Felicitation to Kuchipudi dance exponent Bhagavatula Yajna Narayana Sarma and dance performances by students of Hamsadhvani Kuchipudi Natyalaya formed part of the World Dance Day-2010 celebrated jointly by The Hindu and the city-based Element School of Visual Arts on Thursday.
The sprawling auditorium of Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao Government College for Music and Dance at Durgapuram was the venue for the colourful event that began with ‘Vinayaka Koutam' by Yamini and Manojna, which was followed by ‘Pushpanjali' by Surekha, Chaitanya and Geeta Purnima.
The pleasant evening weather felicitated the connoisseurs of classical dance to enjoy the performances of dance students of various ages. Expressing happiness over the felicitation, Mr. Yajna Narayana Sarma, the septuagenarian who won accolades from people of the rank of President of India and Ambassadors for his stunning performances, said that he was amused by the performances of the youngsters.
“I must thank the management of The Hindu for felicitating me on this occasion. I consider it a big honour,” he said, in a humble tone.
Performance for Annamacharya's kriti ‘Kattedura Vaikunthamu' by Mahati and Likhita and for Tyagaraya kriti ‘Paluke Bangaramaye' by Lasya and Sashank were well received by the audience with a loud applause.
Enthralling
Surekha, Chaitanya and Geetha Purnima performed ‘Bala Kanakamaya', whereas Vijayanand, Meghana and Harika stole the show with their breathtaking performance for the Tarangam ‘Alokaye Sri Balakrishnam'.
Lasya, Sashank and Manojna performed for ‘Ananda Tandavam', while Yamini and Mahathi performed for ‘Koluvaitiva Rangasayee'.
The dancers, Surekha, Chaitanya and Geeta Purnima depicted the temple of Lord Rama on the banks of river Godavari at Bhadrachalam with their performance for the song ‘Idigo Bhadradri'. The 90-minute-long dance performances came to an end with the Annamacharya kriti ‘Brahmamokkate..' for which Yamini, Likitha, Manojna, Sashank and Lasya did the dance.
Mr. Yajna Narayana Sarma blessed the young dancers during the prize distribution, in which principal of the college Munikumar was present. Regional General Manager of The Hindu K. Chandrasekharan thanked the dance exponent, young dancers and the management of the Element School of Visual Arts.
