Prasar Bharti hosts International Television Dance Festival in Hyderabad

The first edition of Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) International Television Dance Festival is scheduled to be held in Hyderabad; the city with royal patronage for arts, literature and architecture, on January 15.

Prasar Bharati is hosting the event.

The Dance Festival is conceptualised so as to bring the cultural diversities from across the world into limelight, by breaking cultural barriers.

Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the festival whereas Chief Minister of Telangana, K. Chandrashekar Rao will be present as the guest of honour. Tourism and Culture Minister of Telanagana, Azmeera Chandulal and Chairman of Prasar Bharti, Dr. A. Surya Prakash will also be present at the event.

The festival will showcase dancers from various countries which include Maldives, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Fiji, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, India and Indonesia.

The finalists from each country will participate in the grand finale of the first (ABU) International Television Dance Festival. All the participants are between the age group of 18-25 years.

The festival's objective is to create a "bridge" between young people from different parts of the world through dance.

Prasar Bharti started with the selection process in June 2016 to select the teams that will represent India in the grand finale. The artists were asked to submit DVDs of their work in traditional or contemporary dance, for selection purpose.

A total of 453 entries were received. Of these entries, 210 videos were selected by the first Screen Committee while after the final screening, 29 entries were chosen from the two categories. Two finalists, namely "Aamad" group and "Sadhya" group will perform in the grand finale.