JOIN USOn the occasion of 9th World Dance Day, Bharatanatyam dancer Geeta Chandran celebrated the nuances of Indian dance traditions. She presented young and talented dancers of different genres, including her disciple Aditi Balasubramanian, who mesmerised the audiences at a two-day festival.
The festival opened with a Kutiyattam dance by Kalamandalam Sangeeth Chakiar, rated as one of the most prominent young artistes of this form today. With a perfection in both abhinaya and mudra, his dance piece presented a story in which Sangeeth played the role of Raavan. Kalamandalam has been trained at the Kerala Kalamandalam under Guru Kalamandalam Painkulam Rama Chakiar.
The second performance of day one was a Kathak recital by Swati Sinha, a disciple of Pt Rajendra Gangani. Having learnt the nuances of the Jaipur style of Kathak, Swati is one of the foremost practitioners of this classical form today.
The second day’s celebration began with 12-year old Aditi Balasubramanian’s performance who has been a student of Geeta Chandran at Natya Vriksha for the past five years. The child prodigy gave a fine Bharatanatyam performance.
The last was a Sattriya piece by Anwesa Mahanta, who is known for her grace, liveliness and expressions. Belonging to the Vaisnava monastery of
Assam, Anwesa has been learning, researching and interpreting Sattriya dance,
music and theatre for almost 20 years.
Geeta Chandran said the event ‘Young Dancers Festival’ was an endeavour to create new spaces for the contemporary classical dancers and forming new frontiers of classical art to reach out to newer and younger audiences.
“World Dance Day is sacred to all dancers. It is a reiteration of their continuing worth and a tribute to their sweat as they tame their bodies to craft experiences that transcend time and memory,” she said.
The event was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sangeet Natak Akademi, NTPC and UNESCO. Also part of the event was an Open-House Seminar on ‘What is classical anymore?’