“Sri Vighneswara Vaibhavam”, an original production of Srivaani Kuchipudi Academy performed as a fund-raiser for Vibha is yet anoth er landmark in the growing tradition of classical music and dance in Atlanta. When the “Mangalam” was over, the long and thunderous applause from the house-full capacity of audience is a testament to four years of meticulous choreography and planning by Smt. Revathi Komanduri, and months of dedicated practice by her students.

“This is my humble attempt in furthering the art of Kuchipudi in the best way that I can. It is my offering to my Guru Padmabhushan Dr. Vempati China Satyam garu” said Smt. Komanduri. “With the blessings of Lord Vinayaka and my guru, we presented this dance drama. I am particularly proud today because we presented this ballet with an almost all-girls cast, most of whom were born and raised in this country with the best of values, best of academics and most importantly best of parents. It also gives me immense pleasure because the net proceeds from this program will be given to the child development projects of Vibha, which is striving very hard to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children” she added.

Highlighting the devotion that Smt. Komanduri has for her guru, the dance drama started with an invocation dance, Gurustuti, in his honor describing “Vempati Vaibhavam”.

“The music, choreography, costumes and even the minute details reminded us so much of her guru that it showed how much he became part of the Kuchipudi artist in her” said Dr. Seshu Sarma, who has been familiar with the guru Dr. Chinna Satyam and his work of several decades. She added “Every aspect of the dance drama can only be described in superlatives. In particular, the performances of Vandana Murthy as Gajasura and Archana Dittakavi as Narada are unparalleled. The youngest of all, Shivani at age five showed the nuances in expression of that of a seasoned artist, as baby Vinayaka, and stole the hearts of one and all”.

“The biggest contributor to the success of the drama was the original and authentic music” said Radhika Noori, an art-critique from Tallahassee. The script was written by Sri. Dandibhotla Narayana Murthy for this production and the rich and deep voice of Sri Dandibhotla Venkata Srinavasa Sastry from Hyderabad and the melodious voice of Atlanta’s very own Subhashini Krishnamurthy took the audience to a different world.

The song and dance scene with folk dancers and the Nandi, synchronized by two young artists, brought fresh energy into the ballet. The scene when Shiva beheads the little Vinayaka was stunning and emotional. The excellent timing in lighting and stage management by the stage director, Syam Yellamraju, resulted in the magic created in several key moments.

“Sri Vghneswara Vaibhavam” is the original production of the Srivaani Kuchipudi Dance Academy (http://srivaanikuchipudi.org). The academy had earlier re-produced and participated in several dance dramas like “Menaka Vishwamitra” and “Sivoham Sivoham“. These productions benefited several non-profit organizations and in the same spirit, the net proceeds from this dance drama, expected to be more than $27,000, are donated to Vibha.

Vibha (www.vibha.org) is a volunteer driven non-profit organization that supports child development projects in India, primarily in the field of education. Since its inception, Vibha has raised nearly 8 million dollars and has supported more than 150,000 children through 175 grassroots projects in India and the US. Currently, Vibha is supporting close to 35 projects in India. The complete list is available at http://www.vibha.org/projects.

Thanking the academy for their support to Vibha through this fund-raiser, Sri. Vijay Vemulapalli, Secretary of Vibha said “It was a pleasure working with Smt. Revathi and Sri. Raghu Komanduri. Vibha would like to thank all the parents and the sponsors for their support and TAMA for their help in the publicity efforts. We especially thank the Hindu Temple of Atlanta for co-sponsoring the show.”

Sri. Raghu Komanduri, the event coordinator felicitated Dr. P. V. Rao, Dr. Murthy Komanduri, Dr. Ravi Sarma and Dr. Seshu Sarma, Smt. Subhashini Krishnamurthy, Sri. Syam Yellamraju and Sri. Viju Chiluveru for contributing to the success of the show, on behalf of the academy. The entire experience was best summed up by Dr. P. V. Rao an eminent cultural and literary scholar in the Atlanta community - “Borrowing words from the lyrics of the drama itself, I will say, it is not an exaggeration to describe the event as a feast for the eyes, sweet melody for the ears, satisfaction to the fullness and an amazing performance”.