Labannya SamantaPHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN BY CATERSON MEDIA | WWW.CATERSON.COM

Vocals: Kum Deepti Shroff

Deepti Shroff, an upcoming Carnatic Classical Vocalist, is a graceful blend of many talents and accomplishments. Having been introduced to the Classical arts at the tender age of five, she has had the rare opportunity of learning from Sangeetha Kalanidhi Professor TN Krishnan and, at present, Vidhusi Suguna Purushotthaman. Deepti has been performing at the Chennai music season for the past four years, has sung in Banglore’s Ananya Sabha, and frequently performs at the Tirumala Tirupathi Devastanam.

In addition to being a vocalist, she is also a trained Bharathanatyam dancer and a Mridangist. By putting together the thala-gyana from Mridangam and the Bhavam from Dance, Deepti is able to utilize her diverse training to make her performance of Carnatic music – a complete rainbow.

Mridangam: Sri SuDhinDra rao Shri. Sudhindra Rao, a seasoned Mridangam and Kanjira player, hails from illustrious family of musicians. his grandfather Vidwan shri. Ugra narasimha Charya was a court musician in the royal Mysore palace and was an eminent harikatha vidwan. Sudhindra learnt Mridangam under Karnataka Kalashree Vidwan M.Vasudeva rao and has been performing since age of 13. He has performed with several leading Carnatic musicians and at prestigious music sabhas in India, including USA. He has accompanied several Carnatic

music stalwarts and leading musicians. He has also directed many percussion ensembles showcasing rare instruments and has won best percussion player in Kanjira by south Central cultural zone, India, several other awards like aryabhata youth award, and several university awards for Mridangam and Kanjira performance. Sudhindra has performed as graded artist, playing Mridangam and Kanjira for all India radio Bangalore. He has served as program Director at Indian Classical Music and Dance society for several years and started the “Laya sinchana” an organization promoting Laya (rhythm) and has been teaching numerous children in Mridangam and Kanjira.

Flute: Sri partha aji Partha - a multi-faceted musician with rich musical experience and Masters in Computer science- is a much sought after flautist for south Indian dance performances. Under the tutelage of Sri V.K. Raman, Partha has been expanding his musical repertoire for the past years. As a flautist he has widely toured the United States and has performed in over 50

arangetrams. In addition to the flute Partha plays the mridangam, ghatam, kanjira and morsing. Having completed his senior exams as mridangist in Bengaluru under the tutelage of Sri SV Giridhar, he has performed in several concerts in India and US. He often combines this versatility and provides a percussive texture to dance jathis based on the needs of the dance item. Partha spends most of his spare time on the propagation of indian music and looks for greater innovations in his art.

Violin: ViKram raguKumar Vikram Ragukumar, had his initial training under legendary violinist Vidwan H.V. Krishnamurthy at Vijaya College of Music, Bangalore. Vikram later had intensive training from All India Radio “ A” grade Violinist Vidwan B. Raghuram. Vikram has performed extensively in India and abroad as an accompanist .Vikram also performs Solo violin concerts & has been accompanying dance performances. He has accompanied on the violin several popular artistes like

Sri Vidyabhushana, Whistle wizard K.Sivaprasad Bharathnatyam exponent Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan and many others.

BHARATANATYAM ARANGETRAM

BHARATANATYAM ARANGETRAM

Thillana raga: Hindola taala: Adi Taala

Thillana is a grand finale item with full of complicated movements, intricate patterns and

sculpturesque postures. This item also has complicated Muktayas or Sholkattu,

ending of any step or aduvu. This item is mainly a nritta piece which has a charana (a lyrical

passage) in praise of lord Nataraja seeking his blessings for the one who has dedicated

herself to this art form.

Mangalam - Vande Mataram Vande Mātaram - “I praise thee, Mother” - is a poem from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 1882 novel Anandamath. It is a hymn to the Mother Land - a hymn to goddess Durga. It played a vital role in

the Indian independence movement, first sung in a political context by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. In 1950 (after India’s independence), the song’s first two

verses were given the official status of the “national song” of the Republic of India, distinct from the

national anthem of India, Jana Gana Mana.

Student labannya Samanta was born in Kolkata,

India. She was a playful toddler but has grown up to be a thoughtful and

understanding young adult. At the age of four, she started learning Bengali

folk dance under Guru Sri Naresh Kumar Pillai at Banichakra - a school

filled with art, musical and dance talents. She performed her first dance

show at Rabindra Sadan in Kolkata when she was five. Since then, Labannya

has continuously been engaged in dance and art. She has taken part in several

performances at her school, at special occasions, and in other places under the

training of Guru Sanghamitra Podder in Saudi Arabia and Guru Manasi Saha

in North Carolina.

Labannya had her initial training in Bharatanatyam

under Guru Smt. Nisha Menon in Saudi

Arabia. Under Guru Smt. Padma Rao’s tutelage,

Labannya has conceptualized and honed her skills

in Bharatanatyam to a level of being able to

give a commendable performance. Apart from

classical dance, she is also involved in other

extracurricular activities such as

art and ballet.

She shows great enthusiasm towards

painting. Currently, Labannya is

a rising sophomore at Green

Hope High School. She is

engaged in several clubs

at school like Hope Club,

Beta Club, Art Club, and

Student Council. Labannya

has always loved dance and

continues to express great

passion for it.

Pushpanjali and Shloka Raaga: Gambeera Naatai

Taala: adi Taala

Pushpanjali and Shloka is an opening item which is a combination of Nritta (pure dance) and Nrithya (use

of gestures and dance movements to interpret the lyrics). Here the dancer pays obeisance to the God, the Guru,

accompanying musicians, musical instruments, and the audience. The dancer describes the virtue of the omnipresent Lord Ganesha, the elephant headed

God, who frees us from all the obstacles. Lord Ganesha is the master of education,

knowledge, wisdom, literature and fine arts. He is the bestower of supreme happiness to the world.

Pada Varna Raaga: AmruthaVarshini

Taala: Adi Taala

Pada Varna is the crown piece of a Bharatanatyam recital where the dancer displays her skills in all the three aspects of Bharatanatyam: Nritta (pure

dance), Nrithya (use of gestures and dance movements to interpret the lyrics), and Natya (story telling through Abhinaya - expressions). These lyrics can be devotional, praising a king, etc. This Varna has shringara rasa (eternal love) as its theme. In this item the heroine

(Nayika) proudly describes to her beloved friend - Prana Sakhi about her

hero (Nayaka) Venu Gopala’s pleasing personality and persuades her to

go and bring him.

KeerthanaShringaralahari

Raaga: Neelambari Taala: Adi Taala

Keerthana - Shringaralahari is a composition of Mysore Lingaraj Urs. The lyrics are addressed to Goddess Parvathi

which praises her as an embodiment of intoxicating beauty and delight, forever entrancing her consort Lord Shiva. Goddess

Parvati is described as a loving mother with full of compassion. The lyrics praise Parvathi as - the Goddess who is extremely beautiful with a beauty which caught Shiva’s attention and won his heart. She is the one, with versatile talents in music

and dance. She is the one, who is like a flower attracting bees; whose face is smeared with moonlight; whose heart blooms

with compassion like a lotus which blooms in the moonlight. She is the lady with the curly hair and worshiped by all.

JatiswaraRaaga: Raagamalika

Taala: Mishra Chaapu Taala

Jatiswara is a pure dance which showcases pure Nritta - the intricate mixing of jathis or rhythmic patterns. These

movements do not convey any meaning or theme. Complicated

steps or “adavus” are weaved together and rendered in different attractive patterns for the melodic

renditions. Jathiswara can have amazing postures and theermanas or muktayas (ending of a jathi).

Devara NamaGovinda Ninna

Raaga: JanasammohiniTaala: Adi Taala

Devara Nama is a devotional piece where the lyrics are in praise of Lord Krishna, who is otherwise known as Govinda. This is a pure abhinaya item

with almost no emphasis on nritta. The lyrics say that “Govinda - your name is the sweetest of all”. The lyrics describe Govinda as the one who takes care of creation, upkeep and destruction, understanding His greatness is indeed a perfect joy. The well-known episode of Krishna’s

‘Vishwaroopa darshana’ to his mother Yashoda when Yashoda asks Krishna to open his mouth to check whether he had

eaten mud is depicted in this item. One can also perceive the Supremes’ work of creativity in creating this beautiful world.

Bhajan Gale Bhujang Raaga: Kamalashree

Taala: Mishra Chaapu

Gale Bhujang is a composition of by Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. This item describes the beauty of the Lord of

dance Shiva Nataraja or Shankara, as he is otherwise known. The devotee conjures the beautiful form of Shiva in her mind as she describes him. He

is the one with the matted locks in which river Ganga is held captive,

sharing his body with his wife Parvathi. He dances with the crescent moon adoring his hair. With snakes as his jewelry,

he beholds the trident and is the savior of the three worlds. He wears the skin of the tiger as his

garment and rides the bull (Nandi).

GuruSmT. Padma Rao was trained to perfection in the field of Bharatanatyam by the well-known Bharatanatyam Guru Rajyotsava award winner

Dr. Tulasi Ramachandra, director of Nrityalaya, Mysore.

Padma Rao has won many prizes and awards in many dance competitions and exams conducted by the Government of

Karnataka and scholarships for advanced learning from Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Academy.

She has a Masters and PGD in Computer Science from the University of Mysore and is a national merit scholarship holder from the Government of India. Having worked as a professor at

Mysore Maharani’s Science College and as a software consultant at Glaxo Smithkline RTP, she has an immense pleasure in dedicating

herself to the field of Bharatanatyam. Her creative abilities have made her an ardent art lover and helped her to nurture her love for

dance, music, drawing, painting, sculpting and jewlry making.

She is the artistic director of Nrityanjali Academy of Dance (NAD), an institution par excellence in the Triangle area. Her encouraging nature and excellent sense of humor amongst her students has made

them look forward for each class to enjoy and learn with her.

She follows a remarkably rich and intense Bharatanatyam style that combines dynamism and grace, austerity and passion, energy and repose. It is a style that is aesthetic, accessible and constantly evolving.

She has directed and choreographed many dance items with mythological, historical, social, and contemporary themes. Her extraordinary knowledge of Indian history and traditions, the backbone of

Bharatanatyam, has inspired her to choreograph fresh and diverse themes that are innovative, yet within the tradition. She and her students have performed and rendered

lecture demonstrations in India and in the U.S. in a wide variety of shows organized by NIEHS-EPA, Sterling Montessori

School, VIF (Visiting International Faculty) convention, the NCAAHPERD annual convention at Winston Salem, Basant

Bahar, Exploris, and Sampige Kannada Association and was specially selected to perform for Sister Cities Sept 11th concert, a worldwide event to commemorate, spread and practice peace on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragic events, organized by the Town of Cary and Sister Cities

International. Her performances, along with her students’, have evoked responses from audiences as being stimulating,

meaningful and aesthetic.

Padma Rao, supported by the talented musicians, has sincerely put an effort to portray Labannya’s talent

in Bharatanatyam to her level best. Labannya’s performance will be a treat to the rasikas, depicting

items with various moods (rasas), ragas, talas, deities, languages, and composers.