Nritta was predominant in Shirisha Shashank’s Bharatanatyam performance for Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, in terms of the fiery nattuvangam (K. Balakrishnan), the jathi patterns in the varnam and thillana (Balakrishnan), and the well-practised, energetic and painstaking execution by the dancer.

The opening piece was the rhythmic Mysore Jathi. Made up of short jathis with steps resembling the alarippu, usually accompanied by a repetitive ‘ta jham ta ta jham ta jham thari’, with a prayer at the end, it was recast with stronger movements adding more nadai bedams (Adi). This was followed by the Sriranjani varnam, ‘Swami nee manam irangi’ (Adi, Papanasam Sivan, visualised by Radha Sridhar). While the third jathi ‘ta deengu’ and the charanam jathi were beautifully rhythmic to the ear, the others were made forceful by the nattuvanar’s skill and energy. The charana swaras were melodic and lively. Balakrishnan has a style of speeding up in the last avarthana to finish dramatically, which he used quite often.