Every time i begin to write, alas, i always presume the topic is vain and so i erase it all. 

Now i have finally decided to write... I was chatting on Fb with my cousin, gayathri, she suggested why not write something on ' why one should smile on stage while performing'. I thought, a good one to start with, so i penning down my views on this. 

Infact as she mentioned, many dancers are not smiling for that has become a fashionable thing to do. In fact i have myself tried it! alas, of only getting comments as, 'she became tired while dancing' or 'why were you so serious', 'probably you dint enjoy as much as we did'...!!! but hey i was only trying out something fashionable! 

Well, many famous and well known dancer smile only occasionally, I personally it looks fabulous on them! It brings energy to the movements and grip to the dance. But definitely not every dancer can carry that off. 

Let us begin with the first piece, an invocatory piece. Here, you appear first time to the audience, so one must smile and be pleasant to welcome them to stay through your show. You must make sure, they are tied to their seats, and this is possible only when the welcome drink is worthy enough to hang around there! 

So, smile, flaunt your 32 teeth and make the piece as gripping and crisp as possible. 

Then we move on to the next, which might be a sloka or verse from any old litreture, a keerthana or swarajathi... here smile suitable to the bhava but just hold on to the energy.. because audience have to stay put till the end. Smile and smile a lot. Let them know you are enjoying yourself. and you are capable to take them along. 

The important now enters.. the varnam. Here, it is very significant for a dancer to hold the sthayi bhava and yet to the abhinaya according to the sanchari and also bring in the nritta jathis interwoven with it! Wow, what a task! This calls for rigorous practice. Smile again, when ever necessary! For instance, when you are talkin to a sakhi asking her to do the favour, you better smile and let her know that you like her a lot and thats why making her an important messenger. and when you are showing her that you are angry on the nayaka, do not show her the real anger, let a tiny bit of your smile remain. When doing the jathi/theernaman/nritta portion, you start with the holding the sthayi bhava on your face and gradually indulge in your nritta and when you are about to end the jathi with mukthayi, let it speak a little about the bhava or when you are doing the arudhi, bring in the sthayi so as to connect it well with the next verse. Do not forget to retain the smile during the nritta. 

Following suit is a padam/ javali... well.. abhinaya is in the fore and ofcourse i can not write how to express! 

The final thillana.... happy ending is always the indian way of completing things. take home the happy stuff... so thillana needs the most energy and the biggest smile. 

In case you want to complete with a sad not, not a problem, its the titanic way. But make sure you come back on stage just to say a thank or pranam with a beautiful smile... it only enhances the sadness of your last item and also makes them think that you have achieved something! 

Smile ever...