Srimukhi's Bharatanatyam Arangetram at Ravindra Bharathi

PUSHPANJALI - GAMBHEERA NATTAI - ADI

This item as the name indicates is an offering of flowers'to the Lord, paying the dancer's respects to the Guru, the orchestra and the audience

1.ALARIPPU - TISRAM

Alarippu or Alarimpu - means flowering out. In this invocatory item, the dance pays obeisance to the elements around her using her body as a vehicle of prayer.

2.DEVI STUTHI - KARNATAKA DEVAGANDHARI - ADI

This item is in praise of Devi. She is described as the Goddess of the 500 Peethas in the sub-continent, representing the 50 Aksharas in Sanskrit. She is prayed to as Rajarajeswari, Meenakshi the beloved of Shiva, the world Mother, she is the one whom the Gods and the Munis bow to. She is beyond space and time, the one in whom Bhava, Raga and Tala, the essence of m.usic and dance rests, the supreme mother to whom the Bhaktas bow to
3.VARNAM - TODI - ADI

The varnam is the piece-de-resistance of a Bharatanatyam recital, and is composed of Nritta, Nritya and Natya. In this varnam a composition of the Tanjore Brothers, - the nayika says - I have seen your beautiful form and fallen deeply in love with thee.

Seeing you, adorned with snakes and ashes, dressed in a tiger skin, holding the fire and damaru, while you dance, Thyagaraja - O Shiva - I have fallen in love with your Saguna Rupa. Even Brahma and Vishnu, searched high and low to seek and understand your Nirguna Rupa.

Why are you angry and indifferent with me? 0 Thyagaraja, you who destroy every evil and maya, of mankind please come and accept me. 0 Handsome One, you who are equivalent to a million Mannathas, I am wasting away having been the target of cupid's arrows. 0 please Thyagaraja, come and accept me.

4.ANNAMACHARYA KRITI - ITHADE PARABRAHMA- RITIGOWLA - ADI - \ In the sylvan and holy seven hills of Tirumala, Annamacharya, lived, a deepJy devoted life, translating his immense love for Lord Venkateswara, into . ’innumerable gems of poetry and music.

Spanning the narrative and the evocative, the temporal and the philosophical, the social and the moral Annamacharya Sankeerthanas , with the felicity of his poetry and the genius w his*/nM£i?aIity, are at once, incredibly simple, yet immensely powerful.

The lyrical beauty and the musical genius of Saint Annamacharya, has beckoned many of us often.
Annamacharya is said to have composed as many as 32,000 sankeertanas (written on Palm Leaves - Taala Patra) in praise of his beloved Lord Venkateswara, of which, around 12,000, later etched on copper plates were discovered in a small room within the Tirumala temple complex in 1922.

Of these, around 1500 sankeerthanas, have been set to music by maestro composers such as : Sri Nedunuri Krishna Murthy, Dr. Mangalampalli Bala Murali Krishna, Smt. Srirangam Gopalarathnam, Sri Garimella Balakrishna Prasad, and several other musician composers.

Early in 2010, well known musician, Satthiraju Venu Madhav, released a Book and CD named Annamayya Pada-Mandakini - on 108 hitherto unheard. sankeertanas - entirely composed and sung by him.

Annamacharya composed many a song on the various incarnations of Mahavishnu, the Avatara purusha One such Kirtana is on Sri Rama .

This very lyrical song captures the entire story of the Ramayana in brief and lucid verse, with exquisite detailing of the main episodes of the Ramayana: Sita Kalayanam, Shurpanakha Bhangam, Vali Vadham, Sethu Bandhanam, Rama Ravana Yudham and the Pattabhishekam Ithade Parabrahma Idiye Ramakatha

5.THILLANA - MOHANA KALYANI - ADI

This Thillana is the most brilliant and grand item in Bharatanatya recital, composed of jathi patterns, graceful and statuesque postures. This Thillana is in praise of Lord Muruga, and is a composition of the Violin Maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman