Delhi to host SAARC traditional dance festival from today

A three-day SAARC Cultural Festival on Traditional Dances is being organised by the SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC) from today.

Packed with a grand range of performing arts besides a workshop on Intangible Cultural Heritage, the event at SNA's Rabindra Bhavan complex will also feature a photo exhibition tracing the history of cultural exchange between the countries of the region.

To be inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Shripad Yesso Naik on Friday evening, the ceremony will see the SAARC delegates being welcomed by a Kathakali performance and traditional chenda melam orchestra from Kerala along with the acrobatic Chhau dance form of the Purulia genre from West Bengal.

Besides Mr Naik, Colombo-headquartered SAARC Culture Centre director G L W Samarasinghe and senior SAARC officials will address the gathering at Meghdoot Theatre Complex, SNA Secretary Helen Acharya said today.

The session will be capped by dance / music forms (10 minutes each) of all the eight member-countries of the 1985-formed SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation).

Saturday will see a day-long symposium on 'Intangible Cultural Heritage in Context of SAARC'. To be moderated by Dr Sanjay Garg, who is the deputy director of the 2009-established SCC, the sessions will begin a presentation by art scholar Dr Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Resource Person (India). This will be followed by pre- and post-lunch country presentation of papers and discussions. At 6 pm, there will be a dance show.

The concluding session on Sunday evening will be addressed by top SNA officials and will see distribution of certificates to the participants besides a closing cultural performance.

The photo exhibition being held on all the three days will recap moments from eleven occasions - from 1958 (when the 1952-founded SNA held a dance seminar in Delhi) to a welcome function hosted in 2003 in honour of Chandrika Bhandaranaike Kumaratunga when she was the President of Sri Lanka. There will be 135 images of stage shows and receptions - both black-and-white and colour - in total.