Senior Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer Sailaja recently hosted the second in the series of an annual seminar and performance event in Chennai.

Held under the banner of her institution, Saila Sudha, this two-day event is a packed one and calls for a lot of preparation and hard work.

Lec-dems and interactions with leading dancers in the morning and dance recitals starring the best and the brightest in the country in the evening sessions have been the order of the project Sailaja has envisioned.

Three top dancers - Madhavi Mudgal, Swapna Sundari and Malavika Sarukkai - were invited to lecture / perform. Besides them, there were art critics and senior gurus as special invitees and maestro Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna was there to grace the inaugural function.

Sailaja began this series last year with the focus on Kuchipudi dance. This year, the focus was on classical dances.

Sailaja says that she is hosting this annual event because she wants to share with students of dance and rasikas what she has learnt and imbibed the past three decades. Her vision is to host the best artistes at this annual event and invite youngsters to listen to the lectures and interact with senior artistes and also see them perform. All for free.

But sabhas do the same, don't they?

" They do but these shows happen during the December season in Madras and that is a very hectic time for all of us, " she says.

Sailaja says that she is pleased with this year's event. "Last year, the focus was only on Kuchipudi and I guess it appealed to a certain set of people, "she says. "This year we broadened the theme."

It worked. Madhavi Mudgal's recital had only standing room left before the dance recital began at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium, Mylapore.

All this does cost a lot of money and in times of recession, sponsors have not been easy to come by. "I hope poeple see the value of our seminars and support us," says Sailaja.

She is now busy putting together the seminar handbook - it will contain a gist of all the lec-dems that were presented at the September festival. Sailaja says this book will be useful for dance students and academies and will be mailed in October when it rolls off the press.

You can e-mail Sailaja at - saila_sudha2006@yahoo.com

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