts brings out the various paths trodden by the women of India through ages.

The poems of Mahakavi Bharathi, and verses from Manusmriti, Bhradharnanyaka Upanishad, Quotes of Thiru Vi.Ka, Vivaha Mantras have been used along with Zoya Zaidis poem- Women Burning Bright to narrate the concept. The music is composed by Bala Sai, Jati patterns by N.K. Kesavan dance concept and choreography by Revathi Ramachandran.

The dancers include Revathi Ramachandran, Kavitha Ramu,Sujatha Mohan, Saradha Sethuraman and Lavanya Sankar.

Conceived by social activist, journalist and home maker, late Radha Sridhar.

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Set in six episodes, this production is a tribute to the Devi in various forms.

With an invocation dedicated to the Cosmic Mother, the dance presentation by the students of Sree Devi Nrithyalaya celebrates goddesses Nidhra Devi, Mohini, Dhakshayani, Skanda Matha, Kathyayini as Mahishasura Mardhini, Kali amd Lalithambika as Kameshwari.

The script is by Gayathri Sundaram, the lyrics are penned by Rukmani Ramani and set to
music by Kuldeep M. Pai

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This year is the 80th Anniversary of the veteran vocalist M.L. Vasanthakumari. This dance production is a tribute to this music legend.

The songs popularised by MLV in kutchery platforms along with songs sung by her for the celluloid are interwoven with video presentations. MLV's disciples talk on the musical genius of MLV.

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This is a Dance tribute to Kaviarasar Kannadasan. This production highlights the lyrical quality of Kannadasan's poetry. His evergreen melodies of the celluloid have been presented in the Bharatanatyam format, incorporating elements of bharatham into the musical structuring of the songs.

The production will highlight the versatality of the poet and the challenge was in adapting it to classical dance form.

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As a homage to her mother Savithri Sabhanayagam and guru Pandanallur Subbaraya Pillai, dancer Meenakshi Chittaranjan has strung nine of their compositions from Guru Stuti to Mangalam .

They are rare compositions not seen often these days. The dancer has reinvented and choreographed them keeping modern sensibilities in mind.

So she says they are Classic yet Contemprory

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Navarasa - Expressions of Life, relocates the Navarasas without the immediacy of being surrounded by the narrative, myth and metaphor, and presents the Navarasas, through the mnemonics of music, body and pure dance, connecting and linking centuries of human mind, emotion and soul.

Performed by Ananda Shankar Jayant, Pradeesh Thriutiya, Radhika Thirumala, Kirthika Balakrishnan, Maithreyi Sharma, Chelana Galada, Jinnakaraj.

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The dance production is called 'Thamizh' and the idea for this production came up when Madhuvanthi and Arun sat down to try and understand the term culture.

Every culture is an assimilation of causes and effects, experiences and expectations, acceptances and denials, and much more. Every civilization has its own unique culture. But all these cultures are changing as we speak. Where does that leave us who are creatures of definite beginnings and ends?

Tamizh is an effort to develop such sensitivity. Through this presentation the duo explores the culture of the Tamizh speaking people by delving into their language, religion, arts, folklore and social life.

The production is representative of each of these facets and elaborates on specific themes. The design of the production attempts to replicate the dynamic nature of culture by using interaction between various media.

A collage of traditional dance, feature film music, video and educational material is brought together to entertain and inform, say the duo.

This production is to be presented as the inaugural performance of the 23rd Margazhi Mahotsav of Bharat Kalachar at the YGP auditorium, T. Nagar, Chennai on December 11, 2009 at 6 p.m.

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On Jan.5, 2010 - The Music Academy – 6.00 p.m.. Title: ‘Ragotsav – A Celebration of Love’ . Ragotsav highlights some of the vibrant expressions of love - sringara, the love of man and woman, vatsalya, the tenderness of a mother and sringara bhakti, the passionate adoration of the devotee.