With the flick of a kohled eye and turn of the wrist, Rama Vaidyanathan brought to life a whole pantheon of Hindu gods.
Her dance form, Bharata Natyam, was performed in south Indian temples for thousands of years and is still as much an act of worship as it is theatre.
Rama used its subtle, controlled motions and her incredibly expressive face to portray the god Krishna seducing village girls or a peacock strutting delicately across the stage.
Her most wonderful dance showed the cycle of life and death with Shiva, god of destruction and his other half Parvathi, goddess of creation.
One side of Ramas body adopted Shivas strong, masculine movements while the Parvathi side was the essence of sensual femininity.
Accompanied by vocals, flute and mridangam drum, she turned the theatre into a dance temple. If there is a high priestess of Bharata Natyam, it should be Rama.
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