So when the Madras chapter of International Dance Alliance featured a number of them through its three-day fest in early August, the auditorium of Narada Gana Sabha was house full.

More so when some of the best and the veterans were slated to perform.

The clockwork management of the show is a IDA feature and veteran Leela Sekhar with Radhika Shurajit and Revathi Ramachandran made sure the show kept to time and the programming was a nice mix.

Vyjayanthimala Bali charmed the rasikas with a simple abhinaya-based extract on Krishna and a gopi while the sishyas of Dr Padma Subrahmanyam provide a grand finale with just 2 items that wove patterns on stage and wowed the audience.

Another piece that earned the applause of the rasikas as an extract of guru Sudharani Raghupathy's 'Krishnam Vande Jagadguru'. When it was premiered over 2 decades ago it was invited to tour USA.

For the IDA fest, a few of the original dancers were featured nut the rest, senior artistes did well to relive the best of this production.

The Dhananjayans also earned a huge applause but the critics did not see much in the piece they chose for the evening.

Vasanthalakshmi and husband Narasimhachari presented a Kuchipudi extract, vigorous and true to the tradition and it went well with the rasikas.

There were the highs, the popular and the lows as any Fest of this nature would. But the spread and variety was appreciated by the rasikas.

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