Bharatnatyam dance recital set to Hindustani music

Experimenting with tradition, male dancer Shashrek Ambardar today presented a solo Bharatnatyam dance recital accompanied by Hindustani music style of singing instead of the conventional Carnatic style.
Choreographed by veteran danseuse Sindhu Mishra, the solo performance by her disciple Ambardar accompanied by a recital in Hindi attempted to offer a unique synthesis between the two different musical forms.
Sonal Mansingh was the guest of honour and in the audience were esteemed dancers such as Kuchipudi great Raja Reddy, Mohiniyattam exponent Bharati Shivaji and santoor virtuoso Bhajan Sopori, Ustad Akram Khan and Uma Vasudeva. All of them were felicitated with flowers and a shawl.

"Unlike most Bharatnatyam recitals which are performed by women, this is a solo performance by a male dancer. The entire Varnam displays the Sringar Ras of the Nayak and not the Nayaki), depicted through the episode where Rama has a glimpse of Sita for the first time in a garden before the Dhanush Yagya," Mishra said.
Dressed in a yellow coloured costume and ghungroo on his feet, Ambardar began with a demonstration of the technique of the dance.
Ambardar, an economics student of Delhi University's St Stephen's College has been practicing the dance for the last 14 years and has previously given recitals in south India.

Aayam Cultural Society had put up the performance.
The dancer had said earlier that pursuing a passion for Bharatnatyam was never easy and he had to put up with face constant ridicule and mockery from classmates who thought that dance was not for boys.
"My classmates used to mock me but at the same time, I also have seen a change in them over the years. As they saw me performing on many occasions, their perception also changed," he said.