Mesmerising performances

Dance is a form of art, a way of expression. And to honour this, Geeta Chandran and Natya Vriksha celebrated World Dance Day in the City with mesmerising performances, film screenings and lectures.

International Dance Day, also known as the World Dance Day, is celebrated on April 29, which was introduced in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute. 

For the past nine years Natya Vriksha, under Padmashri Geeta Chandran, has been observing World Dance Day to create and enhance awareness of the significance of dance, among the general public, and encourage artistes to come together to give dance its proper place in the large cultural arena of the country.

The first day turned out to be a great success with an impressive crowd presence to cheer the artistes and their gurus. 

There  was also the screening of ‘The Unseen Sequence’, a film celebrating the dance and life of renowned Bharatanatyam exponent Malavika Sarukkai. 

The screening was followed by a discussion with Malavika Sarukkai, director Sumantra Ghosal and chaired by Geeta Chandran. 

The film ‘The Unseen Sequence’ is not about Malavika the person, but her journey to become one of the most celebrated Bharatanatyam dancers on the world stage. 

After the screening and discussion on the film, Sharanya Chandran, daughter and disciple of Geeta Chandran mesmerised the audience with her graceful moves. 

Sharanya has been learning Bharatanatyam from the age of four from late guru KN Dakshinamurthi and Geeta Chandran. 

Sharanya’s dancing has also taken her to various places, including the Lincoln Centre in New York as part of Incredible India @ 60 festival , for the Thai Cultural Festival at the Thai Cultural Centre in Bangkok, at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Indian Republic. 

The second day saw an illustrated lecture on ‘Lighting Dance: Dancing Light’ by Gautam Bhattacharya followed by a question and answer session. 

Another lecture was delivered by Sandhya Raman on ‘Costuming For Dance’, which was followed by an interactive session. 

 

The lectures were followed by a Mohiniattam recital by Vinaya Narayanan and Kuchipudi recital by Prateeksha Kashi.