Comments
about Ekaantha Seetha
(by e-mail)
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"CCA and myself are very happy and
thankful to Narthaki for opening a new column for
discussion on such work.
Roses and thorns are part of life."
- VP Dhananjayan
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"It was a stupendous
evening. The genius in the 'master' strung
together a mélange of
superlative talents and mesmerized the audience
into a trance. The choreography
was superb, the flow was seamless, the music, the
artists, the theme, the
nuances, every bit of the entire production is
perhaps the best it can
ever get. I felt so proud of being an Indian, of
our puranic substance
and the caliber of our talents."
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"It was a nice show.
All aspects of production were of high quality.
This reminded me of Sanghamitra.
I still enjoyed it."
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"We whole heartedly
enjoyed the program. I really liked the guy who
acted as Laxmana, his role
in last part, Aparajita as a photographer was
hilarious. The whole
marriage scene was well choreographed."
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"Thanks for bringing
this wonderful dance performance to Atlanta. We
enjoyed all the episodes
(especially Vaidehi and comedy part of
Aparajita)."
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"Aparajitha played by
Pavitra stood out. Urmila brought out the power in
the character. I expected
more from Shrilatha. I have seen her more than
once and was always impressed
by her Abhinaya but not much as Sita."
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"Lav and Kush were the
best male dancers. Music quality was harsh.
Overall good, though many scenes
could have been totally avoided."
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"The ballet was of Broadway
calibre and I enjoyed immensely. I felt sorry for
those who missed
the opportunity to witness such an excellent
performance."
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"An 'out of this world'
event..."
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"A feast to the eyes!!"
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"I was VERY VERY IMPRESSED
and felt that ALLLLLL dancers should go to see the
production."
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"It was such an awesome
performance - I did not expect it to be so long -
I was confused a little
in the beginning but then I understood what was
happening - they can dance
so well and the costumes were beautiful – WOW!"
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"It was such a beautiful
dance - thank you for bringing it to Saskatoon."
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"It was wonderful to
see such a mix of guys and girls and the boys
dance so well and gracefully
too."
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"My old student Carla
Guggenheim said she saw the show and visited back
stage briefly. She raved
about it, said you are the Jerome Robbins, Petipa,
etc. of Indian choreographers
- references to a contemporary choreographer who
did West Side Story, known
for brilliance and subtlety, the other and old
classical ballet genius
from before Nijinsky - all good references! She
said the whole crowd loved
it too."
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"I think three hours
is too long. Some of us have to drive about an
hour and a half to reach
the venue, when the traffic is good. Or it could
take 2 hours one way.
Then 3 hours of a show and the drive back for
another two hours is quite
taxing."
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"I was very disappointed."
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"So much more could
have been done to bring out the essence of the
beautiful subject. I think
an opportunity has been wasted."
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"It was a practically
packed theater of maybe 600 people - standing
ovation at the end... audience
jumped to their feet - this is EXACTLY what the
Indian diaspora thirsts
for. That is why it is so successful. "Don't try
to give them what
you think they SHOULD have... first find out what
they want." The
producers have done their research - tested and
tried the audiences year
after year and know how to provide exactly what is
"wanted." This is watching
familiar stuff - takes them back to their homeland
and memories... their
familiar memories that begin to erode with time -
this evening helps reconstruct
it."
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Famous Kalakshetra dance
guru (Chinna) Sarada Hoffman attended the LA
performance and watched from
the back row. After the show she met with the
Dhananjayans and congratulated
them that it was "different and beautiful." These
words of appreciation
are especially cherished by the Dhananjayans. “I
think we don't need any
bigger award other than these golden words from
our revered Guru Sarada
teacher. She won't make any remark unless she
really liked it,” says guru
Dhananjayan.
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"I have always enjoyed
CCA presentations for their high production
values, concepts, choreography
and of course the aesthetic costumes. Ekaantha
Seeta was no exception and
in fact took it to the next level. It was a
combination of artistry and
entertainment of high calibre and I thoroughly
enjoyed it. I would enjoy
doing a challenging role under the guidance of a
master choreographer/teacher
especially like the Dhananjayans."
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