Young artists shine at Soorya event

BY A STAFF WRITER

ST LOUIS, MO-Soorya Performing Arts, which has been making marathon efforts to see that classical art forms survive the test of time and flourish for generations to enjoy, came up with the “Soorya Performing Series for Young Talent”.

Its Fall-2014 series held on November 15 included three highly talented artists from Chicago, IL –a solo veena concert by Divya Pariti, a disciple of Rajaveena School of music, Chicago; a Mohiniyattam performance by Elizabeth Nellamattathil, a disciple of Aanada Dance Theater) and Vidya Govind (a disciple of Guru Hema Rajagopalan).

Young Divya Pariti played veena with a confidence and the music was very vibrant and colorful. She presented “Mayaatheetha swaroopini” in raga Mayamalavagowla, followed by “Subramanyena” in raga Shuddha Dhanyasi.

Elizabeth started her Mohiniyattam performance with a composition of the 18th century Tamil poet Oothukkadu Venkata Subba Iyer ‘s Pranavakaaram Siddhivinayakam, which was followed by an expressive Jagadhodhaarana, in which she portrayed the mischievous nature of young Krishna very effectively.

Vidya Govind, disciple of Guru Hema Rajagopalan, began her recital with a crisp presentation of Mallari, followed by a second half of Varnam – Suma Sayaka. Her Nritta was very clean and Abhinaya was rendered well through sanchari Bhavas (moving story lines) based on stories of Gajendra Moksha and Kaliya mardana.

She presented Narsi Mehta’s Gujarati poem depicting the negative nature of Lord Rama in doubting the purity of his wife Seetha and putting her through the test of fire (Agni Pariksha).

The youth series by Soorya Performing Arts provided a much-needed opportunity for Indian American youth. This was supported by parents of Soorya Dance, Music and Yoga School; by funds received from Missouri Arts Council (MAC), a state agency of State of Missouri; Regional Arts Commission (RAC) – a city organization of St. Louis and may other patrons.

The event was ably supported by many volunteers and was attended by more than 200 art patrons.