The Guru Smt. Rhadha and Pushpanjali

 

Smt .Rhadha is one of the foremost exponents of the Vazhuvoor tradition. Dancing her way into the hearts of millions of people from the age of five, Smt.Rhadha has earned a definite place among the most accomplished Bharathanatyam dancers of India.

An ideal combination of the Dancer, the Guru and the choreographer, Radha has won recognition and acclaim in all three capacities. She is one of the foremost exponents of the Vazhuvoor style of Bharata natyam. As the star pupils of the renowned NATYACHARYA VAZHUVOOR SHRI RAMAIAH PILLAI, Rhadha and her illustrious elder sister Kamala, have performed together with Vasanthi, the younger sister extensively in India and abroad. They have had the honour of performing at official functions in the presence of world leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Radhakrishnan, Dwight Eisenhower, Queen elizabeth II and Chou-en-lei.

Rhadha's career as a performer spans more than four decades. She is also proficient in the Kuchupudi style of dance which she learnt from the eminent Guru Shri VEMPATTI CHINNA SATYAM.

PUSHPANJALI, school for Bharathanatyam started by her in 1982 has produced scores of dancers, several of whom have won laurels for the institution and the Guru. It has also won a reputation of being one of the friendliest dance classes in Madras.

Assisted by SUJATHA VIJAYARAGHAVAN, who provides the research, script and music, Rhadha has produced several dance dramas and thematic presentations which have won accolades in India and abroad. Important among them being "Nouka Charitiam ", "Meenakshi ammai pillai thamizh", "Bhavaiye Padmanabham", "Valli Bharatham", "Siva sakthi", "Jaya jaya gokula Bala", "Kaumaram", "Chintaye Sivam Sankaram", "Bharaa Samudayam Vaazhgave", "Bharatham", "Bharathi Bharatham", "Puthiyador Ulagam Seivom" and "Desh".

She has also presented concerts of compositions by Vaggeyakaras like Svathi Tirunal, Ambujam Krishna, Lalgudi Jayaraman and Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar and the trinity of Carnatic music.

Rhadha choreographed the dance drama JAYA JAYA DEVI, composed by the violin Maestro Lalgudi Shri G. Jayaraman.

She also choreographed the dance drama SRI LAKSHMI PRABHAVAM composed by 'Chitra Veena' Shri Ravikiran. Both were premiered at the Aradhana Festival in Cleveland, USA and had successful tours of US and Canada.

The thematic presentations SIVA SAKTHI and DESH had successful tours of US.

Nauka Charitram was produced by the Central Production Centre of Door Darshan and was telecast over the National Network.

Rhadha and Sujatha have presented several lecture demonstrations and have regularly presented a different topic every year on 25th December at Nungambakkam Cultural Academy form 1987.

Their lecture demonstrations on Lalgudi Jayaraman's compositions and on the Vazhuvoor tradition of Bharatha Natyam have been recorded by the Sruti Foundation for its archives.

Their lecture demonstrations on Navarasa in Thyagaraja and Environment in Bharatanatyam have been recorded by the UGC for national telecast.

Some of her senior pupils are the sisters Sumitra-Sunanda, Sangita Shyamsundar, Samyuktha Girish, Vidya Vishnu, Lavanya Venkat, Lavanya Prabu, Sujatha Ramanadhan, Sujatha Sundararajan, Radha Venkatesan, Gayatri Srikant, Aparna Kasbekar, Shalini, Priya Umesh, Yogita Venkataraman, Shobana Ram (USA), Satya Pradeep (USA), Ramya (USA), Roopa Chari (Zambia), Krithika, Deepika Rajam, Sukanya, Padmaja, Sucharita, Sowmya Narayanan etc.

Several of them have started dance schools of their own in India and abroad.

The Nungambakkam Cultural academy has awarded her with the title 'NRITYA KALA SHIRONMANI' for her outstanding contribution over the last many decades for the cause of dance.

 

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