Thillana - Hamsanandi | Preethi Shankar | Bharatanatyam Dance | Lakshmi Ramaswamy's Sri Mudhraalaya

A Tillana or thillana is a rhythmic piece in Bharatanatyam repertoire that is generally performed at the end of a concert and widely used in classical indian dance performances. A Tillana uses tala-like phrases in the pallavi and anupallavi, and lyrics in the charanam.
We present Hamsanandi Thillana composed by Sangita Kalanidhi G. N Balasubramanian and choreographed by Padmasri Smt. Chitra Visweswaran, on this auspicious day of Mahalaya; a Tillana that propitiates Devi performed by Preethi Shankar, a senior disciple of Sri Mudhraalaya.

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Dr. Lakshmi Ramaswamy:
Dr. Lakshmi Ramaswamy is a Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher and a choreographer. Her Bharatanatyam dance institution Sri Mudhraalaya is now 25 years old. Lakshmi Ramaswamy is a US Fulbright Fellow (2000), a Senior Fellow at the Ministry of Culture (India), recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Award - Kalaimamani (2017) and a ‘Top’ graded artist of Doordarshan.
The 1st doctorate in Bharatanatyam from the department of music at the University of Madras, she serves in the same as a Guest Faculty and has conducted many Indian Classical dance workshops and lectures in Chennai, Kolkata, U S and Canada.
She has written Bharatanatyam course books for Annamalai and Alagappa University & course material for Prayathnam as well. She is a consultant for Alagappa University and is invited to play the role of an examiner by several-dance institutions and regional selection committees.
Bharatanatyam dancer, Lakshmi Ramaswamy has also authored Bharatanatyam books for dance students, researchers and art readers.

Sri Mudhraalaya:
Started in the year 1994, Sri Mudhraalaya is a registered society with satellite institutions headed by her students, in different parts of Chennai.
The institution offers group and individual classes that aims at: holistic training in practical dancing, theory and exercises, nattuvangam, costume design and makeup, backstage management, stage presentation, production assistance, lighting, choreography and teachers training.
That is why many Students of Sri Mudhraalaya, today are independent dance teachers who have in turn conducted Arangetrams of their students.
It gives wide scope to serious learners by encouraging them to perform at prestigious festivals especially the Chennai music and dance festival. Some of them are establishing themselves as marked soloists, PhD scholars and Graded artists in India.
Sri Mudhraalaya offers Scholarship to outstanding students; ‘Suvidhyaarthi’ to deserving students has also been instituted.

Preethi Shankar:
Preethi Shankar, a senior disciple of Dr. Lakshmi Ramaswamy's Sri Mudhraalaya holds a Master's degree in Bharatanatyam. She is a B grade artist in Doordashan and runs her own dance school. She is also working as a faculty at Sri Mudhraalaya while undergoing an intensive bharatanatyam training with Dr. Lakshmi.

Bharatanatyam:
Bharatanatyam is one of the 8 classical dance forms of India. Originally from Tamil Nadu, it is now practiced throughout the world and is a popular genre in many Indian Dande Festivals. The Bharatanatyam dancer is accompanied with the Nattuvangam, Violin, Mridangam and the Flute along with the Vocal rendition during a Bharatanatyam performance. Originally performed mainly in temple dance, this Indian dance form has now spread across languages, genres, religion and boundaries. A regular Bharatanatyam repertoire consists of an Alarippu, Jathiswaram, Sabdam, Varnam, Padam and a Thillana. The Tanjore Quartet is supposed to have formulated the present day repertoire.
You must have heard the names - Rukmini Devi, Leela Samson, Priyadarshini Govind, Alarmel Valli, Rukmini Vijaykumar, Parshwanath Upadhyay, The Dhananjayan, Prof C V Chandrasekhar, they all come under eminent Bharatanatyam artistes.
Bharatanatyam is an Important Dance Style and is performed in Indian dance festivals & Indian Cultural Events. Dance has always been an integral form of Indian Heritage, Culture & Tradition. Indian Classical Dance Forms have also found their way into the commercial Indian Film Industry. Dance music videos in various Indian are also inspired by Traditional Dance Forms & Classical Dance Styles.
Today, Bharatanatyam has also been integrated with Kollywood, Mohiniattam with Mollywood, Kuchipudi with Telugu Film Industry - Tollywood, Odissi with Ollywood, Kathak with Bollywood, Kannada & Malayalam Feature Films by the Respective Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood & Mollywood Industry.
People Learn Bharatanatyam in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, USA, UK, Europe, Canada and all other parts of the World.