KOCHI: A quaint little house, located away from the bustle of the city, has been a hub for dance lovers from all over the world for some time now. This is Dharani School of Performing Arts in Kochi. This year, the school is celebrating 30 years of mentoring young aficionados of classical dance.
The celebrations which began in the evening of August 13 saw a bhajan session by the Dharani Bhajan Group. “We have a group of women coming in every evening,” said Shyamala Surendran, principal of Dharani School of Performing Arts. “They are from different walks of life.”
This was followed by bharatanatyam and mohiniyattam performances by students of the school, who had finished their ‘arangettam’. “We have 12 students, of which four of them are from abroad,” she said. “They did their own choreography. I had actually been looking forward to it,” said Shyamala.
On August 14, singer Priya R Pai and her students will entertain the audience with a ‘thillana’ evening. “As thillana is used in classical dance performances, the students will find it interesting,” said Shyamala.
Finally, on August 15, Sandra Eschenbach, a student of Dharani from Germany, will perform. “Her arangettam was held in May in Germany,” said her guru.
Together with the anniversary celebrations, the students will also celebrate the 70th birthday of Shyamala. The events will begin at 6.45 pm on both days. Entry is open to the public, though seats are limited to 200.
The Dharani School of Performing Arts began in 1987 with just one student. The school gives training in bharatanatyam, mohiniyattam, veena recital, mridangam and Carnatic music.
“But only 25 students have finished their arangettam here under my tutelage. Apart from this, six students have finished arangettam in Germany,” said Shyamala. “The training requires a lot of hard work and maturity. The ‘adavu’, which are steps, have to be strong before learning anything else. It takes time for students to understand ‘Abhinaya’ properly. Unless you understand the feelings of a woman, it is very difficult to learn them. And you don’t understand such feelings at a very young age.”