Chennai January Season performances 
by Lalitha Venkat, Chennai 
Photos: Lalitha Venkat 
e-mail: lalvenkat@yahoo.com 
 
January 5, 2004 @ Y G P Auditorium for Bharat Kalachar 

Bharatanatyam duet by G Narendra and Mahalakshmi, Chennai  

G Narendra and Mahalaksmi presented 6 items for the evening, starting with a sloka on Guru and Ganesha followed by an invocatory song Ganapathy seva. Next was En palli kondeer ayya followed by Ananda Koothaadinaar, Shiva’s dance in the golden halls of Chidambaram. This item portrayed the tandava and lasya aspects of dance. The 4th item was Bhavayami gopala balam, a solo by Narendra where a devotee describes Lord Krishna. Mahalakshmi’s solo for Chinnan chiru kiliye by Bharatiyar, depicted motherly love. The concluding item Madhuban me Radhika naache re on Krishna and Radha was a joyful one with elements of kathak in some movements.  

Though the recorded music was beautiful, the sound system caused occasional problems.  

Mrs. Y G Parthasarathy’s words at the conclusion of the evening, summed up the program, “A wonderful evening of Bharatanatyam by Narendra and Mahalakshmi. In every item, there was such joy and jubilance in their dance, I enjoyed every moment of it. The choice of songs was wonderful, whether it was on Nataraja or Krishna or Ganesha. It was a memorable experience for all of us lovers of dance. Do keep it up and we hope to see more and more of you.”  

That last remark had Narendra reaching for the mike to voice his comments on behalf of the younger generation of artistes. “I have to mention that maami (Mrs. YGP) is the only sabha person who is a staunch supporter of the arts.  She has the audacity to give performance opportunity to someone who has not been seen in the sabha circuits for many years. Also, she approached us for a performance without we having to ask her, something that does not happen in Chennai city at all. It is exactly 8 years since Mahalakshmi and I performed in a sabha despite being professional dancers for 25 odd years. I am happy there is someone in this city doing this service to the arts by encouraging artistes. For all the young artistes who do not get a chance, I think maami is the only chance.”