Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose in EXPOSITION OF ABHINAYA (public event)

"Flashing hands painting poetry in the air...a feast for the eyes and ears" SJ Mercury News.

Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose, the Bay Area's premier South Indian classical dance company presents the Next Generation of bharanatyam dance-artists: Rasika Kumar, Malavika Kumar, Anjana Dasu, Sindhu Natarajan, Yatrika Ajaya, and Lakshmi Venkatesan.

Presented in the Bharatanatyam-style, The Exposition of Abhinaya features solo portrayals by company dancers of abhinaya - the art of expression.

In Indian classical dance, nritya or expressional dance is an important aspect of the dance wherein through facial expression and the stylized language of gestures; the dancer portrays stories from Indian mythology as well as the universal emotions of love, jealousy, fear, wonder, anger, grief, and compassion.

These emotions are best brought to the fore through special classical music compositions such as padams, javalis, devotional hymns (slokas) and lyrics (bhajans).

A padam is usually an expression of divine love, where the heroine (nayika) yearns for the Supreme Being (the nayaka or hero). A javali is a more light-hearted lyric in melody and verse that deals with wordly and mundane love. Devotional hymns and bhajans portray the devotees’ praise of Hindu deities through mythological episodes and pleadings to obtain the god’s blessing. In addition, heroines are portrayed expressing varied moods towards their lovers such as affection, confidence, repentance, and annoyance.

In this performance by Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose, Next Generation dancers Rasika Kumar, Malavika Kumar, Anjana Dasu, Sindhu Natarajan, Yatrika Ajaya, and Lakshmi Venkatesan will each present one of the above compositions.