Ambika commenced with a Ganesh Stuthi, followed by 'Shive Sringaradhre', from the text, Soundarya Lahari, of Adi Sankara. Here she depicted the nine sentiments- the 'navarasas', with Parvathi as the central figure. 'Jaya Jaya Meenakshi' in ragam Kalyani, was next. It was an obeisance to the Goddess, with a reference to Ramana Maharishi in the second half. The dancer quotes the saint on his thoughts, of death, and of the body being interred, in the funeral pyre. Without any background on the Saint, this seemed incongruous. It would have been more meaningful, had the item focused only on the saint, his life, and his philosophy.

Ambika performed a varnam written by Sadhu Om, a disciple of the Maharishi, in Vasantha ragam, Adi talam. 'Arunachala Ninnugoochi', was a bhakthi piece, where the devotee goes seeking Shiva in Arunachala. Shiva as an embodiment of compassion was elaborated in '....Karunanidhe Kamari Neva Kama.....', referring to the episode with Manmadha. Enraged with Manmadha for disturbing his meditation, Shiva opens his third eye and scorches him. Rati, Manmadha's consort, begs for mercy. Out of compassion, Shiva allows her to be reunited with her husband. Ambika's abhinaya was very lucid. In the second half, the devotee pleads for divine grace and enlightenment. 'Don't turn away from me, you are my everything', he says. Ambika's nritta was unhurried, and painstaking, but the accent was all on the bhakthi, one could see.

The musicians were in good form. Bhama Visweswaran is to be commended for her music, as well as for her clear diction. Accompanying her were: S.S.R.Krishnan on the mridangam, P.V.Ramana on the flute, and V.Srinivasan on the violin. Nattuvangam was by Jayshree Ramanathan. The dancer went on to a Thevaram in Sindhubhairavi ragam, Tisra Nadai; 'Adi padi Annamalai vodi pohum num mailaye vinaigale'. A padam by poet Subramanya Bharathi, in Valaji ragam, Adi talam, 'Paarule nalla nadu' invoking patriotic feelings, was taken up next. The dancer extolled the virtues of our country's 'guru-parampara' and the philosophers it has produced, like Dakshinamurthy, Adi Shankara, Buddha, Ramana Maharishi,... This was followed by a bhakthi piece on Ramana Maharishi, in Yamankalyani ragam, a composition of Muruganath. She concluded with a verse from the Alwars' Divya Prabhandam, 'Pallandu Pallandu', and a thillana in Madhyamavathi ragam, Adi talam, a composition of Muruganath. The theme of her programme was bhakthi; this did result in a one-sided show of that rasa. Nevertheless, music and dance complemented each other, and did rise above such limitations.