Majestic Old Fort to light up with classical dances

Specially designed choreographies are set to light up the majestic Old Fort here once again with the return of the annual Ananya Dance Festival featuring dances from different parts of the country.
Currently in its 12th edition, the five-day festival organised by the Department of Art, Culture and Languages, the Sahitya Kala Parishad and Seher in collaboration with Doordarshan is part of the Delhi government's ongoing series "Delhi Celebrates."
The performances this year are Kathak by Malabika Mitra's group (Kolkata); Mohiniyattam by Pallavi Krishnan and group (Kerala); Odissi by Bindu Juneja and group (Bhopal); Kathak and Mayurbhanj Chau by Maitreyee Pahari's group (Delhi) and Bharatanatyam by Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran's group (Bangalore).

Organisers, Seher, say that the festival is an attempt to popularise Indian classical arts amongst the youth.
"In this age of reality TV, our heritage and culture needs to be repackaged innovatively and preserved amongst future generations so this is one such attempt to showcase Indian classical dances in their purest form so that the traditional arts would reach out to more and more people of all ages and strata of society," they said.
Apart from performances, workshops have been planned on October 3 and October 4 at the venue during the morning where students would be able to directly interact with dancers.

"The workshops will also present the creative world of music, dance, theatre, art and related professions as viable alternative career options for students," said a spokesperson.

'Pratibimb' an interactive seminar between practitioners of dance and the audience has been scheduled for October 5 and October 6. The seminar, a dialogue led by choreographer aims to explore the creative process that leads to the final choreographies and would see participation from young dancers, scholars, students as well as dance-enthusiasts.
Manjot Chawla, creative head, Ananya Dance Festival says "With the unstinted support of the people of Delhi, and indeed the Chief Minister herself, Ananya Dance Festival has become one of the biggest cultural events of India.

"Since 2002, every year a large number of classical dance enthusiasts throng the magical Purana Qila to savour the unique experience. Children from the schools of Delhi come to enjoy the workshops that take place along with the evening performances," he says.