A Laxman, Living Life through Dance

March 10th, 2012 at 4 PM
Mission Center for Performing Arts
3250 Monroe St., Santa Clara, CA 95051

A Laxman

Lakshman was born in Malaysia, where he had his early training from Smt. Veera Venugopal of Bharata Kalanjali, Malaysia. After moving to Chennai, he came under the direct tutelage of the renowned and highly acclaimed guru, Kalaimani K. J. Sarasa. As one of Sarasa-akka's star pupils, Lakshman was soon teaching at Sarasalaya - his guru's school for Bharatanatyam. He has also trained in Carnatic music under the guidance of Smt. Sarojini Sunderasan, a disciple of Alathoor Sri Venkatesa Iyer.

Guru Lakshman took advanced training in Abhinaya from the Abhinaya exponent Padmabhushan Smt Kalanidhi Narayanan. Over the years he has established a style & name for himself in the dance arena. A perfectionist, senior artists like Priyadharshini Govind & Urmila Sathyanarayana go to him for perfecting their Nrita skills.

As a performer, Lakshman has earned himself a formidable reputation. He has a striking stage presence and his intense devotion to the art-form is immediately discernable. Apart from solo-performances, Lakshman has been a part of several dance dramas and in a variety of roles.

Acclaimed as the best male dancer by many natyacharyas in the field, and by the media, for the skill displayed by him in performance after performance, Lakshman continues to be totally involved in the art - both as a teacher and a performer. In 1994, he founded “Nrithyalakshana,” where he trains students from all walks of life, irrespective of age, religion, and language with utmost dedication. He has conducted numerous arangetrams, and many of his students have also won accolades from critics and connoisseurs.

Ms L Subhasri - Nattuvangam

Ms L Subhasri, or Srividhya as she is known popularly, hails from a well-known traditional family of musicians.. Subhasri started playing the veena from the age of 6 and started giving concerts from the age of 10 in schools as well as for the public. She trained under her guru and father, Late Thanjavur G Lakshmanan

She has widened her repertoire by playing accompaniment for classical dancers in India and abroad as well as for light music troupes. With her keen mind and willingness to expand her knowledge, Subhasri learnt Nattuvangam Apart from playing the veena, she now does Nattuvangam also for renowned dancers in India and abroad for the past fifteen years. In that capacity, she has performed all over India, UK, South Africa, Mauritius, Japan, Bangkok, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

She was working with Anita Ratnam for the past 15 years; she is a part of Arangham Trust who takes care of all the co-oridnation, choreography, and stage management for the groups. She is also judged many schools and inter college shows and done justice to her work. She has choreographed dance for many company groups and they have won the prizes too.

Sri N Sigamani - Violin

Sri N Sigamani received his basic training under his father Shri.Alandur.S. Natarajan, an accomplished violinist. Shri. Sigamani is a professional violinist, who has participated in most of the leading music and dance festivals in India and abroad. He has performed as a violin accompanist for top bharatanatyam dance performers, like Alarmel Valli, Priyadharshini Govind & Malavika Sarukai to name a few, for over 25years. He has received various awards from major music organizations such as the` BEST VIOLINIST' award from Narada Gana Sabha, `NADA KALA VIPANJEE' award from Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, and `BEST VIOLINST' award from V.D.S. Academy. He also received HONOURARY CITIZENSHIP in US from the city of Baltimore, MD.

Sri GR Praveen - Vocal

Sri GR Praveen holds a BA degree in music from Annamalai University. He has been a professional vocalist for the past 15 years. Praveen has been accompanying dancers for over 3 years now. Has accompanied senior dance professionals in India and abroad. Have been awarded several title such as Isai Kalaimani & Nada Gana Kalaimani