A blend of various techniques

Dance-lovers were in for a treat at the ‘Drishti National Dance Festival’, a two-day event organised by Drishti Art Centre, at the Chowdaiah Hall recently. This was the ninth year of the festival and the performance brought together different art forms including classical dance forms, shadow puppetry and yakshagana among others. 

The first day of the festival saw a bharatantayam performance by ‘The Kirans-Rasika Dance Ensemble’, which consisted of a kuchipudi performance by Shallu Jindal, a shadow dance feature by Prahlad Acharya from Udupi and a yakshagana performance by ‘Idagunji Mahaganapati Yakshagana Mandali’ led by Keremane Shivananda Hegde.

The second day commenced with a bharatanatyam dance recital by the ‘Drishti Dance Ensemble’, a performance by Anuradha Vikranth and a kathak performance by Amit Khinchi and Shubhi Johari from New Delhi. The classical dance feature Sammilana brought together five different dance forms. 

The shadow art performance by artiste Prahlad Acharya left the audience spellbound. The solo artiste performed to the folk songs — Punyakoti, and Yen Endalaya Seethe. “I specialise in hand shadow and come to Bangalore at least ten days a month to perform,” he said. Pointing out that the festival attempted to bring together varied dance forms from across the country on one stage, Anuradha Vikranth, the creative director of Drishti Art Centre and a noted bharatanatyam dancer herself, said, “There are several types of classical dances in India. We have tried to blend them all on one stage.”  

She added that the highlight this year was the two-day programme. “The presentation plays an important role. There is a mix of art-lovers and artistes here in the auditorium. The sheer numbers show that people are still interested in cultural events like this,” she explained.  

The audience was mesmerised after the show. “It was one of the best performances I have seen recently. There was so much variety. The shadow dance was outstanding,” said Rani, an audience member.  Rupal, who had come along with her friends, said, “The general perception is that classical arts are not appreciated by youngsters. But so many youngsters have come for this festival. Hats off to each of the performers who kept the audience entertained.”