Dancing stars

It's that time of the year when the doyens of various Indian classical dance forms come together to entertain audiences with their performances at the Nakshatra Dance Festival 2013. The eight-day festival commences from October 19 at the National Centre of the Performing Arts (NCPA).

Kathak exponent Uma Dogra and her dance troupe, Kathakars of Jaipur, will kickstart the event. Dogra says, "We will start off with Aatmalingastotra, a piece especially choreographed for the festival, where we pay homage to Lord Shiva. We will follow it up with Dheer Sameere based on poet Jayadeva's composition fromu00a0Geet Govinda."

Anubhuti, a Bharatanatyam performance, will explore various facets of Shakti through the nine rasas

The highlight of this festival will be acclaimed Bharatnatyam dancer Chitra Visweswaran who will perform in the city after eight years. "My performance Anubhuti will explore the concepts of Shiv and Shakti in the form of Ardhanareshwara. The first component will be Varnam which is the centre piece of the dance recital. Rather than a conventional solo piece, we will experiment with it and present it as a group performance. In the second component, we will explore the various facets of Shakti through the nine rasas and conclude the performance with a piece that explores the power of the divine."

On October 25, Manipuri dancer Sruti Bandopadhyay and her troupe will pay an ode to Lord Krishna and Radha's love with Jaya Jaya Bhanu Jayadeva. "Manipuri dance revolves around Radha and Krishna. Our performance is based on poet Jayadeva's composition from Geet Govinda and Rabindranath Tagore's Bhanusimher Padavali. We will portray the various facets of Lord Krishna and Radha's love story," explains Bandopadhyay.

This will be followed the next day with Odissi dance exponent Ratikant Mohapatra and his troupe who will perform Nirjharini. "Our performance will commence with Dayanand Saraswati's Sanskrit prayer Bho Shambho. The next piece is Hamsavadhini Pallavi where the dancers will present original solo choreography of Kelucharan Mohapatra. The hallmark is Jatayu Mokshya where Jatayu's valiant effort to save Sita from abduction and sacrificing his life will be depicted on stage," says Mohapatra.

Othello - a Kathakali dance-drama performance by Sadanam Balakrishnan is based on William Shakespeare's play

The festival will conclude with Othello, a Kathakali performance by Sadanam Balakrishnan and his troupe on October 27. Balakrishnan's Kathakali performance is based on William Shakespeare's work and is one of the most acclaimed Kathakali dance-dramas with a western theme.

Apart from watching the dance performances, aspiring artistes can also attend dance research workshops that will be conducted by eminent dance exponents such as Kanak Rele, Sruti Bandopadhyay and Ratikant Mohapatra to highlight the need of research for performers.

Swapnokalpa Dasgupta, head, programming (dance), NCPA, says, "Over the years, Mumbai has witnessed a remarkable inclination towards Indian classical dance shows. Keeping the mounting interest in mind, this year we have slotted group performances along with workshops for our rising dancing stars. With this endeavour, we hope to entertain and engage the audience."

When: October 19 to 27
WHERE: NCPA, NCPA Marg, Nariman Point
CALL: 22824567u00a0