Swarali Pande performed her Arangetram, the traditional solo debut performance of Bharat Natyam dance, at the Dorothy Winston Centre in Auckland on Sunday, February 28.
Swarali performed ten dances based on her pure classical syllabus and demonstrated different moods and emotions of all sorts of ‘Bhava’s in her nrityabhinaya. She presented equally spectacular poses and “bhavamudras” whether it was for Lord Shiva, Durga or as a mother.
With her graceful and expressive performance Swarali mesmerised the audience in a way that the audience stayed back late till the very end of the show, even though it was on a Sunday night. Swarali received tremendous appreciation and blessings from the audience – some having been moved to tears by her emotional performance.
Noted flute maestro Ronu Majumdar who was in the city for his own performance was the chief guest at the Arangetram.
This was a true test for Swarali. With vigorous practice sessions for the show, the young performer unfortunately developed a big blister under her heel on the day before her show, which only got worse on Saturday and posed difficulty in walking.
On Sunday, some three-and-a-half hours before the show, Swarali was at a medical centre to have it attended to. She was treated for it and as a consequence had to despite the pain and the dressing on her foot.
Swarali is a Blockhouse Bay resident and is a Lynfield College student where she is an active member of the Indian cultural group. Swarali as well has taken singing lessons and performed on stage for vocal music performances. She also loves tennis and cricket.
She had her preliminary dance lessons in India for one-and-a-half years before coming to Auckland. Here in Auckland, Swarali is a student of well-known and respected dance guru Mrs Anuradha Ramkumar for more than 6 years. Swarali is very thankful to her Guru for guiding her through out this journey.
