Thirak to Celebrate Life

By Ratnika Sharma

“Madhuban mein radhika nache re”, in SRM, not one Radhika but many danced their hearts out in the solo classical dance event “Thirak”. But the highlight of the show, as the judge also pointed out, was the sizeable amount of male participation. Out of 9 dancers that participated, 3 were males. The reason why this fact was even highlighted was because of the simple reason that guys of this so called pizza eating generation are really not keen on learning Indian classical dance forms. Call it irony, but the winner of Thirak was Vijay Kumar from RMK Engineering College who absolutely broke all conventions that guys cannot dance without a feminine touch! His perfect postures and graceful execution of the Bharatnatyam dance form stunned everyone present. A National Award Winner in 2003, Vijay is a student, a part time tutor and a dancer. Who would not be impressed by that! His dance essentially revolved around Lord Vishnu and how he rescued an elephant from the clutches of a crocodile. The second prize was won by Kritika of SRM University who performed a Bharatnatyam recital on Lord Shiva.

Another commendable performance was by Satvika from Chettinad Health City who performed the Chaturmukhi, that envisaged the four most important aspects in a woman- love, strength, compassion and justice. Beautifully portrayed and choreographed, the piece did total justice to the dance form that was Bharatnatyam once again.

The event was judged by Mrs Jayshree Kannan, manager with the Air India but possessing a deep passion for dance was trained in the Kalakshetra style of Bharatnatyam dancing and gave her first stage performance at the age of ten. She especially remarked on a performance on a semi classical music but with a purely classical choreography. The dancer’s attire was a contemporary one and she proved that in spite of the contemporary touch, the dance was of the classical genre and it is upon the dancer’s skills to maintain that.

The criteria for judging were rhythm, taal, technique, expression, costume, footwork and general impression. All the dancers left a lasting impression on the small but supportive audience that had gathered. Milan is all about meeting yourself and dancing with a passion is just one of the ways!