Passion for the art form has bound together dancers of all genres into a community. Ahead of World Dance Day on April 29, budding and seasoned classical dance practitioners will take to the stage to perform, discuss and teach various aspects of this performing art in the Capital. Curated by Bharatanatyam guru Geeta Chandran, the two-day dance festival returns after a hiatus of two years.
A Koodiyattam workshop by Kalamandalam Krishnendu, enshrining satwika abhinaya, is free and open for all dancers of all classical styles. Kerala-based Krishnendu shares, “The students will learn how the face can be mobilized to express the innermost human sentiments, in the nav rasa of satwika abhinaya. Why we have kept it open to everyone is because all dancers or theatre practitioners can be helped to refine their facial expressions.”
The organizer and curator Geeta Chandran, explains how the rest of the program is an eclectic mix of diverse formats, all surrounding dance. “It’s been 15 years since we’ve been having the World Dance Day celebrations, and we’re happy to be back after two years of Covid. We have traditional pieces with challenging repertoire being performed at the festival. We have an interesting discussion on group choreography, because now there’s more and more demand for it. It will have greats like Madhavi Mudgal, Shama Bhate, Anita Ratnam, Vanashree Rao, and Sanjeev Bhargava in conversation,” she says.
A conversation on the 30 years of dance portal Narthaki, which is one of the earliest dance portals from India on the web, will also take place at the festival. Performances by Kalamandalam Krishnendu (Koodiyattam), Sowmya Laxmi Narayanan (Bharatanatyam), Lipsa Satpathy (Odissi) and Abhimanyu Lal (Kathak) also part of the festival.
Kathak dancer Abhimanyu Lal, who concludes this festival of dance, shares, “For any dancer, performing on World Dance Day is a big thing. I’m happy that I’m getting to conclude the festival, and while the performance will be for an hour, since it’s the last event, I am hoping it goes on for longer, and audiences immerse themselves in my act, in which I also get to sing for 8-10 minutes as part of the ‘Katha Kahe So Kathak.”
Catch It Live
What: World Dance Day festival 2022
Where: India International Centre, 40 Lodhi Estate
When: April 22-23
Timing: 10am onwards
Nearest Metro Station: Khan Market on the Violet Line
Author tweets @siddhijainn
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