It was a motley crowd of Indians and others that gathered to witness the performance of Kay Poursine, a disciple of the late T. Balasaraswati, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, recently.
The SPIC MACAY (Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Among Youth) chapter hosted the performance in conjunction with the Asian Heritage Week held at the University.
The recital, preceded by hot pakodas and cutlets served to the audience (for a price, of course), began with a Tisram Alarippu.
'Dani Samajendra', a taxing Swati Tirunal varnam in Sanskrit composed in the ragam Todi set to Adi talam saw the dancer depicting a dying woman pleading for a glimpse of her lord Sri Padmanabha.
A ten-minute break that followed gave dance regulars in the audience a chance to catch up with each other. There was much bonhomie and backslapping before the dancer returned to perform two padams.
The first was 'Teruvil Varano' by Muttutandavar in the ragam Khamas set to the tisra gati Adi talam and the second was in Panthuvarali, 'Nittirayil' by Ghanam Krishna Ayyer.
Poursine also performed an Eka tala Javali in Anandabhairavi, 'Madura Nagarilo'. She portrayed a Gopi, pleading with Krishna not to tease her, yet inwardly enjoying all his attentions.
The performance ended with a Tillana in Kapi set to Adi Talam.
First time viewers of Bharatanatyam insisted it was an experience they would remember for a long time to come.
"Indian dance is very beautiful and we're glad we got a chance to see it today," said a Turkish couple on their way out.
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