When Shriya Srinivasan is not rehearsing for Bharatanatyam recitals, she is busy pursuing her doctorate in medical engineering in the U.S.
"This is a joint program between Harvard Medical School and MIT in which I am doing biomedical research in the field of neural engineering," says this bright youngster in a conversation after her recent performance organised by Brahma Gana Sabha at Sivagami Petachi Auditorium.
"While I am a full-time Ph.D. student, I devote a significant amount of time to Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music, because it brings me great satisfaction — at physical, mental, and spiritual levels. Through classical art, we are able to explore and examine the nature of human life and relationships,” she enthuses.
A third dimension to her personality is her penchant for choreography. A disciple of her mother, well-known dancer Sujatha Srinivasan, Shriya proved her mettle as a Bharatanatyam artiste at the well-attended recital.
Her guru’s excellent nattuvangam, K.Hariprasad’s vocal support, Kannan’s mridangam accompaniment, and K.Vijayaraghavan’s violin strains enhanced the show.
Promising dancer
The perception that the young dancer is an artiste to watch out for gained strength in the central piece ‘Ye Mayaladira,’ in Huseni. Shriya ushered in with a flourish the final piece, ‘Naadu Vittu Naadu,’ a poem by Tara Bharathi set to ragamalika by T.M. Krishna. Shriya’s mudras and footwork were impeccable.
Beginning the performance with Mallari in Gambeera Nattai, she proceeded to the beautiful piece, ‘Sharade Karunanidhe’ in Hamirkalyani, the music for which was composed by R.K. Shriramkumar.
Dharmapuri Subbaraya Iyer’s javali ‘Sakhi Prana’ (Chenjurutti) was chosen for emphasis on abhinaya. Although she was spontaneous in her expressions invoking the intense emotions in this song, Shriya needs to work more on this aspect.
The confidence and time that Shriya brings to her choreography are assets, and such enthusiasm from young dancers augurs well for Indian art abroad.
Shriya explains how the idea took shape: “Along with my friend from college, I started a dance company called Anubhava, comprising first-generation Indian-American students. Along with my co-director, I choreograph productions that have now toured over 10 cities in the U.S. The aim is to collaborate across styles and geographic boundaries and propagate the rich Indian classical art forms among my generation in the U.S. This is the first of its kind in the U.S., where students do the choreography, direction, music and production (without the guidance of their gurus).”
