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News Round UpJuly 19, 2002
Sudharani Raghupathy's dance school celebrates
 
Sathguru Gnanananda Hall, Narada Gana Sabha in Madras was overflowing on 7 July. The cultural event that drew the huge crowd (despite the day being an auspicious 'Muhurtham day' with wedding receptions happening all over the city) was the 32nd anniversary celebration of Shree Bharatalaya, an institution of fine arts run by renowned dancer and Guru Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy.

The school has been preparing for this event titled 'Natya Devo Bhavah' for over six months now and what was showcased on Sunday said it all. A huge committee headed by Vidwan Madurai N. Krishnan, Director of the institute, and comprising the parents of the students of this school pooled in their efforts to put up this grand show.

Handbook on Bharatanatyam
‘Laghu Bharatham - Volume III - Tamil Translation’, a handbook on Bharatanatyam published by Shree Bharatalaya was released on the occasion.
Justice P. R. Gokulakrishnan, President, Tamil Isai Sangam, presided and released the book. Well known dancer Anita Ratnam received the first copy. (See picture)
L. Sabaretnam, Chairman, Kartik Fine Arts and Director, IOC and N. Gopalaswamy Secretary, Dept. of Culture, Govt. of India participated. The book has been authored by Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy and translated into Tamil by Dr. R. Kausalya, Principal, Govt. Music College, Thiruvaiyaru.
Laghu Bharatham - Vol. III is the printed version of Sudharani's T.V. serial, 'Bharatanjali' telecast on Doordarshan in 1981.

Awards to dancers, gurus, scholars...

Well known dancers, Gurus, commentators and arts organisers were honoured on the occasion. Eminent personalities in the field of arts were honoured and presented awards. The awardees include A. Janardhanan, Principal of Kalakshetra, musician R. Visweswaran, dance gurus Krishnakumari Narendran and K. R. Radhakrishnan, scholars Dr. R. Kausalya and Dr. S. Ramaratnam, Principal Vivekananda College, Chennai; Nadaswaram vidwan S. Rajendran and Thavil vidwan S. Gajendran; arts journalists R. Srinivasan of The Indian Express and S. Janaki of Sruti magazine; dancers Radhika Shurajit and Sukanya Ravindhar; Soorya Krishnamoorthy who conducts the Soorya festival in Trivandrum and R. Natarajan of the Natyanjali fest, Chidambaram; and dancers trained at Shree Bharatalaya - Aruna Subbiah, Gayatri Ramaratnam, Prabha S. Dixit and Mridula Anand.

Two dance presentations 'Nartana Arpanam', choreoraphed by Priya Murle and featuring all the students of the school (See picture on top) and 'Natya Vyuham', choreographed by Anita Ratnam and featuring Aruna Subbiah, Gayatri Ramaratnam, Mridula Anand and Prabha Dixit were presented (See picture below). The interesting lyrics and jathis for both the presentations were by Sudharani's son K.S.R. Anirudha who is now making a name as a talented mridangist.

Preparing for the fest
For the staff and students of Shree Bharatalaya and the parents, 7th July was almost like a festival to celebrate along with their guru, Prof. Sudharani.
The day began with dance rehearsals at the sabha while the huge 'temple sets' for the evening were getting done backstage.
Hotel Gitanjali catered the lunch at the school for all the students. Make-up men Mani and his colleague began their work at noon to get the 32 young dancers ready for the show at 6 pm.

The chief guests and awardees were welcomed with the traditional 'Poorna Kumbam' and Nadaswaram at the front entrance of the sabha. They were presented sandalwood garlands and specially made badges (designed in the shape of the institution's logo) which they were requested to wear till the end of the function. And some of them said that this made them feel special all evening.

At the end of the function it was rather interesting to see Prof. Sudharani garlanding all her students. The three-hour programme was kept alive by the popular T. V. star Revathi Sankkaran with her compering.

What does it mean to run an institution for 32 years?
Says Sudharani, "There are hills and valleys but the cart moves on... There are troubles, we face so many obstacles, there are ups and downs, but the grace of that one power is that in spite of all this, we move on. That’s what I see about Bharatalaya."

Commenting on 'Laghu Bharatham' the book that was released, Sudharani says that as the name itself suggests, the book is meant for easy reading. She says, every child in Tamil Nadu can read the book with ease. All the complex facets of Bharatanatyam have been explained in simple language.

The book priced at Rs. 150/- is available with Karnatic Music Book Centre in Madras. Contact: Ph: 044-8111716. e-mail: kmbc@eth.net
Shree Bharatalaya is at No. 51(New No.119), Luz Church Road, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004. Ph: 499 4460. E-mail: sudharani.raghupathy@gems.vsnl.net.in

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