Bharatanatyam By Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR BHARATANATYAM BY DR. PADMA...

The Department of Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh, is organising Nrityotsav 2008, a festival of classical dances of India, from 29th February to 2nd March. The 3-day festival will feature some of the best dancers of the country, such as Kuchipudi dancer Dr. Shobha Naidu, Bharatanatyam dancer Padma Subrahmanyam, and Odissi dancer Ranjana Gauhar, performing.

Today, the 2nd day of the festival, renowned Bharatanatyam dancer Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam will perform some dance items based on the compositions of Saint Annamacharya. Born to late K Subrahmanyam and Meenakshi, Padma Subrahmanyam (Director, Nrityodaya, Chennai, India) is acclaimed as a rare combination of a dancer, research scholar, choreographer, music composer, singer, teacher, author and Indologist, and as one of the outstanding artistes of today. Her father, Director K Subrahmanyam, was an internationally reputed film pioneer and freedom fighter, and a parental personality in the cultural field. Her mother Meenakshi was a music composer, a lyricist in Sanskrit and Tamil, and an instrumentalist who played the veena, violin and harmonium.

Encouraged by her father, Padma Subrahmanyam started learning under Kausalya who was a young teacher at Nrityodaya, the dance school founded by her father in 1942. Later, she came under the wings of guru Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai, and had her arangetram in 1956. Recognizing her talent, her father helped her further her capabilities. From Dandayuthapani Pillai she learnt adavus, from Gowri Ammal she learnt abhinaya, and from various devadasis, she learnt 150 different adavus. Thus began her research.

Subrahmanyam gave performances conducted by her guru and her school, and also continued her college education. She has a bachelor's degree in music, a master's in ethno-musicology, and a Ph D in dance. Her music training was under the famous B V Lakshman and Salil Chaudhury.

The entry is free for everyone. Please contact the Department of Culture at 2323-3672/2323-1245 for further details.