Priyadarshini breezed in confidently with a pushpanjali in Arabi ragam, Adi talam, a composition of Dr.Balamurali Krishna. Her vivacity created an impact right away. The text of the Anandha Bhairavi varnam is pure ‘sringara’ or love poetry. The nayika, or heroine, pleads with her friend to bring her Lord Rajagopala to her, to assuage the agony of separation. In the line ‘Mahitalum pughalum mahimai rajanagaril’, Priyadarshini describes the procession of the nayaka. She spots it winding it’s way towards her, and describes the huge wheels of the chariot, with the girls in front strewing flowers on the path. There ends Priyadarshini's gestural elaboration. The rest is in her eyes. The grandeur of the procession, the excitement of the young girl, and the love she feels, are all there in that one glance. Her nritta, or pure dance, commendable for it’s wonderful symmetry and footwork, is no less effective. The arudis for the second half of the varnam were particularly agile and every adavu, or step, was completed elegantly. The dancer’s big expressive eyes, and her long limbs added to her remarkable talent makes for a hard-to-beat combination.

Following the varnam, she performed a verse from Amaru Shatakam, written by King Amaru in sanskrit. A man and a woman, in this case taken as Krishna and Radha, are seated on a bed, replete after a passionate encounter. A tiff suddenly erupts over a trifle. Radha catches Krishna making eyes at someone outside and gets infuriated. She turns her face away, and thus the quarrel begins. The tale continues with a marathi song, ‘Rusali Radha, rusala Madhava’ in ragam Yamankalyani, describing how the whole of Gokul is sulking because of these two young lovers. The deers turn away from each other, the flowers refuse to bloom, and the birds stop singing... The poet asks, how long can this maudlin states of affairs last? Back again to Amaru Shatakam, where the couple is tired of fighting. Radha gives her hand tentatively to Krishna, who accepts it and they make up laughing at their own folly. Priyadarshini held her audience enthralled throughout this piece. The unspoken bonding in the beginning, the hurt when Radha catches Krishna flirting, and the antagonism on both sides, all without any words, came through very well. Silence speaks louder than words…this is true of the dancer’s style. The making up was very subtle; it felt so real, but it could have been missed easily. Especially for those at the back of the auditorium, this gesture may have been missed because the dancer was seated on stage at the time.

A telugu javali ‘Yerara’ in Kamas ragam, Adi talam where a saucy heroine openly beckons her lover to come and be with her was short and sweet. The concluding item, the thillana, was in Kadanakuthuhalam ragam, Adi talam, a composition of Dr.Balamurali Krishna. Her stamina in the rigorous thillana was noteworthy. Her dress was a tasteful maroon and mustard costume designed by V.V.Ramani and Hema Ramani. A dancer of high standards and true grit is Priyadarshini. Her orchestra had a much-improved Lakshmanan wielding the cymbals, Hariprasad, the melodious vocalist from Kalakshetra, Anil Kumar on the mridangam, and Kannan on the violin.