Meenakshi Srinivasan is a very talented, accomplished and a trained Bharatanatyam (One of the classical dance formats of India) dancer who has more than 15 years of stage performance both at the national and at the international levels and countless hours of practice for perfection. She is the disciple of Guru Padma Bhushan Alarmel Valli - an exponent of the Pandallur style of dancing and no wonder Meenakshi Srinivasan also portrays this style of dancing in her performances. She is an architect by profession and both art and architecture are as inseparable to her as night and day.
An ardent believer of technique, she feels in order to maximize one’s potential, one needs to have a strong foundation. One can only develop on a strong base, she observes. “Dancers perform for hours on stage. How do you think they do that without feeling fatigue? Dance gives you energy.” The support comes from the accompanists on stage, too. She does not forget to thank her orchestra, which gives its best each time. “I like to believe that my dance is just an extension of their music.” She was born to dance. “All dance forms excites me. But I feel my body is structured for Bharatanatyam. I have been trained in Mohiniyattam and Kathak also but my body moves best to the beats of Bharatanatyam," admits Meenakshi.
Ask any dancer and he or she will invariably tell you that dance is an extension of the music and what the dancer does on the stage is to convey the emotions of the lyrics to the audience thru the body movements, the mudras and the facial expressions. After all dance is nothing but the dynamic manifestation of the contents of the lyrics. This Meenakshi does with tremendous alacrity, elan, style and class.
Bharatanatyam is by itself a fairly fast paced classical dance format. A typical music ensemble on the stage would consist of: Vocalist, "Nattuvangam" to keep the keep the beat of the dance and one who does this is called the "Nattuvanar" - arguably the most important person in the musical ensemble. He or she is the one who produces the hard and the soft beat as required so as to enhance the intricate footwork and the energetic movements of the dancer, Percussionist - the instrument being called a "Mrudangam", Violinist and or a Flute player. The dancer translates the musical content thru his or her expression in perfect synchronization with this musical ensemble which is quite fast and rhythmic. Meenakshi Srinivasan who has a terrific stage presence does this in style. It would be no exaggeration to state that she is a personification of grace, poise, technique, speed, accuracy all delivered seamlessly in the flow of the lyrics and within the rolling beat of the Mrudangam without a flaw.
Her performance that evening was electrifying which kept the audience glued to their seats and ending in deafening applause.
Enjoy the pictures.
Shankar Adisesh
Category:Lifestyle and Recreation
Subcategory:Dancing
Subcategory Detail:
Keywords:Meenakshisrinivasan, Bharatanatyamdance, Chennaimusicanddanceseason, Classicaldanceformatsofindia, Gurualarmelvalli, Indianclassicaldance., Southindianclassicaldance
