It was an absolutely delightful experience to be a part of the Raindrops Festival this year, curated with a lot of love and passion by veteran Kathak dancer Smt. Uma Dogra and her Samved Society for Performing Arts. I was invited to perform on the opening day of this two day festival held on the 14th & 15th of July, 2018 at Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi, Mumbai.
In her review of my performance in The Statesman, critic Manjari Sinha writes, “Sneha Chakradhar, a dedicated disciple of Kalaimamani Guru K N Dakshinamurthy and Guru Geeta Chandran, fascinated the audience with her absorbing stage presence, chiseled Angashuddhi and consummate Abhinaya during her Bharatanatyam recital Shiva-Darshan, right from the invocatory Rudrashtakam to the rare Ninda-Stuti for Shiva- “Idai kandani…”, a Tamil song translated into Hindi by her poet father Ashok Chakradhar, “Toone usme kya dekha jo dil de baithi…?” where a sarcastic Maina (Parvati’s mother), describing the attributes of Shiva in a negative way, questions her daughter: “What did you see in that fellow that you fell so passionately in love with him?” Sneha received thunderous applause when she concluded with scintillating Rageshri Thillana.”
The review of the entire festival can be read here.
Chandra Anand, another critic reviewed the festival on narthaki.com, which can be read here.
Senior artist Subodh Poddar present in the audience, made the experience even more precious by creating line-drawings as I danced on stage. He posted the following images on Facebook with this comment: “She danced like a sculpture crafted out of Bronze from the Cholas. I saw Bharatnatyam this evening that was not only geometrically perfect. It was amazing with human errors that made Sneha’s dance soft and supple. Powerful at the required places. Well balanced Bharatnatyam at the Raindrops dance festival that started today.”
