Pictures of the dance event can be viewed here : 
       Post review of the dance event in the Thendral Tamil Monthly magazine, September 2014 :  
       Pre-view of the dance event in the Thendral Tamil Monthly magazine : 
                     
     

                                                       Review of  "Anandha Nrithyam - Dance of Joy!" 

    “Anandha Nrithyam – Dance of Joy!“ – a Bharathanatyam dance event was  held on June 15th,  at  Shirdi Sai Parivaar, Milpitas ,CA presented by Bhuvana Venkatesh, the artistic director of Nrithyanivedhan School of dance,San Jose, CA. The event was dedicated to Bhuvana's Guru , Guru Smt. Prabha Nagarajan for her invaluable teachings of the art. The director began with conveying the message that Anandham (or happiness) is the true state of being in each and everyone of us and to dance about lord's glory is the greatest anandham one can attain in any birth. 'Anandha nrithyam' was an event that was cherished to be in memory for the  anandham that was radiated through the variety of dances performed by the director and the students of the the school. The event included portrayal of various divine songs of ecstasy by saintly composers who found their peace, joy and liberation through their beautiful gems of compositions! 

    The event began with a pushpanjali by a group of 3 little energetic dancers followed by Swami Brahmananda bhajan, 'Jayaganesha' in raagam Hamsadhwani.  Bhuvana  did a mallari,  beautifully choreographed to include the Karana movements as if the peacocks , the elephants, the dancers and the musicians were dancing along with the deity's procession. She later did a Jathiswaram in Vachaspathi Raagam in the pandanallur style integrated with a few Karanas and the padham ' Naan oru vilayaatu Bommaiya' - a plea to the goddess of the universe , denoting only Bhakthi and  surrendering to the goddess is the true anandham or happiness one can attain in any birth.

 Many  dance items were also performed earlier by a group of  beautiful young dancers on Lord Ganesha, Lord Guruvayoorappan, Lord Muruga and Lord Siva  including the traditional Alarippu and Krishna Shabdham. The anecdote of the butter-thief little Krishna stealing butter in a Gopika's house was very aptly depicted in the Shabdham.  A group of 3 junior dancers caught the audience's attention through their charming portrayal of welcoming Krishna in Swagatham Krishna. 

    The principal dancer Harshitha Venkatesh began with a Kali Kauthvam, then Dhyaana slokam from Lalitha Sahasranamam followed by Nrittanjali  which was choreographed to include Karanas . It was very exquisitely performed by Harshitha for an intricate and complex choreography. She later did Sri chakra Raja on supreme goddess - Sri lalitha denoting the supreme bhakthi bhaavam, followed by a scintillating Kaavadi Chindu and Mayil Vahana on Lord Muruga  The event's highlight was Saint Bhanudas's Marathi Abhang ' Brindavani Venu' which took the audience to ecstasy as the supreme loving devotion to Lord Vittala was eloquently portrayed in Harshitha's abhinaya. The Abhang included the portrayal of the peacock dancing and spreading its tail in glory and animals forgetting their animosity in presence of Lord Krishna. Later, Balamurali krishna's Brindavani thillana  was a delight to watch - it was a testimony of Harshitha's  handling of the intricate rhythmic patterns for its great speed in the pandanallur bani.

     The event concluded with " Sarva Mangalam Bhavathu" as the finale, to spread the message of dancing the joy from within, spreads auspiciousness everywhere for universal peace, tranquility and harmony - "Let there be auspiciousness  everywhere through the divine dancing of  that divinity within us. Auspiciousness to the earth, water, fire, wind, ether, sun, moon, universe , the living being, the body, the mind and the soul! The divinity shown in the various dances were Lord Ganesha, Lord Muruga, Lord Guruvayoorappan, Lord Siva,Goddess Saraswathy, Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess Lalitha Devi, Various forms of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari,  Vittala, Panduranga and Lord Krishna.! Gods as representation of that Omnipresence in the self." 

  At the end of the event, Guru Jayashree Dasarathy, a renowned Guru of Carnatic music from the bayarea honoured the event with her presence. She blessed all the children and gave away trophies to the dancers from the school. 

  

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