Her programme in Chennai recently was marked by a long list of items starting with a Panchamurthi Kauthuvam in ragamalika, talamalika, composed by Vijayaraghavan and followed by Kalinga sabdam by the same composer. ‘Kandum kaanadhadu pol’, a padam in Sahana ragam, again by Vijayaraghavan, had a despondent nayika pining for Shiva; Prathima’s delineation was fairly convincing. She excelled in the varnam- her nritta or pure dance was very rigorous and the bhakthi-laden abhinaya describing Shiva in all his splendour, was well portrayed. Of particular interest, was the description of the five elements - the panchabhootam that are present on Shiva’s form. The varnam, ‘Konjum salangai tigalum’ in Lathangi ragam, Adi talam, is a composition of Madurai N. Muralidharan.

The soothing effect of Krishna’s flute, on the flora and fauna, was the subject of a lighthearted padam tuned by Dr.Balamuralikrishna in ragamalika. ‘Govindan kuzhal osai kaite’ in Adi talam was embellished with small jathi korvais and handled with the cheery disposition that it warrants. The pick of the padams was ‘Arivein aiyah un andha rangam’ in Atana ragam, when the nayika is angry over the nayaka’s wanton behavior. The khandita nayika is also sarcastic, ‘I know all about you now.’ The dancer was able to emote without overdoing it, as many are wont to do. Less is always more where abhinaya is concerned. The last was a sprightly thillana, a composition of Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna in Brindavani ragam, Adi talam.

The orchestra was not very inspiring that evening, a let down mainly because of the vocalist, Meenakshi Srinivasan. Percussion by Padmanabhan and nattuvangam by the guru were handled satisfactorily. Nagarajan was melodious on the violin. Prathima, resplendent in an orange-purple short sari costume, seemed more at home in nritta than in abhinaya; in the former her sense of timing, good footwork and carriage gives her an edge. A discard of self-consciousness perhaps will help the dancer in developing her style of expressive fluency.