Balaji Temple presents NrithyaSamarpanam – Indian Dance Festival

Chicago IL: The Cultural committee of Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple in Aurora, IL, presented an enthralling two day dance festival “Nrithya Samarpanam – Indian Dance festival” on Saturday, June 8th and Sunday, June 9th 2013. Performances by Midwest dance schools and visiting troupes from across the country and India mesmerized the audience. The prestigious dance festival attracted more than 150 participants from across the country and India.

Participating schools included:
Students of Nrithyanjali School of Dance, Artistic Director, Sushmita Arunkumar
Students of NrithyaSangeeth School of Dance, Artistic Director, Sowmya Kumaran
Students of Utkala Centre for Odissi, Artistic Director, Ipsitha Satpathy
Students of Kuchipudi Natya Vihar, Artistic Director, Sobha Tammana
Students of Laasyam School of Dance, Artistic Director, Hema Yaddanapudi
Students of Noopura Dance Academy, Artistic Director, Mahalakshmi Varadhan
Students of Kalarpana School of Dance, Artistic Director, Radhika Raghuvir
Students of NrithyaGeetanjali Dance Academy, Artistic Director, Anupama Rajesh
Students of Bharatanjali School of Dance. Artistic Director, Sandhya Radhakrishnan
Students of Asha Acharya Performing Arts, Artistic Director, Asha Acharya Adiga
Students of SriRanga School of Dance, Artistic Director, Srivani Vokkarane
Students of Devaki Janakiraman and
Students of NatyaBala Kuchipudi Dance Academy, Artistic Director, LavanyaLatha Jonnalagadda

The vibrant performances by all these participants enthralled the audience.

Individual Performances by Samnvitha Ranjan and Krishnanand Nair were well received. The well talented, young dancers emancipated the minds of the audience with their skillful rhythm and expressions

Highlighting the festival on Saturday was a professional featured presentation by Sri J. Suryanarayana Murthy, a seventh generation Performer Teacher belonging to one of the 15 original traditional Bhagavatula families of dancers and teachers of Kuchipudi village in Andhra, had his initiation into Kuchipudi dance at an early age. He underwent training at Kalakshetra in Bharatanatyam for three years and continued further study at Bharatha Kalanjali under the Dhananjayans. Sri Suryanarayana Murthy is also an excellent choreographer and has choreographed many dance ballets and innovative items. He has received several awards and is the recipient of the title of “Natya Purna” from the Dhananjayans and the “Yuva Kala Bharathi” award from the Bharat Kalachar, Madras. Suryanarayana Murthy is an “A” grade artiste of Doordarshan.

“Annamayya Nritya Neerajanam” – a beautiful Bharatanatyam Production by Smt. Sujatha Srinivasan, Artistic Director of Shri Kalaa Mandir, and Shriya Srinivasan was yet another highlight presented on Sunday.

Sujatha Srinivasan is an internationally renowned Bharathanatyam exponent, known for her classicism and creative choreography. She has learnt the art under eminent gurus and as a performer, she brings over 30 years of performing experience to the art. She has won many awards and titles in India and has participated in many major prestigious dance festivals in India and has presented her recitals in Sri Lanka, Paris, Geneva, Canada, apart from several cities in the USA, winning praise from the Press and connoisseurs alike. Recently Soorya Performing Arts, St.Louis, honored Sujatha with the title of “Nritya Ratnakara. Sujatha is the artistic director of SHRI KALAA MANDIR –Center for Indian Performing Arts, which is one of the leading professional dance institutions in Ohio.

“Dashaavataram” another featured Bharatanatyam Presentation by Students of Vanitha Veeravalli, artistic director of Bharatam Academy of Dance Arts was presented with elegance and received very well. Vanitha Veeravalli is the Founder and Artistic Director of Bharatam Academy of Dance Arts , and is known for her sincerity of purpose to the deep-rooted art of Bharatanatyam. Vanitha’s choreography has received much appreciation from critics and audiences for its rich and evocative aesthetics.
The event was ably compered by the cultural committee members Srilakshmi Dronamraju, Shree Gurusamy and Nalini Yedavalli.

The Cultural Committee chair Smt. Usha Pariti, in her vote of thanks, commended the dedicated efforts of the Balaji Temple Cultural committee members in bringing forth such high quality presentations to the Chicago art lovers.

Please visit http://www.balji.org/ for more information on upcoming cultural events.