Leelavati, presented by the Mumbai-based Smitalay, was performed at the Balgandharva Rangmandir on Sunday. It has been conceived, visualised, choreographed and directed by Paranjpe herself. Introducing the concept at the beginning of the performance, she said,`` At the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1995, we were requested to present a shloka from Leelavati in the dance form and the performance was immensely appreciated. That experience helped us conceive a full-length ballet.''

Leelavati, the daughter of Bhaskaracharya, sets out at dawn to collect flowers for her puja. Her father accompanies her and on their little sojourn, poses mathematical questions to her. Only 11 verses were depicted from the book of 261 verses, including the initial invocation of Ganesha and the concluding dance in praise of Leelavati's wisdom. A herd of elephants, a swarm of bees, a crop of lotuses, a flock of swans are all objects for some mathematical derivation, transformed into dance. "From a heap of lotuses, one-third are offered to Shankar, a fifth to Vishnu, one-sixth to the Sun God and one-fourth to the goddess. The remainder of six lotuses are laid at the feet of the guru. Tell me the total count,'' asks Bhaskaracharya, when they visit the temple.

He sees a beautiful peacock and his agile brain throws up a geometrical sum. On the way back home, when Leelavati expresses a desire to drink water from a well, he immediately poses a problem on the water in the well. And so on and so forth, until poor Leelavati has no inclination for more riddles. The mathematical questions were posed in Sanskrit (sung by the mellifluous Ravindra Sathe) and answered in English by his daughter, straddling two centuries so far apart, quite comfortably.

Fractions, multiplications, roots, factorials, the Pythagoras theorem, permutations and combinations, were all enlightened through dance, choreographed with great thought and innovation by Paranjpe. The sequence of the swarming bees was charming and the dream sequence simply excellent. Litterateur and creative consultant Vasant Bapat translated the 11 shlokas into Marathi with sheer grace for the audience. He recited them at the outset of the programme. The music by city-based Anand Modak with snatches of Vivaldi's Four Seasons woven into the compositions was one of the highlights.Mitali Kamat's portrayal of Leelavati was full of innocence, charm and grace. To complement her, Pratikant Mahapatra (son of Odissi great Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra) played Bhaskaracharya. And Bharatnatyam dancer Rahul D'Souza, who plays the lover in Leelavati's dream deserves mention. With effortless ease, he performed in the Odissi genre. The audience was ecstatic. Hindustani classical maestro Bhimsen Joshi, who attended the programme, was felicitated.