Outstanding among them was Prof.C.V.Chandrasekhar's 'Kreeda'. It was a representation of universally known games through Bharatanatyam. For each segment he would introduce the 'khel' and leave it to his group to elaborate- 'pandattam, pandi, kathadi...' There was maximal effect with minimal fuss. Dr.Padma Subrahmanyam's Thillana in ragam Jogeshwari was notable. The instant rapport she builds with her audience is extraordinary. She seems to reach out so effortlessly. Each theermanam of her thillana ended with a group formation representing 'Shanmata', the six-fold worship advocated by Adi Shankara. The striking poses were of Ganesha, Muruga, Surya, Krishna, Shiva and Shakthi. The music composed by B.Kannan was enjoyable.

'Shraddanjali' commenced with a racy 'Natanaarpanam' by students of Sudharani Raghupathy, with the guru as nattuvanar. A musically rich piece, it was a Mallari, a Shiva stuthi and a jathiswaram rolled into one, in ragams Nattai and Suddhadhanyasi. The girls dressed in white, gold and magenta, acquitted themselves with dignity. Chitra Visweswaran's 'Prakriti', was a tribute to Uday Shankar using the metaphors of a flowing river and that of nature in all its glory. 'Drshya Kavya', an excerpt from her new work of that name, seeks to visualize poetry through Bharatanatyam. Lakshmi Viswanathan chose A.K.Ramanujam's translations of Shaivite poems, 'Speaking of Shiva'. The building of a temple with the dancers as artisans and sculptures was a very imaginatively choreographed scene in her presentation.

The last was by Shantha and V.P.Dhananjayan. 'Bhaava-Rasaanadam' included 'Nrttarpanam' by Shantha and Dhananjayan, and excerpts from their production 'Rasa-samudra' performed by their students. The students were proficient in their nritta, but more importantly they have been taught to carry themselves well. The latter item depicted different emotional states like sangamam, aakrosam,krodham, through appropriate adavus. The group ended with a Shanti Mantram by Pt.Ravi Shankar. The audio recording was poor for the most part, and the presentation did not have the finesse that one expects of dancers of this caliber.

It was finally a show of each dancer's proficiency, some of which was engaging, some of it that was not. It followed a production that took longer than expected, so audience patience was also wearing thin. Whatever the reason, on the whole there was a feeling of disappointment at the end of the show.