Photos by Gobenath

Over 125 local residents gathered at the Sandy Springs Library off Mt. Vernon Road to celebrate Diwali with music and dance on November 6th, 2010. Shannon Duffy, youth coordinator at the library, organizes a Diwali celebration by reading books on the festival and Hinduism to young readers.

This year, The Narasimha Academy of Arts helmed by Preeti Shah, was invited to present an hour and a half segment on music and dance with the younger students of her academy. Over 47 participants between the ages of 5 and 13 presented Carnatic kritis, bhajans and Bharathanatyam dance items. The show emceed by Srividya Janakiraman, began with an invocation song and was followed by a traditional diya dance. In the program kritis by Thyagaraja and Dikshitar were performed by boys and girls alike. Traditional dance items like a Kauthuvam, Allarippu, Jatiswaram and Keerthanams were showcased. Recent Arangetram graduate, Roshni Kailar presented a solo dance piece on Lord Ganesha and senior student Kritika Subramanian presented a Jatiswaram in the Mohiniattam style of dance. Under the direction and tutelage of Guru Preeti Shah, the students performed with grace and confidence. Most audience members had to be turned away as the library had reached full capacity in the performance space. 

Shannon Duffy thanked Preeti Shah for the audio-visual treat on Diwali and promised the audience more events such as this at the library for all local residents to enjoy. 

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