Mrinalini Venkatesh, gave a good account of herself at her Rangapravesham at ADA Rangamandira on Thursday night. Nineteen-year-old Mrinalini, did her guru Suma Rajesh of the Spoorthy School of Dance and her parents T S Venkatesh and Bhavani Venkatesh, proud. It was, in fact, a debut for Suma as well, who achieved the Rangapravesham of her first disciple.
Mrinalini rendered all the items of the evening with poise and passion, beginning with Pushpanjali, through Shabdam, Varnam, Keerthana, Devarnama, Javali, Thillana to Mangalam. She drew applause from an appreciative audience, who were impressed by her expressions and evocative performance.
Mrinalini was ably accompanied by Suma Rajesh on natuvangam, Vasudha Ramu on vocal, V R Chandra Shekar on the mridangam, H S Venugopal on the flute, Shankar Raman on the veena and Karthik Dattar on the rhythm pad.
Most of the pieces were choreographed by B Bhanumathi and her disciple Suma and the entire programme was compered by Vijaya Lakshmi. The guests on the occasion were director of Nritya Kala Mandiram B Bhanumathi, Mangalore Urban Development Authority commissioner Ajith Kumar Hegde and vocalist and music composer Thirumale Srinivas.