Nature at it's best and Early Man, his evolution from ape to human being, as we know him... men and women discovering each other, learning about food, discovering rain, and overcoming the fear of thunder and lightning, fire and it's use... the discovery of sound, Man graduates to tilling the land and trading. The play of weapons begins. They are used for fighting within tribes to assert superiority of the individuals. So far it was in mime, with sound effects. The choreography was imaginative and entertaining, and the execution, precise. The timing of the dancers was admirable and their enjoyment, infectious.

The classical format began with tales from mythology. The message was the degradation of moral standards and the need for unity and peace. Incidences from the epics were described. Valmiki's anguish over the killing of one, of a pair of lovebirds condemned the practice of hunting. The killing of the demon king Ravana, was portrayed to convey the fact that evil will always be destroyed and goodness will be restored. During the Kurukshetra war, Krishna gives Arjuna the 'Geetopadesa'. The message of duty and dharma was thus conveyed to man. The story of Shakuntala spoke of true love and faith between man and woman.

Philosophers like Buddha, Ashoka, and Sankaracharya, were quoted with their preachings of universal peace and brotherhood .. The sincerity of the choreographer, Sheejith, cannot be in doubt, but the second half seemed too crowded. The message would have gone home with less. One noticed a high level of competence in the dancers right through the programme. The tillana was the concluding item of the programme. A composition of Jyothismathi Sheejith, in ragam Kapi, it was performed by a group of young well known artists. A lilting and rigorous finale to an absorbing evening.

The excellent orchestral support was provided by: vocal, Jyothismathi and Hariprasad, nattuvangam, Shaly Vijayan and Jayshree, mridangam, K.P.Anilkumar, keyboard, Somasundaram and Jayaprakash, flute, Rajagopalan, tabla, Jairaj, and drums, Manojkumar.