Kuchipudi performance enchants audience in London
Showcasing 60 inter-generational Indian classical dancers from the age of 4-60 years, from across Britain and Europe, Kuchipudi dance Festival 2018 proved to be one of the largest festivals of dance – performed by locally trained dancers.
The dance festival was organised on November 17 by Arunima Kumar Dance Company (AKDC) in association with Bhavan UK, Infosys Foundation, Arts Council England, HDFC and The Nehru Centre at The Bhavan London.
The festival presented a revival of traditional forms with Britain's first locally trained 'stree vesham' artist Ash Mukherjee, who performed an excerpt from the famous role of Satyabhama from 'Bhamakalapam'.
Also, the audience witnessed special performances by youth groups of other classical forms including 'Ananda Arts Bedford' (Odissi), 'Nupur Arts Leicester', Bhavan Centre students, AKDC students along with guest artists – Ranjitha Chowaloor, Archna Patel, Pragnya Dara, Aishwarya Kandukuri and 'International Natarang Group' from Poland.
The entire festival was curated by Arunima Kumar, Britain's most acclaimed award-winning Kuchipudi dancer, teacher and choreographer as well as the recipient of Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskaar for Kuchipudi by Sangeet Natak Akademi. Also, she has honours like 'Global Icon award', 'Stardust award for Arts' and many more to her credit.
AKDC is one of Britain's leading/award-winning Indian dance institutions. Till date, the academy has performed in over 50 countries including in Buckingham Palace for the Queen, at the Prince Charles trust, Sydney Opera House, Rio Festival, Olympics, Commonwealth games and many more.
The event contributed to popularising this rare and neglected dance form (Kuchipudi) in Britain. It was a great success and received outstanding feedback from the audience. The aim of the event was to inspire the young generation to pursue Indian classical arts.
After applauding the phenomenal performance of the dancers, Manish Tiwari gave away a scholarship to one such young performer – 11-year- old Sahasra Bhongirwar – for her dedication to Kuchipudi.
Arunima feels that this festival also raised important questions on the role of gender fluidity and inclusion of European artists during the Brexit debate.
Among the special guests, Minister Rishi Sunak (Conservative Party), Lord Gadhia, Dr NandaKumar, Pam Johnson (Arts Council), Anita Srivastava (New Dimension Arts), Eva Martinez (Sadlers Wells), Akshata Murty, Raageshwari Bollywood actor Manish Tiwari were present.
