Ananya Dance Festival: Speaking language of performing arts

Celebrating the grandeur of classical dance forms, the annual Ananya Dance Festival that begins here at Purana Quila Oct 2 will see artistes from different parts of India communicating through the language of performing arts.

The five-day festival is organised by the department of art, culture and languages, Sahitya Kala Parishad and cultural group Seher in collaboration with Doordarshan.

Being an active event in the cultural calendar of the capital, the 12th edition of the festival has carefully chosen five varied groups to perform in front of a discerning audience.

"One of the biggest challenges for us is to reach beyond the normal scene of well known performers and scout for talented performers who might not be well known but know their craft well," Manjot Chawla, creative head of the festival, told IANS.

"The main area of concern we have is to bring these dance forms from far off areas and maintain the classical language of our festival, making sure we have stuck to our traditional roots," she added.

The festival will be open to all and conclude Oct 6. The timings will be 7 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.

Kerala-based Pallavi Krishnan, along with her group, will take the audience on a journey with Lord Krishna on the Yamuna river.

"The 'Nayika' (protagonist) invites him to accompany her to Vrindavan and then shows him the river Yamuna flowing beautifully," Krishnan told IANS while outlining the concept behind the performance.

"I was told to give a traditional presentation, so it being a bigger stage, hope the audience likes it," she added.

Playing with different rhythmic patterns through footwork will be Malabika Mitra's group from Kolkata performing traditional Kathak, where Bindu Juneja from Bhopal will escort the audience to the Narmada river using the medium of Odissi dance.

Juxtaposing the happiness that the arrival of monsoon brings with the sadness that looms after rain-fuelled tragedy, Delhi-based Maitreyee Pahari's groups will showcase varied moods through Kathak and Mayurbhanj Chau.

A Bharatnatyam show by Bangalore-based Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran will begin with a colourful performance and end with a verse on Lord Subramanya, son of Lord Shiva and warrior god of the Hindu pantheon.