Presented by the Indian Embassy in Washington.
By Surekha Vijh
Priyadarshini Shome, an accomplished Indian classical and contemporary dancer/choreographer, presented an unusual blend of dance, lecture and demonstration, in Washington, DC, and Maryland. The artist’s excellent performances captivated audience for two hours with her impeccable performance.
The four-part performance by Shome in Washington, DC, on February 26 and at the Gandhi Memorial Center in Maryland, on February 27 was presented by the Embassy of India in Washington, DC.
The performances comprised of traditional Ganesh, Shiva and Sarasvati invocation and popular enchantress dance. It highlighted the Natya Sastra (ancient dance knowledge base) and Indian Sanskrit performance techniques which that are in a way, a complete Yogic System of embodied practice.
Shome, a visiting Faculty at Brown University, .explained the relation between the dance, the dancer and the audience. It leads to an ultimate rasa or aesthetic evocation both for the performer and the spectator. Shome is trained in Bharatha Natyam, Mohini Attam and Kathakali.
Her performances have received critical acclaim. As a choreographer, she deals with detailed research and often produces the fusion of lyrics with dance. It’s in the dance style of Mohini Attam she is reckoned as an expert worldwide and in that style she was trained under Kalamandalam Kalyani Kutty Amma in Tripunithura, Kerala.
Shome is a disciple of the legendary Guru Padmabhushan Kalanidhi Narayanan, with intensive training in abhinaya.