The day just after Vijayadashami, through rains and quintessential Bangalore traffic, people from all parts of the city had gathered at Seva Sadhan in Malleshwaram. Preksha Gupta, a young dancer from Lucknow, took to the ranga/dance-arena to present what appeared to be a sincerely practised margam: months of work distilled into one evening of resilience and expression.
Inside the arena, the fragrance of jasmine cut through the rain-dampened air. A well-decorated Nataraja idol anchored the stage, garlanded and lit. The hall filled with a particular kind of energy: warm, expectant, generous. This was an audience that wanted her to succeed.
But more than that, it was clear this performance rested on collective effort. The imprint of Acharya Smt. Indira Kadambi’s pedagogy was visible not just in the dancing to come, but in the very structure of the evening; she has a way of seeing what is distinctive in each student and directing it—not only into their dance and their artistry, but also in the roles they inhabit offstage.
This was not merely an audience; it was a village. Friends-turned-crew moved with quiet efficiency—managing lights, coordinating entries, steadying nerves—their seamlessness a testament to months of shared investment. The energy they cultivated was palpable: protective, generous, expectant. It created a sanctuary within which Preksha could step into the ranga, not as a solitary performer, but as an artist held by her people, ready to share the culmination of discipline, devotion, and the particular vulnerability that comes from offering one’s process to witness.
Preksha opened her margam with a shloka in praise of Goddess Mahalakshmi. She was able to effectively embody the qualities of the goddess and bring her presence to the stage, an avahanam of sorts.
This was followed by a spectacularly constructed Alaripu in Mishra Triputa, strung together in 11s. Choreographed by Acharya Smt. Indira Kadambi and composed by Shri. G. S. Nagaraj, the alaripu held a special space in tying at once the attention of the performer, orchestra and audience, having to collectively hold the exact pauses and moments it demanded. It struck a chord for both the trained and untrained connoisseur, through the simultaneously playful and grounded quality of its movements, alongside rhythmic complexity.
Preksha’s body needed time to find its ease during the early sequences—the kind of initial tightness that loosens with stage experience and will likely dissolve in performances to come.
Sri K.N. Dandayudhapani Pillai’s Varnam in Raga Kharaharapriya followed, which now brought Preksha into the role of a lovelorn nayika in conversation with her sakhi. The scenario was intimate, almost contemporary: the cadence of women talking in late-night dorm rooms, café corners, or sleepover confidences. The jathis patterns were clear and confidently executed, providing rhythmic scaffolding for the abhinaya passages.
One could see evidently the nuances Preksha has inherited from her acharya as she moved from idea to idea, measured transitions between emotional registers, a building of layers rather than broad gestures. The movement between ideas was thoughtful, emotions layered rather than announced. The piece is still revealing itself to her, and she to it: a relationship that will likely yield richer interpretations with time and repeated engagement.
‘Thumak Chalat Ramachandra’, a Tulsidas bhajan, specially choreographed for Preksha’s recital, was the heart of the evening. All in the audience will attest to it being perhaps one of the greatest interpretations of the Bhajan, done with such beauty, care and thoughtfulness. The choreography traced tender moments of bonding between a young woman and Sree Rama as a toddler, just beginning to walk. She so accurately depicted Sree Rama taking his first steps -being coaxed to crawl further with a bangle spun like a top, stumbling forward, discovering movement. Preksha beautifully balanced these details with precision and tenderness, balancing the everyday with the divine: the mundane made sacred, the sacred made immediate.
Every single member of the audience, orchestra and crew related to the piece thoroughly and was moved by the simplicity, honesty and ingenuity of the piece. It was a true hallmark of Preksha’s calibre, her capacity for sensitive interpretation and the care with which her acharya had shaped this work to her particular strengths.
Preksha then ventured into the Kshetrayya padam, ‘indendu vachitivira?’, marking the point where Guru Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan’s influence—channelled through Acharya Smt. Indira Kadambi—became unmistakable and revealed thoroughly. Preksha held the character steadily, performing with an ease that spoke of thorough preparation. To carry this lineage forward is no small inheritance; she wore it well.”
The thillana brought the evening to its peak. The choreography was distinctive—responding moment-to-moment to Dr. Balamuralikrishna’s composition in raga Kadanakuthoohalam, swara matched to movement, phrase to pattern Preksha sustained excellent stamina throughout the piece and executed it almost flawlessly, with great fervour and ease.
The integration of karanas throughout the margam was a lovely touch.
The orchestra certainly deserves a mention. Smt. Indira Kadambi on Nattuvangam took great ownership of the recital, anchoring the orchestra – consisting of: Shri Abhiram Bode on vocals, Shri Vinay Nagarajan on Mridangam, Shri Prashanth R. P. on Veena and Shri Nithish Ammannaya on Flute. While the orchestra was brilliant in their own right, one sensed that a deeper responsiveness of the orchestra to the dancer could have elevated the entire performance. Each musician was accomplished, but the performance could have reached further with tighter dialogue between orchestra and dancer.
Extension of the production team—Satish (videography), Kiran Raj (makeup), Bhiju MP (photography), Sri Ravi (lighting design), and Radhika and Apeksha of Ambalam (compering)—ensured the technical elements functioned smoothly.
To have watched Preksha develop under Acharya Smt. Indira Kadambi’s tutelage is to understand that the resilience visible throughout the evening was hard-earned—not a given, but a deliberate manifestation of intent.
There is a particular kind of attention one brings to a performance when you know the hours behind it—neither indulgent nor harsh, but acutely aware of the journey between preparation and presentation.
When asked, Preksha says, “I celebrate this milestone with gratitude, and I’m ready for new challenges and new journeys ahead. My first solo performance on stage has shown me how much it truly takes – not just dancing, but dedication every single day. And this experience is one I will always cherish as l continue forward, happily striving to achieve more in life.”. One hopes to see a lot more of Preksha as she continues to discover her inner landscape. Her sincerity, honesty and trust in her acharya shone through!
A review by Neeharika Patnam
Neeharika Patnam is a Bangalore-based Bharatanatyam practitioner. She is a disciple of Padmabhushan Naatyacharyas The Dhananjayans and is currently under the mentorship of Acharya Smt. Indira Kadambi. She is an engineer, a trained educator (Trained to work with age groups: birth to 3, 6 to 12 and 12 to 18) leading the humanities wing at an alternative learning space, a graphic designer, a full-stack developer and is currently pursuing the Terra climate fellowship. She is a consultant for Pratham’s world-bank funded S.A.L.T. project that works with the Andhra Pradesh government to improve NEP implementation across the state. She is most ‘at-home’ in the mountains: climbing, trekking and reflecting!
