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| Dances of India - Bharata Natyam Arangetram Dances | 
 enlarge | Director: David Morrison
Actor: Padma Chebrolu
Studio: Cultural Centre of India LLC
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $37.07
You Save: $2.92 (7%)
New (3) from $37.07
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 85213
Format: Color, Digital Sound, Dolby, Full Screen, Surround Sound, Ntsc
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 60
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 803180100399
EAN: 0803180100399
ASIN: B000182NNI
Release Date: December 18, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Horrible American "Bharatanatyam" June 11, 2006
17 out of 23 found this review helpful
First of all, P.Chebrolu's "Guru Brahma" Shlokam will be a surprise for anyone who has seen Bharatanatyam arangetrams in South India (you can watch some on YouTube). Not a single Bharatnatyam recital in Chennai sounds or looks like it at all. Manikya Veena sounds and looks more like an attempt at an Odissi recital.
Of course, we cannot expect from a middle-aged and totally unfit American "dancer" to demonstrate the movements with the full amplitude and agility displayed by such young virtuosos as Medha Hari or Archana Raja in their DVDs, but the cold Alarippu was performed as if it were a tired 80-year-old woman dancing there. Most of the movements were SIMPLIFIED versions. In Alarippu, while holding her hands parallel to the ground, Padma moved her elbows instead of shoulders, without even being able to maintain her torso still! And nobody joins their hands above their heads in such a funny manner.
What struck me was the frozen expressions on Padma's face, as if she forgot the main difference between ballet and Bharatanatyam. Most of the expressions were simply INADEQUATE by the Indian standards. At the end of Padam, we see the concluding static pose that is simply horrible!
In Padam and Sabdam the expected bhavas were simply absent. Throughout the video, Padma's abhinaya was close to an absolute zero. In Thillana, the dancer could not even maintain the tempo and the laya was ridiculously inadequate.
Padma Chebrolu, a full-time software engineer with an MBA, as we read it here, "attended several gurus and mastered Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Andhra Natyam, Mohini Attam and other classical dance styles". It strikes me how "professional" the people who move to the USA suddenly feel after attending a few dance workshops in India.
In India, people are usually more modest and do not proclaim themselves as "masters of all classical Indian dance styles" because every idiot in India knows that it is impossible to "master" even one style (certainly not while getting an MBA and working full-time as a software engineer!) in 20-30 years' of intensive practice.
I bought this DVD from Amazon, and wonder how many more stiff-bodied, overweight American "Bharatanatyam" dancers will dare to make a laughing stock out of themselves.
 Regarding authenticity of "Bharata Natyam" March 7, 2006
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
I somewhat disagree with the previous reviewer (Raja Srinivasan). Padma Chebrolu does know a bit of what authentic Bharatanatyam is.
Even if this DVD can hardly compare in "authenticity" with DVDs like Natya Samarpanam, at least, unlike Anita Ratnam (who also released a Bharata Natyam DVD), Padma Chebrolu does not write something like:
"...am also very happy to see a good student of our guru Sri Adyar Lakshman continue the parampara. I know that SIr is always asking me to 'return' to Bharatanatyam, but my journey has gone too far away to return."
(taken from http://www.narthaki.com/bboard/messages5/20829.html)
Terrible! March 4, 2006
12 out of 17 found this review helpful
This video is terrible. The music is horrible. The dancer has no idea of what classical Bharatanatayam means. The depictions are so horrible that defies description. I consider this a total waste of my hard earned money! If you are looking for something worth while go and buy Bharatanatayam Abhinaya by Priyadarshini Govind. (PS. I am not related or connected in any way with either of these artists other than the fact I paid for these 2 sets of DVDs).
 Great for practice February 27, 2006
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
For a consultant like me, always on the move, the "Dances of India" series is the next best thing to instructor led classes.
I started with the basics from the "Learning Bharata Natyam" dvd, which details all the basic steps and Mudras.
The Arangetram dvd is excellent in both instruction and quality.
Compared with other Bharata Natyam DVDs, this one is definitely not a bargain! February 24, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Arangetram is supposed to be a complete margam. Basically, you can watch any full recital and get an idea of what an arangetram is.
Among the Bharatnatyam DVDs, P.Chebrolu's DVD is the most expensive. Unless the image/sound quality is your primary consideration, it cannot stand comparison with, for example, some of the Drishya Bharatham DVDs, which are priced at 3 times less.
As for the perfection of the technique and the demonstrations, well, P.Chebrolu's DVDs cannot stand any comparison with some young virtuosos' like Medha Hari's.
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