She came to Goa to perform at the Monte Music Festival trailing the glory of enchanting audiences in Paris, Ireland, Norwich and London in January and February. Thanks to Fundacao Oriente and Mrs A Timblo, Cidade de Goa, we were privileged to experience the irrepressible agility and stamina of this young Bharatnatyam exponent who injects the legendary mythical energy of Lord Shiva into the exquisite and lyrical evocation of stories, emotions, symbols through complex rhythms coupled with intricate body, hand, finger movements and gestures and facial expressions. Pallavi Saran Mathur was a sensation, a stunning revelation, a high point of the festival. She pulled people in and riveted them to their seats.

A few of us, die-hard Western Classical music lovers, hovered on the periphery of the event, feeding our faces and chatting, accepting the event as a pleasant fill-in between “western greats”! Her total beauty was arresting even from a distance. Her grace, elegance and poise was irresistible. The sheer energy of her movements spread over the entire stage together with the rock still postures – incredible “freeze frames” in the midst of lightening leaps, spins and virtuosic body – instilled awestruck admiration.

Then she spoke. Perfect articulation, pronunciation, intonation wrapped up in clarity of voice and content. Her lucid explanation of what she was dancing, the lyrics and the story they unfolded, the symbols and how they were expressed in dance was a revelation. I approached with new-found wonder. Suddenly the doors to this well known dance – Bharatnatyam – were thrown open and I felt compelled to enter because a young 24 year old dedicated artist had projected and shared her enthusiasm and demonstrated her zeal.

Later that night, when only the workers packing away and closing down remained, she had all the time in the world to gush out her irrepressible burning desire to make her art understood, to explain the lyrics, to project the richness of the mythology, the theology and the philosophy. Vinny Timblo and I stood entranced as the wealth of knowledge and love for her art flowed easily, Pallavi desperately trying and succeeding to abbreviate and simplify the extensive research that was housed within the very essence of her being. Her eyes sparkled in the dark and her words glowed as they sprang to life. The hands on the face of time moved relentlessly past midnight, unnoticed.

For her, “ India is a symbol of Divinity”. She laments that most of her friends have “no rootedness” in Indian culture and have no time “to stop to appreciate the Art, the rich Tradition of India because the grass is always greener somewhere else.” She is the Delhi State Tai Kwon Do champion and is a very modern young lady who has maintained the balance between cultures and attained the essential Indian poise. She is steeped in tradition and adores her Gurus who deserve all the accolades. She has been praised as an astounding disciple of India’s legendary dancer/guru Padma Vibhushan Sonal Singh with whom she has trained for 14 years.

She started as solo artist in July 2003 and after one year, was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi National Award in August 2004. Ravi Shankar recognised her as an “upcoming artist” and critics at home and abroad have showered her with praise. Her performances bear the stamp of precise exactness, commitment to detail, a devout respect to rich tradition and a total dedication to the full expression of her art. Her “Indianness” stands out.

On stage, her footwork pounded the rhythms establishing connectivity with mother earth, the body movements, gestures, patterns carved the symbolic postures, her facial expressions projected an infinite variety of emotions and her large lively eyes captured the wonder of it all. I sat entranced while I pieced together the rich images and symbols that she projected with extreme rapidity and clarity. Tchaikowsky’s “ Swan Lake” was child’s play compared to the intensity and richness of Pallavi’s rhythmic, lyrical, poetic, symbolic, spiritual and dynamic performance. That night, she pushed away the walls of Western Classical music and threw open the doors to a wonderful experience of traditional Indian creativity.