Uma Ramesh’s dance recital at Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium for Brahma Gana Sabha was a natya with matter.
The curtain-raiser was a mallari in Gambira Nattai choreographed by Uma Sundaram.
The dancer created a celestial aura and captured the temple ambience where the deities are taken out in a procession, admirably.
To recite the verses of Thondaradi Podi Alwar is itself a Herculean task, to emote it needs special training and Uma, who is trained by eminent gurus like Kanaka Srinivasan, C V Chandrasekar, lived it up.
Her enthusiasm was infectious and her portrayal of Nandanar and Lord Shiva in ‘Varugalamo’, a piece by Gopalakrishna Bharathi, in Maanji, proved her dedication to the art form.
Uma wound up her recital with a tillana in Tilang. Her nimble footwork, abhinaya and confidence enabled to balance the different tempo and this lifted up the dancer’s performance to great heights.
Uma had a team to support her. Jyotishmati on the vocals has a mesmeric voice and Neela Sukanya on the nattuvangam was superb. Sunil Bhaskar on violin and G Vijayaraghavan on the mridangam played with grace and elegance.

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