Delhi gears up for 2nd Natya Ballet Dance Festival
Natya Ballet Centre in association with Sangeet Natak Akademi is hosting the second edition of 'The Natya Ballet Dance Festival' from November 30 to December 2, 2018 (Friday to Sunday) at Sangeet Natak Akademi premises. The three-day long festival will feature thought-provoking and mesmerzing performances, talks, presentations and film screenings with the host of eminent and distinguished artists from India and abroad.
This year, the festival aims to explore 'Dance in Film' and 'Dance in Theatre' and showcase works that transcend any one medium. The event is filled with rich and diverse programs that will showcase the best of both local and global art forms along with a tete-a-tete with living legends of Indian dance. One of the highlights of this year's edition is that it will also an emphasis on the female power in dance and theatre.
First day of the festival will start with a Masterclass by Ananya Chatterjea, a renowned choreographer from the USA and artistic director of Ananya Dance Theatre. It is an intensive of contemporary Indian dance technique, Yorchhā, which brings together movement principles from Odissi, and Mayurbhanj Chhau. It will also highlight how to blend gender-based narratives in choreographic process. Later in the evening, Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust will present their performance 'Mahabharata'. It is a contemporary retelling of the epic Mahabharata that employs the Japanese technique of Bunraku, masks and shadow theatre and elements of Chhau and Kalaripayattu. The performance will explore the inner dilemma of the fifteen prominent characters of the epic tale, through a stream of the conscious narrative of their past and present motives.
"With the second edition of the festival we wanted to go beyond just dance to showcase the various aspects of it inside and outside the proscenium space, and more importantly in the context of theatre and film. We are very excited to bring bold and assertive works from India and abroad that reinvestigates conventional storytelling in today's context for a discerning audience and delves in a deeper discourse on how art can push boundaries to mobilize social change, said Radhika Hoon, Chairperson, Natya Ballet Centre.
The second day will start with a new energy when Astad Deboo, whose name is synonymous with Contemporary Indian Dance joins Dr Arshiya Sethi for a candid conversation. This will be followed by a tete-a-tete between the legendary Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj and Manjari Sinha. The festival will continue with 'Dance in Theatre' segment, where Maya Krishna Rao, a renowned Indian theatre artist, stand-up comedian, and social activist, will talk about her experience of how dance and theatre collide and flows into each other on the rehearsal floor. This will be followed by a dialogue between Vinay Kumar, Artistic Director of Adishakti Theatre and Dr Anita Cherian, theatre academician on the ouevre of Veenapani Chawla and the current work practice at Adishakti. The 'Dance in Theatre' segment will come to an end with a panel discussion with eminent Bharatnatyam dancer Jyotsna Shourie and Gowri Ramnarayan moderated by Saumya Baijal, a bilingual writer, poet, storyteller in English and Hindi. The evening will close with two international performances -'We are waiting at the Border' a confrontational and intimate public space performance, by the famous Dutch dance company Vloeistof and 'Ayush' a brilliant amalgamation of western dramaturgy and Kathak choreography by Korzo Theatre from The Hague, The Netherlands.
The event will also see active participation of the students from various colleges. Speaking about engaging the youngsters, Nikita Maheshwary, Creative Director, Natya Ballet Centre said, "We did outreach programme in various colleges and universities to involve students. We didn't want them to be here just as audience."
The third day of the festival will kick start with the second segment of 'Meet The Legends' with a conversation between Mallika Sarabhai, an eminent choreographer, dancer, filmmaker, actress, writer and social activist and Dr Arshiya Sethi followed by Leela Samson, who is an expert performer and a sensitive interpreter of the nuances of Bharatanatyam whose session will be moderated by Professor Naman P Ahuja.
The afternoon session will have award-winning filmmakers such as SabaDewan, Justin McCarthy, Sharada Ramanathan, and Vikram Iyengar present their dance films. The closing performance of the festival, 'AhamSita' is directed by GowriRamnarayan and performed by Priyadarshini Govind. This act is a blend of dance, music and the spoken word and frames five crucial moments in the life of Sita along with the less heard women of the Ramayana – Urmilla, Mandodari, Surpanakha, and Ahalya.
