JOIN USThe capital witnessed dancer/choreographer Geeta Chandran’s innovative endeavour encouraging young artistes with Natya Vriksha’s ‘Young Dancers Festival’, at the India International Centre Auditorium during the weekend. On the occasion of the World Dance Day celebrations, Chandran said, “Dancers are the dance! And I am delighted that so many dancers are here to celebrate dance...”
There was a galaxy of dancers and dance scholars, who had come together at the IIC to participate in the World Dance Day 2015, celebrations.
To name a few veterans who were present were, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Guru Singhajit Singh, Guru Bharati Shivaji and dancers Justin McCarthy, Prerana Shrimali, Jayalakshmi Eshwar and Pratibha Prahlad. Young dancers like Aarushi Mudgal, Monisa Nayak, Sneha Charadhar, Sharanya Chandran also graced the stage. Dr Kapila Vatsyayan, Pavan K Varma, Arshiya Sethi and critics like Leela Venkataraman, Manjari Sinha and Shanta Serbjeet Singh were also present during the show.
The grand two-day ‘Celebration of 40 Years of Dance!’ event regaled the city from April 25 to 26. The six sessions were jam-packed with audience looking forward to a true-blue classical dance experience. The first day comprised three sessions that included the launch of dance critic Leela Venkataraman’s book “Indian Classical Dance: The Renaissance and Beyond”, followed by Navadarshanam Performance of group choreographies by senior dancers of Natya Vriksha Dance Company and screening of International film Vara, directed by renowned international filmmaker (Rinpoche) Khyentse Norbu from Bhutan, in which Bharatanatyam exponent Geeta Chandran plays the role of a devadasi.
On the second day the audience enjoyed the ‘Dharohar Bharatanatyam performance by Natya Vriksha Dance Company Next’, ‘Rasa in Dance – Inspiration and Imagination –an illustrated talk by Guru Lakshmi Vishwanathan (Chennai), Kuchipudi performance by T Reddi Lakshmi (disciple of gurus Jayarama Rao and Vanashree Rao) and Kathak performance by Vishal Krishna of Benares.
Lakshmi took the rasikas on a journey of imagined and real beauty through his talk
on Rasa in dance which progressed from the theory to practice of exploring and drawing inspiration in dance from parallels in other art forms.
April 29 was marked as World Dance Day in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute, to commemorate the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre, a French dancer and ballet master and a great reformer of dance.
Chandran’s World Dance Day, has indeed inspired the audience to empathise with Samuel Beckett’s enunciation, “Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.”