Namaskarams !

I would like to share the experiences of my recent dance tour to Europe. I was invited by the Triveni Association of France to perform Bharatanatyam in France, Germany and Switzerland. My eight-year old student, Sudharma performed with me for the Guru Sishya tradition.

I must say it was such a wonderful tour right from the beginning till the end though we had a hectic schedule of about twenty plus programmes. And my accompanying musicians were very accommodative and we earned the name of a quality team! They include Chitrambari Krishnakumar on nattuvangam and vocal, Sharanya Krishnan on vocal support, Dhanamjayan on mridangam and Muruganandam on violin. My sweet talented student Sudharma performed at the Students' Festival, in addition to performing with me.

Our performances were very well received. My my... the love, the warmth and the appreciation from them touched me. By God's Grace although I have had the opportunity to perform in 18 countries, the best audience was the French! Let me be explanatory about this.

The sound and lights balance would be done very professionally in consultation with us. The duration of the programmes is for two hours, between 8.30 pm and 10.30 pm. And at this part of the year when were there, the sun sets only at 10! 8 pm will be like 5 pm in India. So bright!

The audience came in large numbers and some even sat on the aisle to see our performances which made us feel very proud. In fact, the organiser and the co-ordinators used to tell us that many went disappointed due to non availability of tickets and seats. The Indian High Commission of Paris paid a wonderful compliment by saying, not only have I made the art proud, but also our country India. He also wished my student a bright future and said she should be a 'star' like her Guru when she grows up! I was really touched by this.

Although the intermission is for 15 minutes, the audience were still engrossed in our programme and stayed on right till the end and requested us to perform one extra item.

The most important of all is the audience's applause! I used to invite my musicians to the center stage at the end of every performance. The applause would be literally for 10 minutes at a stretch and even if we go to the wings, the applause would bring us back to the center stage! I have not experienced this anywhere before.

During the informal interactive sesions we had with the audience, many asked how I had trained such a young student. And I had to tell them that it takes two hands to clap - the child's innate talent and with the training that I give her, I am able to mould her. There are still lots more to do...Many thought, both of us were mother-daughter dancing on stage! Believe me, in make-up, Sudharma does resemble me a lot! So I would say, she is my dancing daughter as I have only one son. Even the audience could make out that she wants to ape me on stage and this gives me another proud feeling...

Last, but, not the least, my heartfelt gratitude to Mr Velu Mohan, who had organized the tour so very professionally and the programme for his Triveni turned out to be the best. The stage décor was done so aesthetically to suit Bharatanatyam with Kolams and traditional backdrops. We even received a standing ovation at this performance. As I have done a beginner's course in French at Alliance Francais, Chennai, way back in 1978, this came handy now! I was able to speak a little French in every performance, giving both the Welcome and the Thank you address, that made the French audience so happy and proud.

With regard to food, we never had any problem as we used to be hosted in Indian houses. We also enjoyed cooking on few occasions. On the whole, a very enjoyable dance tour that earned us a good name.

Thank you KutcheriBuzz and dear rasikas for letting me share my experiences with you.

Srekala Bharath runs a dance school 'Thejas' in Madras and she can be contacted at E-mail: thejas.sb@lycos.com , thejas.sb@mailcity.com