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 It was a moment of enthusiasm and thrill at Music Academy to watch the 73-year-young Bharatanatyam exponent dance for more than one hour. Trained at the internationally renowned Kalakshetra School in Chennai under the tutelage and mentorship of Rukmini Devi Arundale, and served the Banaras Hindu University and M S University of Baroda and retired as the head and dean of the Faculty of Performing Arts of M S University of Baroda, Prof C V Chandrasekhar is one of the India's outstanding senior gurus and dancers.
Music Academy held a week-long dance festival and this lecture-demonstration was one of the very well-attended sessions. The Professor spoke of how important it is to use Deha Mudras - body movements - and not just hand gestures and facial expressions for Nritthyam. He elaborated in his lecture how dancers have to enunciate the rasaas more and not do too much of story telling for every item. He stressed how important music was for dance.
After the enlightening speech came the excellent presentation of a 'Guru Vandhanam' followed by a 45-minute Dhanyasi Varnam where he exhibited skill and mastery in every step.
Jaya Chandrasekharan, in spite of her age, handled nattuvaangam with clarity. The vocal support by Hariprasadh was extremely suitable for the dance. There was a perfect sync between the voice and the dancer's expressions. Probably this perfect unison is the most important factor that one expects in a good
Nrittham.
 Prof Chandrasekhar elaborated the subtelities of naatyam not only in his speech before the dance but established 'The Way' to dance, in his soul-stirring performance. The huge crowd at Music Academy filled with not only rasikas, dancers and students but many musicians to learn from the guru was heart warming. Many on lookers were seen in tears to watch the beauty of the ‘Rudhra Thandavam’ performed in Ragam
Shankara.
There was standing ovation for the excellent art and the crowd roared in applause for more than 15 minutes. This world-acclaimed dancer, choreographer, researcher, musician, academician, composer and teacher of Bharatanatyam has been performing for the past six decades in India and all over the globe and is invited by many dancers the world over to teach and choreograph.
It was a memorable day filled with excellent thoughts of this exemplary ideal from whom every dancer will learn, cherish and follow.
Srinivasa Gopalan
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