Chennai: In a matter of pride to the locality of Kodambakkam in the city, Mahalingapuram resident Shreya (13), bagged the title of ‘Abhinaya Thilagam’, at her arangetram concert held recently.
The chief guests Villisai artiste Bharathi Thirumagan, Makkal Kural Kalaimamani Ramjee and honorary secretary of Karthik Fine Arts, Rajagopal Sekhar, were impressed with her dance, especially her expressions that won her the coveted title.
“This is a tag that can be earned only with an impeccable performance. We are glad that our daughter did it,” said her proud parents S Vasudevan and V Rajarajeshwari.
Shreya started her training from the age of five years under the tutelage of her guru J Suryanarayanamurthy, a faculty at Kalakshetra.
Talking about her passion, Shreya said, “Everyday I would go to my dance class from 4.30 to 7.30 pm. When I was in third standard, I did my Salangai Pooja and from then on, I have performed in more than 10 solo shows on prestigious stages like Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam’s Nada Neerajanam twice, Golden Temple, All India Sai Samaj, Sivaratri performance at Kalahasthi temple and several other group performances.”
She credits her guru for teaching her with dedication.
“He is so in tune with the art and after completing a decade of training, he gave the nod to perform arangetram. I took special practice for almost a year for this. Classes would start at 4 in the morning, and go on till 7 am. In the evening, it would again start by 4.30 pm. The amount of effort put in by him to teach me helped me dance well,” stated an excited Shreya.
In her arangetram, she performed a 40-minute song ‘Bhavayami Raghuramam’ that was widely appreciated by one-and-all.
“It is a song that tells about Ramayanam and performing a solo, she had to do all the characters and show varied expressions, which is not easy,” noted her father.
“After her two and half hour show, the audience gave a standing ovation which paved the way for the award,” he added.
When asked what she intended to do in her career, her mother said that she is still undecided about it, but asserted that Shreya will not quit dancing.
She can be reached at 9445258682.