Bragha Bessell and students performed at Soorya Festival

Nearly 50 dance aficionados from across South India performed at the ongoing Soorya Festival at Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday after attending a ten-day-long abhinaya workshop conducted by eminent dancer Bragha Guruswamy Bessell. She took sessions on varnam, jathi, jawali and bhajan to young and old bharathanatyam learners. Those attended include students, teachers and artistes.

Bragha had her initial training under late guru Mangudi Durairaj Iyer and did her arangetram in 1966 at the Chidambaram temple. She learnt for nearly 15 years from late guru Kunchitapadam Pillai and honed her knowledge of Bharatanatyam under eminent gurus Adyar K Lakshman (nritta), Kalanidhi Narayanan (abhinaya) and late guru Kamalarani (nattuvangam).

Here are a few pictures of the performance
Pictures: Satheeshan Karicheri