Soorya showcases classical dance talent in St. Louis

ST LOUIS, MO: Soorya Dance Company recently hosted its Annual Show as part of the Soorya Performing Series at the Mahatma Gandhi Center in St Louis showcasing Bharatanatyam and Kathak dance styles.
The evening started with a welcome speech by Guru Prasanna Kasthuri, the Director and Chief Choreographer of the Soorya Dance Company. The show began with dances by the Yuva Prathiba (young talent). These students have been learning dance for over six years with the senior most students who have performed their arangetrams in the past years. The showcase followed pieces from the traditional marga (repertoire) starting off with a Mishra Alaripu, Jatiswaram, Tillana and interspersed with popular pieces such as Asaindadum, Jayajanaki Ramana, Sundara Gopalam and Teerada Vilaiattu Pillai.
The dance numbers were in praise of deities such as Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna, and Lord Rama, highlighting mythological stories or sequences from epics. Not only were nritya and nritta pieces performed by these students but also abhinaya played a major role in several of the dance numbers. The music was set to several enchanting Carnatic classical ragas (melodies) and complex talas (rhythm cycles).Students who performed in this session were Annapurna, Misri, Nivedita, Priya, Shree, Annika, Samanvita, Cheri, Chinmayi, Annuja and Shalini.
Following this, the Bala Prathibha (kids) took to stage and stole the hearts of all. The dance numbers were Natesha Kouthuvam, Lambodara, Vakratunda, Ganapati Kouthuvam, Tisra Alaripu, with a finale that was a Gujarati folk piece ‘Maadi Tara’. The dance numbers in praise of Lord Ganesha, who also happens to be the favorite deity amongst kids, was well performed and the kids looked very cute in their bright yellow dance outfits, complemented with dazzling jewelry and the white and orange flowers braided into their hair.
The tiny tots started with beginner adavus accompanying the songs while the older students followed them by more complex adavus and defined nritta and nritya elements. The younger students performing in this session were Hansika, Mounica, Sadhana, Divya, Esha, Sansita, Roshni, Arshya, Neha, Ria, Manasvini, Shivani, Arathi, Devika, Amisha, Rithika, Radhika, Meera, Niharika, Roshni, Sansita, Ananya, Tanvi, Sanjana, Jahnavi, Sadhana.
Guru Prasanna had meshed the dance numbers to transition the skills through the beginner, intermediate and advanced stages to showcase the growing up and maturing of a dance student and what he or she can bring to an audience with years of training and dedication.
The second half of the program focused on Kathak, another popular classical dance style from India. Students performed a repertoire comprising Rang Manch, Amad, Gath Nikas, Ganapati Moorath, Jai Durge and Aaj Shyam Murali. The dancers were Samanvita, Sara, Trisha, Karishma, and Jahnavi. Some of these dancers have been learning both styles from Guru Prasanna.
Nagnedara Haaraya, a dance dedicated to Lord Nataraja, the deity of dance, was performed as a way of rendering thanks to the gurus and the audience by most of the students of the dance school. The finale was a Jugalbandi of both dance styles and the students did a fantastic job challenging each other with dance structures throughout the dance number. The deft footwork, hand movements and agility were captivating and brought applause to the dancers, Samanvita, Sara, Trisha, Karishma, Annika, Shree, Nivedita and Priya.
Guru Prasanna called volunteers and recognized them for their support of the performing arts. Mruchhakatika, a mega-production from Soorya Dance company that was on tour in 2012 was one such production that had solicited help from the community to a large extent and proved to be a very successful production for the Dance company.
Certificates of appreciation were handed to each of the performing students by the Soorya Performing Arts Board President, Baskar Subbarao, who also commended the students for all their hard work and encouraged them to continue their efforts towards becoming accomplished dancers. The dance show was partially supported by annual funds received from Missouri Arts Council (MAC) Sulkeha.com, Enopi and USA Mortgage.

Shubha Subbarao